We’re proud to have supported Victoria as she trained to be matched with a US military veteran
 

VICTOR is a proud supporter and partner of This Able Veteran (TAV), a non-profit who works to provide military veterans living with PTSD with a service dog they can depend on. As part of our support, we had the opportunity to name Victoria and follow along her training as she prepared to be matched with a veteran in the 2022 This Able Veteran graduating class!

Below are notes her trainer shared with us over the past year on her progress. Victoria has graduated from the TAV program with her veteran and is now living in Colorado!

 

 

“Victoria is a whip smart little firecracker. She loves training and is dedicated to figuring out ‘the game’ and what we want from her. She's just as curious as she is intelligent and quite a brave little girl. She has yet to meet a stranger and can't wait to cover you in puppy kisses.”

“This girl is magnificent. She has a lot of drive and LOVES to work - in addition to being absolutely beautiful, she is a super quick learner. She is going to be a dedicated helpmate and companion and sure to make her veteran laugh with her shenanigans.”






Our Hero Canine bag proudly features a stars and stripes design in honor of our partnership with This Able Veteran. Through this partnership, we work to bring awareness and support to This Able Veteran and the services they offer veterans with PTSD through their dogs.





Eric Provow and Eric Beach

We’re honored to share more about This Able Veteran’s mission through stories of the veteran’s they’ve helped, like Eric Provow and Eric Beach.

“In my opinion, it’s the best program to train service dogs for veterans, hands down. They are the most committed and dedicated to training and providing the highest quality service dogs for veterans,” said Eric Provow, a Veteran who has been through the TAV program and has been paired with his service dog Denny.

Since being paired with Denny, Provow shares “My life is so much better. My anxiety level used to be through the roof going grocery shopping. Anything like that was hard to do. Denny gives me reassurance that it’s okay, and I can put myself in those vulnerable conditions or places.”

Eric Beach was matched with his service dog, a black lab named Maddie, in 2014 through TAV.

“If an angel could be a dog, it’d be Maddie,” said Beach. “She is pure love.”

Through his participation in the program, Beach learned a different way of seeing the world. “I realized there’s another way to do this life, because the way I was doing it was not working.”

Maddie has helped Eric work through his fears and insecurity. 

“In showing her the world is safe, I find that I’m a leader – I have to show her that I’m confident. Over time I realized that everything I was saying to encourage her, I was actually saying to myself. I can do these things, I’m stronger than I thought.”

To date, This Able Veteran has helped hundreds of dogs and veterans through their program and their two PTSD service dog trainer academies, so more professional trainers can be educated and more veterans can be helped.

You can show your support by looking for our Hero Canine bag, or any of our other VICTOR formulas, in a store near you. To learn more about the work of This Able Veteran, please check out their website, here.