“With Wilson, I’m still hesitant [in public] sometimes, but when I look at it I see I’ve gone back out to live. I go out now; I go into areas where there are crowds, which is something I wouldn’t have done before. I get a lot of anxiety even while driving in traffic and he picks up on that. He licks my neck and my ear and there’s no way you can have anxiety with that. I’m too busy trying to dry my ear out! He really sense and picks up on everything. It’s wonderful.
I laugh a lot more now. One minute he’s laying on the floor and then he gets the zoomies! At night before bed, he gets this energy and he’s ready to run. No matter what, we sit there and we play; he brings the excitement back. It’s like my house has kids, and all of my children have grown! He brings me his toys and leaves them all over the place.”
Wilson and Shawn graduated our program in January 2021, less than one year from Wilson’s adoption day! He made real strides as a service dog trainee and took to his new job proudly and quickly. We are very proud of this team, and we can’t wait to see the amazing things they achieve – together.
Other Success Stories
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Ben + Tank
San Diego, CA
Tank came into our program in June 2014 through the sponsorship of The Wintercreek Foundation. Ben applied to our program in the Spring of 2015, and was perhaps one of our most driven applicants.
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James + Calver
San Diego, CA
Calver is a 3 year-old, male standard schnauzer. His dad, James, applied to Shelter to Soldier™ and was approved to be a recipient due to his diagnosis of TBI (traumatic brain injury) and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)
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Vic + Kira
San Diego, CA
Kira is a loving 4 year old female labrador/pit mix. She was rescued just in time to allow her the opportunity to live a happy, loving and purposeful life.