Apply For A Service Dog
Leashes of Valor provides service dogs at no cost to the Veteran.
Eligibility Requirements
To qualify for a service dog, you must:
- Be a post-9/11 Veteran
- Be retired or honorably discharged
- Have a verifiable diagnosis of PTSD, TBI or MST by a licensed professional with a Masters Degree and qualified licensing.
Our Service Dog Program
By the time a Veteran is matched with a service dog, the dog has received all public access and task training. We provide an intense 16-day, in-house service dog program for our Warriors. This time together allows the Veteran and the service dog get to know each other, bond, and become a viable team, so that when they leave our farm they do so with a sound foundation for success.
We train our new Warriors as peers, in an environment where they can feel safe and confident to address their recovery as a part of a team. It is designed to feel familiar and to respect military culture in a nostalgic sense, creating a strong training platform. Follow-up communications with our Veterans after they leave us continue for life. This level of dedication to both our dogs and our Veterans is how Leashes of Valor is setting a new standard for excellence in the world of service dogs.
Request An Application
If you meet all of the criteria and would like be considered for a service dog, request an application.
Become A Foster
Leashes of Valor service dogs receive up to two years of training before they are paired with a Veteran in need. During that time, canines live with foster families. This vital network of volunteers provides love and care while teaching the dogs house manners and exposing them to the energy of work and family life.
Fosters typically care for a dog for two to three months before the animal is rotated to a different household. The goal is to prepare our service dogs for any scenario they might encounter with their Veteran, whether they are single or raising small children, retired or working outside the home. Many of our foster families also have other animals in the home, including cats, chickens and goats. Service-dogs-in-training have accompanied their fosters to gyms, schools, churches and even on vacations, just as they would with their Veteran.
If you want to get involved in a great cause helping restore our nation’s Veterans with service dogs and you live within approximately 50 miles of our headquarters in Milford, Virginia, send us a message. We have short- and long-term opportunities available and provide all the training, vet care, food, and supplies, unless otherwise arranged.