Service dogs help veterans cope with PTSD

K9s for Warriors has rescued 1,500 dogs from shelters and trained them as service dogs for veterans with PTSD.

José Romero, a 42-year-old Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, never thought that a dog could change his life.  

“When I left the Army, I was in pretty bad shape. I was having nightmares, sweating, and had a lot of anxiety. I didn’t want to get out of my house,” he told NBC News in an interview.

His outlook was bleak, he said, until he was partnered with a service dog named Poppy.

K9s for Warriors, an organization that has rescued over 1,500 dogs from shelters and trained them as service dogs for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, matched Romero with Poppy — an Australian shepherd — in June. The Puerto Rican veteran said Poppy is the help that he needed to stay alive.

“In the military, we don’t always try to get help because we want to be all that we can be. But you need to look for help,” he said. “I tried to commit suicide three times. And I am still here because I got help.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/veterans-latinos-service-dogs-ptsd-k9s-warriors-rcna56439

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