In honor of Service Dog Awareness month this September, our MCM partners at Purina Dog Chow are proud to launch the fourth annual Service Dog Salute campaign. Crafted in the USA, Dog Chow has proudly supported the military since the brand was founded in 1926, and their military commitment continues today.
In partnership with service dog organization Got Your Six Support Dogs and TV and radio personality Bobby Bones, Dog Chow has spent the last year following three veterans on their unique journeys of healing and hope alongside a PTSD service dog.
This first-year journey is captured with a new documentary short film titled “Even Heroes Need Heroes”, which you can view in full below. The documentary follows veteran and service dog pairs Shannon and Pepper, Tishawna and Archie, and Andy and Thanos as they learn how to cope with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as night terrors, emotional detachment, and hypervigilance.
Watch the documentary: Even Heroes Need Heroes
Today, over three million military veterans are affected by PTSD. Service dogs have been proven to reduce the severity of PTSD symptoms and suicidal behaviors; however, it costs over $20,000 on average to train and care for just one service dog. This means that unfortunately, less than 1% of those in need are able to receive one.
Our partners at Dog Chow are on a mission to change that.
Since 2018, the Dog Chow Service Dog Salute program has donated $850,000 towards organizations like Got Your Six Support Dogs and Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) to support the training of more service dogs for military veterans. They have also supported critical research within the VA to recognize service dogs as a legitimate therapy option for PTSD and worked to help pass import legislation to enable more veterans to receive these highly trained dogs.
To find out how you can help, visit DogChow.com/service.
Related Articles
MCM DIPLOMAT, Jessica Hood: Let’s go run a marathon in my city
I am so excited to be coming back to Marine Corps Marathon for my second year in a row! I wanted to share this video recap of my race experience from last year to show how much fun I had not only running the MCM, but seeing my friends and family along the way. Running […]
MCM DIPLOMAT, Robert Dietz: Strive to achieve your personal Gold this year
Since the 2024 Olympics are in full swing you may be inspired to get off the sidelines and look into getting active in a sport or activity yourself. This Olympic Games I would like to encourage all of the Marine Corps Marathon community to get themselves committed to completing their own personal goal. Your goal […]
The Crossroads Cup
The Marine Corps Marathon Organization is proud to introduce The Crossroads Cup at the Quantico 12K. New for 2024, Marine Corps Base Quantico units and tenant commands are invited to battle it out on August 24 on the training grounds of the Officer Candidate School (OCS). Participating teams will receive free entry into the Quantico […]