Paws for Purple Hearts

Paws for Purple Hearts pairs meticulously bred, lovingly raised, and thoroughly trained assistance dogs with their ideal Warrior recipients using a scientifically rigorous matching methodology developed by the Bergin University of Canine Studies. We train and place three types of assistance dogs. Service dogs are trained specifically for a Warrior in need of mobility and/or mental health support. Facility Dogs can be found in a VA, DOD, or similar facility visiting veterans to bring joy throughout a facility. We are also at the forefront of the overwhelmingly successful implementation of Canine-Assisted Warrior Therapy®, a unique and life-changing therapeutic intervention that we developed in cooperation with the Bergin University of Canine Studies.

Our service dog placement program provides financial and logistical relief to veterans. We provide our dogs to veteran recipients, including their Military caregivers, free of charge. This provides immediate and significant financial relief to the veteran, as they are not burdened with bearing the cost of our top-tier service dogs in order to benefit from the services and companionship gained. This is a significant benefit because that it takes about $35,000 to raise a top-tier service dog.

Canine-Assisted Warrior Therapy® is an innovative therapeutic service-dog-training program that teaches Veterans and active-duty military personnel with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) the skill of training service dogs for Veterans with war-related injuries. According to a study published in Quality of Life Research, the use of psychiatric service dogs with patients who have mental disorders has excellent results.  Studies show that under stressful conditions, the presence of a dog is effective at reducing stress responses in healthy adults and even in adults with hypertension (Emre Umucu, 2020).  Our program is voluntary and is used as an adjunct to a wide range of PTSD treatments, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and/or medications. In addition to Canine-Assisted Warrior Therapy®, we also provide social therapy programs, which use the unique skills of our canine friends to bring comfort and joy while reducing stress in the lives of America’s heroes.

Our strength lies in our superior ability to leverage the potential of each dog to maximize its impact. Unlike other service dog organizations that simply train dogs and place them, our dogs actively participate in the recovery process of the Warriors they work with. Through this overwhelmingly successful therapeutic intervention, each of our dogs will impact an average of 60 veterans over the course of their 2 ½  year training period. 

Over 2.5 million service members who have recently returned from combat zones, and over 28% of those veterans have PTSD. That number is increasing. Thousands of veterans reporting their mental health diagnosis, about 44% never seek care. Often, the price for inaction ends in isolation, alcoholism, drug abuse, poverty, and suicide.

Paws for Purple Hearts San Antonio refuses to let these veterans suffer alone.

Together, we can save the lives of our veterans!