Dogs Inc. labradors bring healing and hope to veterans and Gold Star families

When it comes to veterans who serve this country faithfully, they come in all shapes and sizes.

Some of the heroes even have four legs and are reshaping the world one person and one family at a time.

With Veterans Day approaching Nov. 11, those who served and died while serving come to the forefront of all community’s thoughts and prayers.

For those who have experienced the loyalty and efforts of Dogs Inc., these highly trained dogs are life-changing animals who are their own personal heroes.

Dogs Inc. is a nonprofit organization based out of Florida whose mission is to train elite working dogs like guide dogs, service dogs and skilled companion dogs and pair them with people who have vision loss, veterans with disabilities, children facing significant challenges and others who can benefit from such partnerships.

“We provide dogs for individuals all over the United States,” said Sean Brown of Dogs Inc. “Our dogs are changing lives every day for people around the world.”

While Dogs Inc. provides companion dogs for many people in all walks of life, recently the organization has developed its Gold Star Family program, a program designed to provide support dogs specifically for individuals or families who have lost a loved one in active military service.

These dogs fill a hole left by the loss of the loved one with no charges attached, knowing the important role each dog will play.

The dogs provide service through offering emotional support, stability and companionship to those who are hurting.

Brown, who served in U.S. Army intelligence before retiring in 2013, said in nearly every case these dogs become a genuine part of the family.

For Jillian Hinton, who has become an ambassador for the program, this service became all too real when she felt the devastation of losing her husband, Army Sgt. Terrance Hinton, during service.

Hinton received a lab dog five years ago, and not only was it important to her, but the dog also became an invaluable family member for her daughter Cayleigh.

"My daughter was a little girl when she lost her dad, and the weight of that grief was devastating for her,” Hinton said. “She started self-isolating, her brother left for college and she got to the point where she felt that everything she loved left her.”

Counseling and the love of her mother weren’t enough, but Gold Star dog Taylor became a life-altering gift.

"Dogs Inc. came to us in a very meaningful, powerful way and saved our lives,” Hinton said. “They owed me nothing, but the very first night Taylor was with us, my daughter slept in her bed for the first since her father died.”

Taylor brought back a girl who laughed and loved again, and Hinton knew then that she was going to commit herself to working with Dogs Inc.

“I’m honored to be part of the team because I know there are other children out there like my daughter who are hurting,” Hinton said. “Sometimes we as people don’t know how to do it, but these dogs come in with unconditional love and lift us all up.”

Dogs Inc. raises dogs from a young age, focusing on breeding, raising and training them to perform specific tasks.

They breed or select dogs with suitable traits, training each to become special dogs for those in need. After training, the dogs are matched with recipients at no cost to the recipient. Dogs Inc. provides alumni support for the lifetime of the dog/handler team.

Dogs Inc. utilizes fundraisers around the nation to raise funds, an important task because it costs them about $5,000 to properly train each dog.

“For $5,000 we can change people’s lives for the better,” Brown said. “As an Army veteran, I am living proof of that.”

Brown said after serving he was on a massive number of medications to deal with struggles that were eating away at his life.

After receiving his dog, he quickly went from taking 16 pills per day to zero, such was the effectiveness and power of the love of his dog Nick, his second service dog following on the heels of his first dog Pella.

Brown said he suffered from severe PTSD, and the trail of pills he was being given was beginning to take over his life, and not in a good way.

He said his dogs have literally taken the place of his pills to take away night terrors, anxiety, panic attacks and more. He said his dogs have awakened him in the middle of a night terror episode because they are trained to sense when their human is in pain.

Other veterans who have lost eyesight have their dogs become their eyes.

They also have helped reduce the suicide numbers among veterans.

“These dogs are truly the tip of the spear when it comes to negating veteran suicide,” Brown said. “It’s something we are very proud of, and at the end of the day, these dogs are changing lives. That also affects and changes their families.

“When we affect change in the family, we affect change in communities, and in turn that affects change in the world. That’s what we are trying to do — change the world for the better.”

Dogs Inc. works only with Golden Retrievers, dogs Brown said are ideal for training and providing elite companionship.

Dogs Inc. is transforming lives by training and placing highly skilled working dogs with people who need them most, providing a renewed hope for those with whom they serve.

For more information or to provide financial support, visit www.dogsinc.org.