Soldier's Best Friend program helps change veterans' lives

Soldier's Best Friend connects veterans with support dogs

PHOENIX - A veteran met his new best friend on Wednesday morning.

He was paired with a service dog through the Soldier's Best Friend program. It's an organization that trains service dogs for vets with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.

What they're saying:

Meet Dixie.

She and Paul are going through the program together, and she's being trained to be his service dog.

"I don't go out by myself. There has to be somebody in my circle that I can go out with," veteran Paul Brower said. "Soldier's Best Friend has been great because some of the advisors and trainers and staff are vets, so they understand what your needs are," Paul said.

The service dogs are trained specifically to help with whatever a veteran needs.

"Some of the common tasks that dogs will do are help calm the veteran when they're having an anxiety attack, they will provide space for them when they're out in public so that people can't get too close to them, they watch their backs. Most of these dogs will be trained to wake the veteran up from nightmares," Mik Milem, executive director of Soldier's Best Friend, said.

Dixie

The service dog handlers were also presented with $250 gift cards to PetSmart to spoil their new BFF.

Veteran Carolyn Reyes and her dog Naji recently graduated from the program.

"It's been amazing. I was in Operation Iraqi Freedom, so hypervigilance is constant. I have to pay more attention between us, so it's not like I have to check all the doors, all the windows. He's helped calm me down a lot," she said.

Their four-legged friends bring lasting support, unconditional love and comfort to these deserving vets.

"I have her, and she's my reason now for getting out of bed in the morning. I have to take care of her because she takes care of me," Brower said.