April 24, 2015 – MENLO PARK, Calif. (KTVU) – It’s a program that’s helping veterans heal by connecting them with service dogs. On Saturday, the program will celebrate two years of helping injured veterans.
A Labrador retriever named Luke is on a mission to become a service dog for a wounded warrior. His trainer Charles Cotton is a U.S. Navy veteran from San Francisco who served in the Vietnam War. Cotton is also recovering from substance abuse.
“In the little time I’ve known Luke,” said Cotton. “Luke showed me more control than I’ve showed myself in a long time.”
View the story here.
Warrior Canine Connection Graduation 2015
October 29, 2015 – Germantown, MD (Montgomery County Council) — The Warrior Canine Connection has a mission of helping and healing our veterans who have returned from war. In this segment, we recap the organization’s recent graduation of 14 service dogs. Watch the graduation video here.
Soldier’s best friend: Wounded Vet finds healing — and a best man — through Warrior Canine Connection
October 27, 2015 – New York (Today.com) — When Justin Lansford returned from Afghanistan in the spring of 2012, the last thing on his mind was getting a dog.
He’d just been blown up and crushed by a vehicle while serving as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division.
Read the story on NBC Today here.
Warrior Canine Connection Eases Veterans’ Struggles With Help From Furry Friends
October 15, 2015 – Brookeville, MD (Capital News Service) — The dogs at Warrior Canine Connection are veterans’ best friends.
Trained by service members, a group of the dogs will graduate on Saturday and become permanent four-legged aides to disabled veterans or veterans in need. WCC’s third graduating class of 14 dogs will be celebrated at 1 p.m. in Montgomery College’s Globe Hall in Germantown, Md.
View the video and read the story here.
“It’s Animal-Assisted Therapy on Steroids.”
August 31, 2015 – WASHINGTON (WETA) — The Warrior Canine Connection program and the stories of two Veterans and their WCC service dogs are featured in this installment of the PBS “Honored to Serve” series, produced by WETA Television. Watch it here.
Menlo Park non-profit training service dogs for veterans celebrates 2 year anniversary
April 24, 2015 – MENLO PARK, Calif. (KTVU) – It’s a program that’s helping veterans heal by connecting them with service dogs. On Saturday, the program will celebrate two years of helping injured veterans.
A Labrador retriever named Luke is on a mission to become a service dog for a wounded warrior. His trainer Charles Cotton is a U.S. Navy veteran from San Francisco who served in the Vietnam War. Cotton is also recovering from substance abuse.
“In the little time I’ve known Luke,” said Cotton. “Luke showed me more control than I’ve showed myself in a long time.”
View the story here.
Love and Honor: Specially Trained, Caring Dogs Serve Those Who Serve
Spring 2015 – On any given weekday, it’s not unusual to see recovering warriors at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) in Bethesda, Md., engaged in a mission that will transform the lives of their fellow veterans with disabilities. A quick look inside the Warrior Canine Connection (WCC) program once there reveals the heart of the mission, an assortment of young Golden and Labrador Retrievers with bright eyes, eager smiles, and wagging tails.
Read the full article from The Virginia-Maryland Dog here.
New leash on life: Service dogs, trained by and for wounded warriors
March 14, 2015 – Brookeville, Md. — Meet Ron.
He has helped hundreds of servicemembers suffering from PTSD. He works at Walter Reed National Medical Center in a Navy camo harness. His title? Animal co-therapist.
Ron is a 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever — a facility dog who works at Walter Reed and the National Intrepid Center of Excellence in Bethesda, Md. The Department of Defense Institute is dedicated to studying and healing servicemembers with traumatic brain injury and psychological issues.
Read the full article, and view the photographs and videos here.
Veterans’ Therapy Goes to the Dogs – CBSNews.com
February 18, 2015 – WASHINGTON — When Lt. Tommy Faulkenberry came home to his wife and four sons in 2012, after 12 years at sea with the U.S. Coast Guard, he found his transition to civilian life especially difficult. He had contracted a rare form of muscular dystrophy, and as the physical toll on him mounted, depression, anxiety, and prescription drug dependence followed.
View the video and read the article here.
Puppies at Warrior Canine Connection More Than Just a Cute Face – WNEW
February 3, 2015 – The puppies at Warrior Canine Connection are more than just a cute, fluffy face — they’re service dogs in training. Warrior Canine Connection is a nonprofit service dog organization that provides therapeutic intervention for service members in treatment for post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.
Click here to read the article.
From pups to healers: Companions change wounded warriors’ lives – WTOP Radio
November 24, 2014 – Can a furry, four-legged creature really help save a life? Many wounded warriors and their spouses say, “yes.”
It’s in part thanks to the Warrior Canine Connection. The pioneering program enlists recovering wounded service members to train service dogs for fellow wounded members. Read the article, see the video and picture gallery, and download the full audio report here.