**PROJECT OPPS:

Occupational – on job training for a new and different skill
Physical – real time and hands on training, work and experiences
Psychotherapeutic – replacing and/or reducing pharmaceuticals with a holistic approach to intervention
Spiritual – unconditional and nonjudgmental intervention by another party establishing the canine-human bond.
TADSAW additionally provides for the training of a Medical Alert Service Dog for any veteran’s immediate family, the spouse or children, surviving with compassion fatigue, secondary Military Induced Anxiety Depression Syndrome (MIADS), or any other mental health issue diagnosed while the veteran was deployed or on active duty.
Whenever possible, TADSAW will evaluate the veteran’s personal dog, because the bond has been established, to determine the dog’s viability to be a service dog candidate. A rescue dog from a shelter or the warrior’s own personal dog, if deemed appropriate in temperament, demeanor, and size, will be evaluated, enter BOOT CAMP, and be trained specific commands for specific needs of a wounded warrior with MIADS.  If the veteran needs a dog, TADSAW’s trainers will go to a rescue shelter and evaluate and select an appropriate candidate for the veteran. At that time the process will begin.
TADSAW has found that a great majority of the warriors with MIADS choose a shelter dog because they want ‘to save something’. They may choose a dog with an injury because they have an injury too. They are both healing. They fit together. They are a team.
Veterans often suffering alone, seem to silence themselves because of the stigma still attached to psychological injuries like MIADS. The dog can calm them down and get their minds off of everything going on in their lives by focusing on the dog not themselves.
The program lasts from 15-25 weeks to train the veteran and dog team. The first phase is focused on the skills needed to pass the AKC Canine Good Citizenship course, which is the benchmark standard in obedience for therapy dog work. During the second phase, time is spent socializing the team in dog friendly public places. When the trainer is confident the team is progressing sufficiently, the in-training Public Access work, in areas where only Service Dogs are allowed, begins.

The team will graduate and become accredited by TADSAW when the Public Access Temperament Test is given and the team passes. The team will carry the necessary health certificates and documentation and will be able to accompany the warrior to stores, restaurants, living accommodations, and permitting full access to any and all places the warrior wishes to visit.
These TADSAW SERVICE DOGS have the ability to decrease isolation of the veteran, decrease the needs for many medications, decrease anxiety and panic attacks when in crowded public places, awaken them from nightmares and flashbacks, ‘have their backs’ when necessary, to name but a few.
A short answer as to the why and how…Petting a dog decreases release of cortisol and increases release of oxytocin into the bloodstream. Decreases in cortisol lower blood pressure and facilitate a sense of relaxation, while increases in oxytocin, this same chemical released when a mother nurses her infant, will facilitate a sense of security and well-being.
For veterans with MIADS, it has been documented that a dog helps with emotional regulation. Patients who are very anxious and have anger issues find they can’t work with a dog if they yell. They must have a calm voice. Working with a dog helps build confidence and bridge the gap with strangers. More often than not the response and the bond is immediate.