{"id":48894,"date":"2015-05-09T12:07:50","date_gmt":"2015-05-09T12:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2015\/05\/09\/spared-from-the-kennel-these-rescue-dogs-now-help-vets\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:50:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:50:18","slug":"spared-from-the-kennel-these-rescue-dogs-now-help-vets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2015\/05\/09\/spared-from-the-kennel-these-rescue-dogs-now-help-vets\/","title":{"rendered":"Spared from the kennel: These rescue dogs now help vets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For almost two years, Jim Kuiken retreated into himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The retired Marine sergeant major would sit in his house for days at a time, getting up just once or twice to eat when he could no longer stand the hunger pangs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thirty years of service had caught up with the combat-wounded veteran, and he didn&#8217;t know where to turn for help \u2014 until he found K9s For Warriors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.k9sforwarriors.org\/\" title=\"http:\/\/www.k9sforwarriors.org\/\">non-profit<\/a>, based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, trains rescue dogs to become service dogs for veterans with post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kuiken met his dog, a black lab named Freedom, in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It&#8217;s like a weight was lifted off my chest,&#8221; Kuiken said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These days, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to the mall, which I could never do, I&#8217;m out on speaking engagements, I&#8217;m out engaged in life,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I was just out celebrating Cinco de Mayo. The turnaround has been significant.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">K9s For Warriors was founded in 2010 by Shari Duval, who was inspired by her son, Brett Simon, who returned from two tours in Iraq as a bomb dog handler suffering from severe post-traumatic stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simon had been a canine police officer for 15 years before going to work as a contractor overseas for the Army, Duval said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;In an effort to help him and doing research on the massive amount of post-traumatic stress and [high] suicide rates, I felt compelled to do something not only for my son but the thousands and thousands of veterans,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635666764312205877-indjmnetsisnqecnjjnh50ul7tjeenxs-vzv9tzkhqu-s90ykhooepj8d7-a7bj-vyhjnqrp-ekbg45iuoe-kgi-1-jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-86537\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635666764312205877-indjmnetsisnqecnjjnh50ul7tjeenxs-vzv9tzkhqu-s90ykhooepj8d7-a7bj-vyhjnqrp-ekbg45iuoe-kgi-1-jpg.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635666764312205877-indjmnetsisnqecnjjnh50ul7tjeenxs-vzv9tzkhqu-s90ykhooepj8d7-a7bj-vyhjnqrp-ekbg45iuoe-kgi-1-jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635666764312205877-indjmnetsisnqecnjjnh50ul7tjeenxs-vzv9tzkhqu-s90ykhooepj8d7-a7bj-vyhjnqrp-ekbg45iuoe-kgi-1-jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635666764312205877-indjmnetsisnqecnjjnh50ul7tjeenxs-vzv9tzkhqu-s90ykhooepj8d7-a7bj-vyhjnqrp-ekbg45iuoe-kgi-1-jpg.jpg?resize=1024,682 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>K9s for Warriors is expanding its facility for training rescue dogs to meet the demand for service dogs.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Photo Credit: Courtesy K9s for Warriors<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In four years, K9s For Warriors has trained and placed 164 dogs with wounded warriors across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The group has had to limit its work to post-9\/11 veterans, and those on the waiting list now have to wait more than a year to be placed with a service dog, said Duval, who also is the organization&#8217;s president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The non-profit is working hard to expand, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the end of May, K9s For Warriors will move into a new facility, quadrupling its capacity. At 17,000 square feet, the new facility will make the group the largest post-traumatic stress service dog agency in the country, Duval said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Duval said the goal is to reduce the wait time to eight or nine months and serve more veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;There&#8217;ll never be a shortage of warriors,&#8221; Duval said. &#8220;If we&#8217;re losing 22 veterans a day to suicide that is so unacceptable on all levels. Our goal is preventing suicide.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With their service dogs, the veterans are not thinking about suicide, Duval said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;They&#8217;re actually going back out in life and doing things with their families, with their civic organizations, with their cities, with their towns,&#8221; she said. &#8220;So many people benefit from the health and welfare of this wonderful veteran.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dogs also have helped the group&#8217;s veterans decrease their reliance on prescription medication, Duval said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;There isn&#8217;t a warrior who comes in who isn&#8217;t on at least 15 different types of medications,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They are lethal cocktails. Anybody that took this kind of medication is going to become despondent and irrational.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 80 percent of the veterans who&#8217;ve received dogs from K9s For Warriors have reduced or eliminated their need for medication, Duval said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;They&#8217;re taking the pills just for what&#8217;s needed instead of supplements to mask the disease,&#8221; she said. &#8220;When we can get them clear thinking and chemical free, they start to feel human again.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Duval said she didn&#8217;t expect her group to be as successful as it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I didn&#8217;t realize the massive need,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I was hoping I could help 10 warriors a year. Now I&#8217;m hoping I can do 100 more.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To keep the work going, K9s For Warriors has partnered with Bayer. The company has promised to <a href=\"http:\/\/MyK9MyHero.com\" title=\"http:\/\/myk9myhero.com\/\">donate<\/a> to the non-profit $1 for every package of K9 Advantix II, a flea and tick medicine, sold through May 31, up to $150,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">K9s For Warriors has no shortage of wounded warriors who need help or dogs who need to be rescued, Duval said, but it can always use financial support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We have to pay employees, we have to pay trainers, we have electric bills to pay,&#8221; she said. &#8220;What we have found is there are so many veterans in this country, but there are so many real, true Americans who want to help their veterans, but they don&#8217;t know how.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Almost all the dogs trained by K9s For Warriors are rescues from area shelters, Duval said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We never buy a dog,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But not every dog is a good fit to be a service dog, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;If you screen 100 dogs, maybe 10 have the qualifications we&#8217;re looking for,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The group seeks dogs that are roughly the size of a Labrador or Golden Retriever. They also must be younger than 2 years old, be in excellent health and have the right temperament, Duval said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It takes an average of eight or nine months to train a dog, she said, and the group is able to train about 15 dogs at a time. That number will grow to about 28 once K9s For Warriors moves into its new facility, and the number will further double within six months, Duval said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once the dogs are trained \u2013 in basic obedience but also skills specific to their future veteran companion \u2013 K9s For Warriors brings the veterans to its facility for a three-week live-in program. During this time, the veterans, who are carefully screened before they&#8217;re accepted into the program, and the dogs meet, train together and bond before they&#8217;re sent home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We take care of them just like we would our own family,&#8221; Duval said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the three-week program, the veterans are &#8220;learning to be part of their own solutions, and they don&#8217;t even know it,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The group&#8217;s trainers take the veterans and their new canine companions to places they would typically avoid, such as Home Depot or a movie theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;What they&#8217;re going to learn is to get back out to civilian life with dignity and independence, and they do it without even realizing they&#8217;ve done it,&#8221; Duval said. &#8220;They&#8217;re under the impression they&#8217;re learning to be the handler of a dog that&#8217;s already been trained.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dogs provide the veterans with a battle buddy, Duval said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;One of the worst things [the veterans] suffer from is isolation, they won&#8217;t leave the house,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You have a highly productive, trained individual who now won&#8217;t leave the house. Well, when you have a dog, you have to go outside. That dog needs to go to the bathroom. That dog needs to eat.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Kuiken, Freedom was just what he needed to regain his independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kuiken, who retired in 2003 after serving as the sergeant major for Marine Forces Pacific and was a Department of Homeland Security attache in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, said his post-traumatic stress got worse over time. It wasn&#8217;t until a friend urged him to get help that Kuiken began looking online for resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kuiken said he felt a connection to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/gaining-freedom-personal-journey-surviving-pts-tbi-james-a-kuiken?trk=prof-post\" title=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/gaining-freedom-personal-journey-surviving-pts-tbi-james-a-kuiken?trk=prof-post\">Freedom<\/a> as soon as he met him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I walked in, and he was just sitting there looking at me with those big, brown eyes. It just melted my heart,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That was it. I knew I had a buddy.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>K9s For Warriors, a non-profit that trains rescue dogs to help vets with post traumatic stress, expands to meet 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