New Graduates from K-9 Corps

On October 18th, 2022, Truckee Meadows Graduated it’s eight class of the Veterans K-9 Corps Peer Support Program.  Since the program began in 2021, about 80 veterans and family members of veterans have participated in this program, funded through a grant from the NDVS.   

Studies by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs show that returning servicemembers often experience a lack of connectiveness that negatively impacts their mental health, and correspondingly, their reintegration into their local communities. Additionally, research exploring the benefits of pets and human-animal interaction for mental health has uncovered benefits for stress, depression, post-traumatic stress and for managing mental health. The Veterans K-9 Corps addresses both these needs by connecting veterans in a cohort with a shared mission of training dogs to serve as personal companions.

The K-9 Corps Training Course Director, Carol Chase-Healy, developed a nine-week program that gives veterans and their canine companions an opportunity to experience a range of training experiences, culminating in an opportunity for both Canine Good Citizen and Tricks certification.  Surveys of participants have validated that this program is meeting its goals and all feedback to date has been extremely positive.  The next K-9 Course class will start in January 2023 and will be a seven-week program to align with the general TMDTC schedule.  If you know of a veteran who may be interested, contact Kat Miller at Katherine.miller1@hotmail.com for an application.