Hello everyone, my name is Andrea,

I’m Nate’s wife and fellow dog enthusiast! This is Mayze. I’m as much her comfort person as she is my comfort companion. In truth, she’s my rather spoiled almost 13-year-old Havanese that traveled across country with me to our new home in Oklahoma. Her litter sister passed away a few months before the move so together we’ve been navigating a few big life changes in as many years.

Unlike my husband, Nate, I’ve been blessed with having one or two dogs as part of my life since well for as long as I care to remember. Yep, I’m a dog lover to my core. That’s why when Nate’s therapist suggested he look into getting a service dog, I leapt into action by scouring the internet for our “options”. It didn’t take long for me to realize that while service dogs are an excellent means of coping with the chronic effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injuries, they are very difficult to obtain.

It’s estimated that there are only around 50 active non-profit organizations in the U.S. that work to provide military veterans with service dogs. Whereas research shows that nearly 23% of all veterans suffer from varying degrees of PTSD. Similarly, it is estimated that 1 in 4 veterans also suffer the chronic effects of TBI’s. Approximately 200,000 servicemembers transition from military service to civilian life each year, according to the DOD. Needless to say, the relatively few organizations that train service dogs specifically for veterans are facing an insurmountable need for years which has only worsened since the COVID pandemic for a variety of reasons on the supply side of things as well as demand.

While I knew that Nate wouldn’t have any problem qualifying medically to be put on the list of any of these amazing organizations across the country, the demand was such that most wait lists remained “closed” by the time Nate retired in April 2023. Of the ones that were accepting new applications I was being told it could be in upwards of a 5 to 7 year wait time. Well, we knew that Nate couldn’t apply to more than one organization at a time and once accepted would be facing years of a difficult transition to civilian life also being retired (medically unable to work even part-time) at the age of 44. Facing the numerous chronic physical injuries would be daunting enough but what about all the rest?!

Fortunately, we were able to find an amazing organization in Greenville, SC called “Service Dogs for Vets” that trains both the veteran and (his) dog together, as a team. Fast forward, when the dynamic duo of Nate and Miss Olivia relocated to Greenville from Texas for service dog training. Although this meant we would be apart for at least another year and would incur additional living expenses, we were truly blessed and will forever be grateful to Nate’s sponsors connected with the SD4V organization for providing him (and Olivia) a full scholarship! We don’t know for sure but even though Nate & Olivia completed the program in less than the average timeframe of 12 months, this type of rather unique team training approach has to be on the higher side of the national average range of $17,000 to upwards of $40,000. The cost of hiring a professional service dog trainer can be between $150 and $250 an hour. The duration and therefore the cost and success of such training depends on several factors not the least of which is your general proximity and ability to participate.

All this got me to thinking! In Nate’s case he was able to train with excellent teachers such that he stands the best chance of successfully training (with) his next canine companion and so on, but most veterans aren’t going to be able to travel at a distance for service dog training let alone relocate across country for a year out of their lives. If they are lucky enough to find an already trained service dog, will they be able to afford it? How will they know beforehand if this highly trained dog will be a good fit for them (and their family)? What do they do to improve their health and well-being in the meantime? How might a veteran who has never had a dog know where to even start? If only we could help.

Well, that got me to thinking some more and that’s when the idea of Cache Canines for Veterans came about. More on that next time. Until then, thank you for your service!

Andrea