Marines typically visit the facility three times a week to help train Ozzy, Patsy, Tom Tom, Joan and Ronnie, four beautiful golden retrievers ranging in age from five months old to two years old.
So far the Marines have volunteered more than 53 hours specifically to the service dog organization.
Paws for Purple Hearts is dedicated to improving the lives of America’s wounded warriors facing mobility challenges and trauma related conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) by providing the highest quality service dogs and canine assisted therapeutic programs.
But, with the Marines, the organization’s capabilities widely increase as they help support and train the canines to serve wounded warriors, while helping the facility with housekeeping and administrative duties. The facility typically has two full time employees to manage all operations.
According to 2nd Lt. Matthew Fowler, assistant testing officer at TBS, volunteers assist the staff in training service dogs in more than 100 service commands ranging from unzipping jackets to turning lights off and on.
“Even though a lot of the work looks playful, it serves a greater purpose,” Fowler said. “For example, playing tug-of-war with a dog is the first step to teaching a dog to open a door.”
However, for some Marines, the work was more than a fun day away from base as it held a bit more significance.
“After spending time in the hospital going through chemotherapy, I was looking for an opportunity to help out with service dogs like the ones that came to visit me,” 2nd Lt. Jarred Gillie, TBS Marine said. “It’s an amazing opportunity to help Paws for Purple Hearts and to take a quick break from my own training to help the organization to train dogs to one day assist wounded veterans.”
Gillie also believes it a great source of therapy for service members because it affords Marines the ability to make a true impact.
TBSMAG typically helps non-governmental organizations plan and execute community outreach projects in the local area in order to foster stronger civilian-military relations and has volunteered 1,130 hours since January.
jbeale@quanticosentryonline.com
| Date Taken: |
10.04.2017 |
| Date Posted: |
10.30.2017 08:12 |
| Story ID: |
253278 |
| Location: |
QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: |
33 |
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0 |
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This work, Marine volunteers get down and furry, by Jeremy Beale, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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