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Veteran Discusses Relationship with Dog to Aid PTSD

Summary: A Marine veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars discusses his relationship with a service dog in this video and how it has helped him deal with PTSD.

There are thousands of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). There are various treatment methods out there, but one method that has been viewed as effective is that of pairing veterans with service dogs.

Pets for Vets is a non-profit group that rescues animals, trains them and matches them with veterans who have been diagnosed with PTSD. One of those veterans is Blade Anthony. He talks about his dog in the video embedded in this post.

Anthony describes his first interaction with the dog at the presentation:

“She said, “I would like to present to you, in the name of Pets for Vets, this service dog to thank you for your service to our country,” and I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw were her eyes looking at me. I just fell apart. I felt like that very moment, months and months of not being happy, and not feeling cool, and not feeling right, just got sucked away instantaneously, and I had this overwhelming feeling of the swine to fall asleep.”

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Jim Vassallo: Jim is a freelance writer based out of the suburbs of Philadelphia in New Jersey. Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and minor in Journalism from Rowan University in 2008. While in school he was the Assistant Sports Director at WGLS for two years and the Sports Director for one year. He also covered the football, baseball, softball and both basketball teams for the school newspaper 'The Whit.' Jim lives in New Jersey with his wife Nicole, son Tony and dog Phoebe.

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