UPenn launches therapy dog program to assist America's heroes

PHILADELPHIA - You may notice more dogs on the street as you walk around University City, thanks to a new service dog program launched at the University of Pennsylvania that provides military members with a therapy dog.The program, a partnership with the nonprofit, Warrior Canine Connection, describes its work as "mission-based trauma recovery," where Veterans get to interact with dogs from birth through adulthood, training them to act as service dogs for fellow service men and women.Paula Crawford-Gamble, nurse and retired captain in the U.S.

Navy Nurse Corps, who now leads Penn's Veterans Care Excellence Program, spearheaded the initiative at Penn. She has been with her service dog, Dollie, since September and says the difference in her health now compared to before she got Dollie is like night and day. "It's unbelievable how focused she is, and attentive.

She is a natural. She has this intuition that is just far beyond," said Paula. "I have poor vision on my left side, so she walks on my left side and prevents me from bumping into certain things."The therapy dogs learn to help military members with mental and physical disabilities, which are skills that Warrior Canine Connection Executive Director, Rick Yount, counts on veterans to teach."This program involves us teaching veterans how to train these dogs that are given to fellow veterans.

It's the marriage of the human canine connection we talk about… with a mission," said Rick. MORE HEADLINES Warrior Canine Connection was launched in 2008 and has a handful of locations around the country.