Veterans are able to benefit from the help of a service dog, and dogs in need of homes are able to have one thanks to Pawsitive Action and the work they do in the community.
Pawsitive Action is a non-profit that places service dogs with veterans and those living with limited abilities, as well as full-service training that includes 80 hours of hands-on training with the recipient.
The non-profit was established approximately nine years ago by Norma Ross, a dog trainer with over 40 years of experience, in honor of her father who served in the Vietnam War as a marine.
“I’ve been training dogs for a long time, and showing dogs, and working with family pets, and anytime you’re in an industry you hear needs and wants and different things, and right now there is a three to five year waiting list for service, and that’s just a crazy amount of time for someone to wait,” Ross said. “I’ve always worked with shelters, and you’ve got animals that need homes that could get out there to do something, and then you’ve got all of these people that are sitting there waiting.”
She explained that there are a large number of veterans that could benefit from having a service dog.
“Unfortunately, there’s still a suicide rate of 22 a day with veterans, and it’s increasing,” she said. “People don’t realize this, but everybody thinks it’s because of the new people with the war, but a lot of those are actually retirees. I think approximately 18 of the 22 are actually retirement age.”
The average fee for a service dog is currently around $25,000, however, Pawsitive Action is able to provide the dogs to veterans in need free of charge thanks to volunteers and donations.
“We raise and train mostly our own guys,” Ross said. “We have goldens, labradors and then we have what we call ‘Goldadores,’ which are 50/50s.”
They currently have six teams of volunteers in the area, and Ross is also on The Humane Society of Blue Ridge board and intends to work with the society to train dogs from the shelter, and other shelters in the area, to become service dogs.
“Basically, any dog that has a suitable temperament that needs a home, we can get trained,” she said. “We also have some agility classes that we’re going to get started over at the humane society, we have some dog obedience and training classes that are going to be getting started at the Fannin County Ag Center, and FFA is getting involved with that.”
Ross hopes to see FFA and 4-H become more involved with training dogs in the future.
“The more hands we have involved the better,” she said.
Any veterans interested in a service dog through Pawsitive Action can visit their website at www.pawsitiveaction.org and fill out an application.
In order to be eligible, veterans must be honorably discharged with a DD 214, and they have to have a disability, whether physical, mental, emotional, etc.
“They do have to attend classes,” Ross said. “That’s part of our program. They go through different certifications to get their full access from us. A lot of people don’t understand what the service dog laws really are, so we help people with all of that. If there is somebody who has trouble getting dog food, we will assist with that as well. Medical care, all of that.”
The non-profit is completely based on donations and public support. Those who would like to donate to the cause or volunteer can visit their website to do so.