Hounds 4 Heroes provides fully trained service dogs to assist military veterans suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other disabling conditions.  The dog and 3-6 months of one-on-one training with each veteran is provided free of charge to the veterans in our program. 

We are working with local greyhound rescue groups, who bring us likely candidates rescued from the greyhound racing industry.  Florida has no shortage of greyhounds coming off the racetracks, and there is certainly no shortage of veterans who need more support in their lives as they deal with the tremendous challenge of living with PTSD.  We are discovering that these two groups are uniquely suited for each other.  Greyhounds often have the rare combination of traits that are needed to do this special job.  The traits necessary for a PTSD service dog are very particular and rigorous. 

Our dogs need to be intelligent, confident, non-reactive and calm in all situations, eager to learn, able to focus and work at a moment's notice but relax when not called on, readily bond with their human, have zero prey drive (the urge to chase things!), and they must be independent of their handler's emotions.  This last trait is critical.  If a dog mimics the emotions of his human with PTSD, he will very quickly become unbalanced and create problems for himself and his handler.  Over time he will become unfit for this type of service work.  A dog that might perform perfectly for a healthy human, will often "fall apart" when working with a person with PTSD or other psychiatric disorders.  Our greyhounds are proving to be "naturals", and we are very excited to have the opportunity to work with them in this revolutionary way.

Thank you for your interest in Hounds 4 Heroes, and please visit us again as new informational pages are in the works and coming soon!