YOU can be a part of Cody’s Cause!
Help us help our veterans. Not only will your donation help to provide materials to bring awareness to PTSD; your donation will also help to provide a trained service dog or professional training services for an existing pet to those who suffer from PTSD. Many of our veterans suffer panic attacks while in public places triggering severe anxiety. Many things can trigger an attack for our veterans especially those who have returned from combat. Even things that the average person would never think of...such as the flash of a camera causing the veteran to flashback thinking the flash is a weapon firing. Fireworks can trigger a flashback, footsteps being heard in hidden view, there are just too many things that can cause a flashback. And sadly, many times, the veteran doesn't even recall that they have had a flashback. But a dog can sense it and they can be trained not only to recognize when their owner is in trouble but they can also protect them while in public places and direct them out of a situation that may cause panic. And once they sense this in their owner, they can calm them and bring them back into a peaceful situation. Your donation will also help to provide puppy starter kits for those veterans such as Michael Shellswell and his wife Arianna who chose to raise their own puppy and have her trained as his service dog. This was highly discouraged when we were seeking information on service dogs for veterans as the stress of raising a pup could trigger an anxiety attack. The success rate for a trained dog was only about 45% and dogs were being returned. Dogs tend to bond with their owner around the age of 11 weeks and trained dogs do not begin training until they reach the age of 12-18 months. You basically have a puppy growing up with someone else, being ripped away from his environment at the age of 12-18 months, being placed into a boot camp for training and then off to protect a veteran the dog doesn't even know. That's a lot for a dog. We understand a business relationship, but can we expect a dog to? So, the fact that Michael and Arianna chose to raise their own pup is amazing and we invite you to follow their story.
Our site is new, but we are getting on track and will be updating on a regular basis and soon I will be posting Michael and Arianna’s story with their new family addition, LiLou.
From all of Cody's family members and from the many friends who share the love and compassion to make this organization successful, we sincerely thank you for your thoughts, prayers and support. It's people like yourself that will help us make the difference. Again, THANK YOU and please help us spread the word!