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- Hi, I'm Catherine Heigl and this is my dog, Tamber.

I adopted him from my local animal shelter.

Right now there are hundreds of thousands of incredible dogs and cats in our shelters.

In this episode of Shelter Me, you will see the story of two such dogs that people gave up on and those who helped them, a story about shelter pets, being trained by prisoners to become service dogs for people with disabilities, and shelter dogs being matched with our returning veterans to help them heal from the injuries of war.

Shelter Me is about the lives that are changed when shelter pets are given a second chance.

♪ Your love can shelter me.

♪ ♪ There's nothing it won't bring.

♪ ♪ Open your heart and breathe ♪ - I've always wanted to work with animals.

I've always had animals all my life.

My dream when I was little was to be a veterinarian.

- Officer Navarro?

- Yes.

- Half a couple special assignments for you today.

The report is for a cocker spaniel and a black terrier.

The black terrier supposedly has an injured leg.

- So see if you can patrol that area and find it.

There's so many stray dogs out because so many people have lost their homes and have left their animals behind.

So now they're roaming the streets.

And it seems to fill up our, our shelters.

It's why we rely heavily on public coming in and adopting.

We've come so far these days with the education of the treatment of animals and everybody that I've worked with, they all care about animals.

We all have animals at home.

There's several of us that even go above and beyond to contact rescue groups and, and you know, right away, just say, Hey, we need to get these animals off the street and we actually help each other out and, and have a heart about it.

- 2 0 2, I have a call for you, it's a very aggressive white pit bull.

- Copy.

- Thank you.

We've gotta handle that one right now.

'cause it could be an emergency situation where somebody either is, or might, end up getting hurt.

But we're gonna take a look around here.

We're looking for a white pit bull that's acting aggressive.

Hello.

Animal Services.

Oh, there he is.

Come here Boo Boo.

Come on.

Trying to catch a dog that's running out loose on the street, it goes case by case scenario, depending upon the aggression level of the dog.

It can go from anywhere from doing the quick Cinderella voice of the "come here, puppy.

Come on."

and having them come to you, to having to trap 'em in a corner sometimes and and get 'em.

- Come here.

Come on, come on.

You're a good boy.

Yes you are, you're a good boy.

We use our, our pole for aggressive dogs because you know, we wanna be able to get 'em and not be bitten.

We wanna stay safe.

- Are you trying to attack people?

Huh?

I don't think so.

He looks like he's been on the street for at least a week at the least.

He's a young dog, probably about two.

It could be that he got outta somebody's yard or he got left behind in a housing transition.

You know, a lot of people just leave their animals behind.

But he's a sweet dog, a very good temperament.

Nine times out of 10 when they see a pit bull, they automatically say aggressive.

You know, it's unfortunate for that breed of dog.

'cause they can be great dogs in my opinion.

They've been the most honest breed for me being out in the street with them.

You know, this guy, if he was gonna be aggressive, he would've definitely come at me aggressive.

Now that we've got this guy, we're gonna go to the next call.

We've turned on the fans and he's got a little towel to sleep on so he'll be good in here.

- Hi boy.

There's a group of dogs running around wreaking havoc in the neighborhood.

I'm gonna get out real quick and look down the sidewalk.

There was a little one that was running.

Yeah, he's right there.

The little dog.

That one can be difficult at times because they can fit through the little holes in the fences and whatnot.

A lot of them in this area are pretty much aware of what's going on in the street and who we are and what we're about.

That's the bad part about it, is them being so smart at times.

'cause we can't get ahold of them.

Oh my god.

Almost got part of the tire.

Okay.

Oh crud.

The most nerve wracking moments in my job is I'm trying to catch a dog and it's near any busy intersection, any busy street.

I am so fearful of them running out into the street and getting hit by a car.

Okay, this is where I'm gonna cut this one off because since this is a busy street, I'm not gonna chase that dog and have it get hit.

This one's a straight confined dog in somebody's backyard.

You called about a dog in your backyard?

Yes.

- He's been back here for a couple of days.

- Apparently a stray dog set up camp in the man's backyard.

among bunch of the debris, he's getting worked done on his house, and he called us.

- Hi.

Hi Boy.

- Yeah, we got people working on the house.

When I see a dog cowering in the corner and shaking, I lower my voice into a more calming voice so that it doesn't scare the dog.

- Oh my goodness, you're just a baby.

I don't move too fast and take a little bit more time just so that it reassures the dog that I'm not there to come after it and attack it, you know?

And because I already see that it's scared.

- You've got a huge abscess under your chin.

Come on honey.

- And once I got her out of wood pile, she was more than happy to be around people.

She's a very, very sweet dog.

Got a pretty big abscess underneath her chin.

So we're gonna have to take her to the vet to check her out.

Very nice dog.

Very highly adoptable.

So I'm hoping for the best for this one.

When we bring them back here to the shelter, we'll photograph 'em, scan 'em to see if they have a microchip.

And then I take 'em over to the vet techs where they will vaccinate the dogs, deworm 'em, deflea 'em, and set them up in kennels.

We hold them basically for four days.

So it gives a chance for an owner to come in and, and claim the animal.

And after then we make them available for adoption if nobody claims them.

And our website's a big key factor in playing on that one and giving people a lot of information.

That's why the photograph helps, because when it's on our website, then it helps the public to be able to see different types of dogs that we do have here at the shelter.

And it might be one that they're looking for.

- Come on.

I have seen several of the dogs and even cats that I've brought in get adopted and it makes me so happy.

It makes me really appreciate my job, 'cause it can be such a heartbreaking job at times.

You know, we all get attached to the animals.

We do our best to take care of them while they're in our care at the shelters.

And to see them end up being euthanized because they either got sick or the numbers are too high in the shelters, it breaks your heart.

And when you're able to see them get adopted, I think the most rewarding part of my job is knowing that I was able to get a new home for the animals that end up in the shelter.

I think these two dogs are very sweet, good-natured dogs.

They've got great personalities and I think they are very highly adoptable.

- Hi Cassian, how are you?

- Good.

Nice to see you again.

So what are we dealing with today?

- Two strays that were brought in by officers.

The first one is a dog who came in with bite wounds.

We're not sure if he was the aggressor or he was the one getting picked on, but we do have him in the keep alones just to be on the safe side.

And he is getting treated for the medical condition right now.

This is the first guy.

- Okay, so they're pretty old wounds.

- Yeah, - They're not fresh.

Okay.

Alright, let's get him out.

- My name's Cassian Sandberg.

I've been training, evaluating dogs for about eight to 10 years.

I help rescue groups and private individuals.

I keep the dogs in the home or take the dogs to new homes.

It's very alarming the amount of euthanasia that goes on in a shelter.

I think a lot of people think that dogs from a shelter are there because they're bad dogs because they've done something wrong.

And that is a complete misconception.

Where a lot of these dogs are great dogs that people just can't look after anymore.

Okay, so what I'm gonna do now is handle the dog correctly.

Have him follow me.

I'm now in charge.

I'm his leader.

And what he'll do is he'll just relinquish to me.

He'll just stay back there and go where I go.

So I'm not even using the leash now.

He just goes where I go.

We've only known him for 10 minutes and he's been a stray on the street.

He wants somebody to take control of him.

Take take the the guesswork out of life.

So this is a good dog.

This is a dog that wants to give up that to the handler.

He wants to be told what to do in a nice, calm, controlled way.

People think that this dog is gonna be aggressive towards them, like the phone call.

They're wrong.

I mean, we've evaluated him so we can see they're wrong.

So putting this dog into a new home, this would be a really good family pet.

I think people feel that the dog they want in their home, they want to know more about and they want to know where it came from.

And what they're not understanding is dogs live in the moment.

You give 'em the right environment and they'll thrive.

And dogs that have been in a bad environment will act one way and you put them in their new good environment and they'll act another way.

- All right.

The next dog we have is a female.

We have her in our isolation ward because she does have some type of a mass or a growth underneath her neck.

Come here baby girl.

It's okay, you can come out.

It's okay.

So my guess about this dog could be that she probably came from a backyard breeder and she could have just been kicked out because of the abscess.

Now obviously because of her abscess, we can't put a leash on her and take control and really make her feel confident.

So what we're doing here is a slower process.

I love dogs like this because you have to work with them and you see them come out of their shell.

You see a dog like this, I can guarantee in a couple of weeks, get this dog in a home, this dog is gonna be running all over the backyard.

You know, just having a great time.

Basically this is just another statistic of another really nice dog that could be a good family dog sitting in one of the many Los Angeles shelters, that needs a home.

There's many dogs on the street, many dogs being turned in, and you are adorable looking.

Look at that under bite.

And I think she will make a really nice loving pet.

It is important to find the right dog that meets your match, your environment.

So I recommend temperament is the key.

Don't go on looks.

That dog may be too much energy.

It may be too quiet, it may be too nervous around children.

So it's important to find the right dog for the right environment.

- I am a volunteer.

This is my third year.

I love it.

I love to come in here.

I love to get these dogs adopted.

That's about the best part of this job.

I do it for the animals.

I'm a animal lover.

And it just gets me.

A lot of people that come back always say, you know, I got my best dog here.

And I think these animals know that they've been saved when they get adopted.

Some people love pits, you know, just as we do.

They're the sweetest dogs in the world, you know, they just, they got a bad reputation and that's about it.

He's gentle.

As they say, the gentle giant.

- Sit.

Big boy.

Good boy.

- In the shelter there's absolutely everything that anybody would want, from a puppy to a senior that's nice and mellow, to a dog that'll go jogging and hiking with you, to a nice family pet.

Anything that somebody wants, I guarantee is in the shelters today.

- Let's take a seat right here and get to know her better.

- Come on Emma.

I love the brindle.

The brindle and white.

Hi.

Hi mama.

- She did come in with a medical condition.

She came in with a mass or a growth underneath her chin.

That's something that we can't afford to do.

So that would be something that you would need to pay and do when she's out.

Okay.

Hi.

Hi.

Okay, I am gonna take the leash off her.

Okay.

Spend some time.

Get to know her.

Okay.

- Hi Emma.

So what do we think?

Oh my gosh, I love her.

I love her so much.

Yeah, I'd like to fill out some papers.

- You'd like to adopt her.

Okay.

I'll take her to the back, get her exit exam and we'll start the process.

Oh gosh.

Okay.

- I'm here today to look for someone who can help me and show me the pit bull I saw online.

He came into the shelter as a stray.

- We think he's about two years old.

He did come in with a couple of bite wounds on the side of the face.

It's healed up really good.

So he's good to go.

He's just a big lovable goofball.

He's so adorable.

- I never had a problem with the bully breed.

And I really, really love the breed because they're so human- attached, and they're so loyal.

Hi.

How did it go?

So great.

I really like him a lot.

I adopted him officially.

I signed the paperwork.

We just connected.

He's a perfect match.

- Hi Dr. Halligan.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Great to have you here.

Who's is cutie?

This is Emma.

Oh, Emma, you're a darling.

Oh, you're a lover, aren't you?

Oh, shake paw.

Oh, what's that on her neck?

Yeah, she has a, she has a medical condition, a growth under her neck.

I really wanted to get that checked out.

- Wow.

It's large, huh?

Okay, we gotta go check that out.

I just removed 73 ccs of fluid from the lump that she had under her jaw.

And so that's good news because it's not a mass.

My gut is that we can just keep draining it and it'll eventually stop filling up and it's just a benign seroma.

- Bye-bye.

Thank you.

- I've had Emma for about two weeks now since I adopted her from South Central Shelter.

And it's just amazing how dynamic this dog's personality is.

She was a little timid at first.

I don't think she'd ever been in a house, but she became very confident, very comfortable, very fast.

I wish every dog could be as lucky as Emma.

- Yeah, you are the best.

Who's the best?

You're the best.

- Well, when I went to the shelter and I saw Sammy, it broke my heart to just know that I only could take him home.

There are so many of them that die and I can't even believe that he would've been euthanized.

He's just a great loving dog and thinking that he had no structure, nothing, and then he comes to me and he's really, really loving, really, really kind, really, really obedient.

Real fast.

It's quite amazing.

No bad bone in his body.

- My name is Taryn and I work for Canine Support Teams, a nonprofit group that trains dogs to become service animals for disabled people.

One of the things that makes CST unique is that each of the dogs' training takes place at the women's prison here in Southern California.

- We are on our way to Mary S. Roberts Animal Shelter.

We're going to be looking for some dogs that we could possibly use for our prison program.

After we select dogs, we will be bringing those two dogs down to the prison and placing those dogs with two of our inmate trainers.

- Many of our dogs are pulled from local shelters where we choose those who will be best- suited for service dog work.

- So I do have two for you to take a look at.

Their names are Ricky and Richie.

They're brothers.

They came from Riverside City County Animal Services where they were owner- surrenders.

Ricky, he's a sweet, sweet boy.

Loves to play ball.

He's recently learned that toys are fun.

- Okay, so he's a candidate.

We'd like to look at him.

- Okay, wonderful.

- And then his brother's right down here.

Oh, okay.

This is Richie.

So I think the girls at the prison will really like this 'cause he is so, he's so sweet.

Yeah, he seems real easy-going.

So I'd like to look at him too.

- While any shelter dog can be a great pet, a service dog requires special training.

Once we find dogs that we wanna work with, we bring them to meet CST's founder and president Carol Roquemore, who herself has a service dog that came from a shelter.

- Sugar's a shelter dog.

But as you can see, she's got a lot of love in her heart.

Sugar.

Look, get it.

My disability is polio and I now have MS also.

And what my own dog does for me is retrieval.

Bracing, opening and closing doors and assorted other tasks.

- So do you think he might be a possible candidate?

- Yeah, I think soft eyes, no reaction to the dog.

Right?

No fear of the wheelchair.

I was about 35 years old, a dog trainer doing basic obedience.

I knew what a dog could do and I decided that disabled people needed more help than they were getting.

So I formed a nonprofit.

So here's the brother, this is Richie.

- Hi Richie.

We use shelter dogs because the incarcerated woman is basically in a shelter.

They're imprisoned and shelter dogs are in prison too.

And so we pull them out as much as we can, the ones that are appropriate, and we will partner them with an inmate.

And the inmate can then train that dog.

And then we take them out and we place them with a disabled individual.

So it's a win all the way around.

The shelter wins, the dog wins and the inmate wins and the disabled person wins.

The dogs will be placed with the prisoners anywhere from probably about four months to seven months.

They'll be going through training, they're gonna start with learning all their basic obedience.

They learn 65 commands in all.

And we currently have 6 dogs in the prison right now that came from the shelter.

This is a prison that houses adult women that committed felonies that can go from burglary to voluntary mass murder.

We even house some life-sentence inmates.

We have a reputation here at CIW for being progressive and for giving opportunities for the inmates to rehabilitate themselves.

And this program is one of those.

You're training 'em to do something good for the community.

So the inmates are giving back.

It's very rewarding for them as well.

- This one right here, this is Edward.

He came from the pound, they took him to the facility and then I got him December 1st.

- Edward, Edward, I've been down about four and a half years now and I have five and a half more to go.

So pretty, pretty good, big chunk of time.

But the puppy program has really helped me deal with everything I have to deal with.

You know, how much time I have and you know, being away from my family and everything.

- They call me Tattoo.

This is my dog Alto.

I've been here for about almost 20 years now.

I've trained about 17 or 18 dogs.

This keeps me busy 24 hours a day.

Basically my day goes, I get up at six o'clock in the morning.

They key the doors for the puppies to go out and go potty.

I feed him, do some training with him.

I work in the unit so I'm very fortunate to be right here with him.

- Let's go Alto.

- Hey Alto, how you doing?

- The poor guy was lost.

Eating out of trash cans, running the streets as a child, you know, I was lost.

Always running away from home.

You never know.

That might've been him.

He might've ran away from home.

All he needed was a little love, really, a little structure and love and somebody to show him that they care.

He's a different dog than when he came in here.

And me too.

I'm a different dog than when I came in here.

You know, needed that structure.

I needed to know that somebody actually cared.

- Oh, the dogs are actually one of the greatest things I think here at this institution.

It really does bring a touch of humanity These animals are being saved from the shelters.

They're being brought in and, and being loved as animals should be.

And they're getting trained to be helpful with other people.

The inmates also involved are feeling a sense of purpose with this and helping other people.

That they're contributing back to society by helping people.

I think that's the biggest thing.

- This is a voluntary program.

This is not their main assignment.

They would take their dog when they go to their job and the dog stays with 'em.

And that gives them an opportunity to train the dog to be with other people and like in a normal environment, in the community.

- Wait, let's go.

So Trace is my first dog from the beginning.

I've been involved in, I believe, 10 other dogs collectively training them, but not from the beginning, not from scratch.

And he has only been here two months, but he was the fastest learner that I've ever seen.

Again in all of those 10 dogs, you could only, you would only have to tell him something one time and he would learn it instantly.

Look, get it.

Oh good boy.

Bring it.

Hold, give.

Oh good boy.

Oh, we can't have it all.

Whatcha doing?

Back.

Me and my fellow coworkers, were all clerks here in this office under the Associate Warden.

So it makes for a real optimal place to train a dog, how to react in a sensitive, quiet area.

We have tugs and nudges on every drawer.

So the dogs learn how to tug open different things.

- Tug.

Oh good boy.

We have light switches that they'll learn how to do here.

And it's just one of the most unique situations we could ever hope to have had.

- Light.

- Good boy.

- I've been in this institution for three years and I was incarcerated for 11 years.

So, and I'm only, I'm less than two years to go home.

- Oh good boy.

Look at you.

Even being in prison, you can choose to go on which path you go in prison.

It's very easy to be led astray, even here and CST, this program, they don't leave room for error.

I mean, you have to be, you're held to a higher standard.

To be in this program you have to be write-up free.

You have to meet every highest standard.

So you choose what's more important, running around and getting into trouble or changing someone's life potentially by working with a dog.

- We're gonna be doing our training class where we're gonna be doing all of our different behaviors that the dogs are learning for their service dog work.

- It's okay.

So this is Ricky.

His brother is Richie and they have not been, they've been kenneled in separate kennels for, for the last couple days.

He was an owner surrender and he's been at the shelter for three months.

- Good boy.

You know, and now that Alto's just gonna be right across the hall from me.

You know, that's probably not gonna do very good tonight because he's gonna be busy wanting me, but he's with her a lot.

So hopefully everything will work out.

But hey, we'll do our best, you know.

Do our best.

- Good boy.

This is Richie.

- Richie.

- Richie.

And I was hoping that you would do the training for him and at least start and see how he does.

He's a little bit softer than his brother, but he's a little bit more outgoing.

- I think we're gonna work just fine.

- All right.

Very good.

- That's his favorite treat.

- I'm June, I'm a lifer.

Doing without.

And these dogs are lifesavers.

We're gonna have to do some work.

I see.

But we're gonna be fine.

He's gonna pick up quick.

I can tell.

- Okay, everybody, please get up and sit on a chair with your dog.

Make sure you have clickers, treats, 'cause we're gonna start the class with working in the chairs.

- I'm looking for their ability to do the task.

I'm looking for how long it takes for them to do it.

How much prompting it takes from the trainer to get them to do it.

If they have their hands all over the dog or if it's verbal and if the dog is responding the way that it should, quickly, and doing the behavior.

Precisely - What we're doing is we're practicing a seizure alert.

We're trying to get him to get used to noticing somebody on the floor.

We're trying to get him to alert us.

- I'm very proud of the dogs, you know, and what they've learned.

But I think more so I'm proud of what I call my ladies and what they have accomplished themselves here because they are doing the work.

They have learned this over the past eight years and they are now demonstrating their skill and their ability to take on a class like this and basically run it.

And I'm just watching it.

- When she meets a new dog, she does that.

- And then if I see something that's not correct, then we go in and we'll fix it.

Watch her eyes.

Watch her eyes when she does something like that.

Okay.

Remember there's a freeze.

- Right.

- So catch her before.

- Catch her before that.

- Right.

- Okay?

That's your homework this week.

- Awesome.

- The nine dogs that are ready to go have been fully trained.

They are well versed and know over 50 commands, from basic obedience to task.

The primaries that we have with them were the people that taught them what they know.

- Okay.

Leo, watch me.

- Good boy.

Look.

Get it.

- Good boy.

Bring it.

Hold, give.

Good job.

Good boy.

And can you bring her around to do a place on here?

My name is Sylvia Casuga and I'm a volunteer for Canine Support Teams.

I think the shelter dog program actually helps us in many ways, but something that's really good about the shelter dogs is they come in with almost like ganas, like a desire and they want to hear, what can I do for you?

No one has paid attention to them very much because they didn't have time to at the shelter.

So the dog comes in and it's like, oh my God, I have one on one attention, one lady, sometimes two or three ladies to one dog.

And so the dog all of a sudden wants to work so hard for those people because they're getting so much love and attention.

And that does so much for the women too.

To be able to have a dog to work with.

- Every one of these animals is an emotional little creature.

I don't understand how people can just put them down without at least attempting to rehabilitate them.

Like we're trying to be rehabilitated and, and it's not really that difficult, with the training that we've received.

Granted eight years ago, I wouldn't be able to do it.

It's a lot of work.

We don't just have the dog.

I work full time.

I go to college full-time.

So I have full-time studies plus classes, plus I have a dog to train.

Well, it's very important that they know how to behave in an office type setting because this dog could go to somebody who works in an office.

- Now type in what you're looking for.

- Or even say that she's with someone that stays at home, but they have to go to the doctor's office.

Then she has to be able to go to a spot and lay down and behave herself.

- So you get to start the shop and safety.

- Okay.

We've often been told that it's not just the task that they can do for the person, it's the fact that they're the icebreaker.

When somebody sees a disabled person, the dog with a disabled person, they see the dog rather than the wheelchair or the person's disability.

So they come up and they want to interact with the dog or ask questions about the dog.

It's the same thing here.

They don't, they look beyond the fact that I'm an inmate or whatever, whatever crime or whatever they've known about me in the past, and they still want to interact with the dog.

It's all about the dog and the big picture of what they can do for a disabled person.

- There's zero offenses after someone has been in this dog program.

Anybody who left CIW, California Institution for Women, they left for good.

If they've been in this program, they're not coming back.

And most likely when they're out there, they will get a shelter dog too.

So the dogs here that are leaving today have been paired up with an inmate who is a very advanced trainer.

And they've been together anywhere from four months to some of them 10 months, depending on when they came in.

So this is Leo.

He is 18 months old and he's getting ready to leave to go to team training and be placed with somebody.

Leo is a great boy, so I'm gonna really miss him.

He does really good with pulling wheelchairs.

He does great with retrieving.

He's pretty, he's pretty good with just about everything.

Although I'm in prison, I'm not.

Within myself I have freedom because of the help of a dog.

And so I know that when the dog goes to somebody out there that can't maybe walk or can't, you know, use their legs or can't use their hands to turn on the light that this dog is gonna give, that person that independence.

- We've done our part and now it's time to let them go on with their journey and be matched up with a disabled person where they can change their life and make their life better.

And then they're going to hand them off to us.

We'll change out their jackets and their leashes and we'll go ahead and load them in the vans.

It's an emotional day for all of us.

- He's an awesome dog.

- He's a good guy.

- He's gonna really help somebody.

- I know.

I know.

- And we're gonna come back in with pictures and we're gonna come back in with stories and we're gonna tell you all about it.

- You always do.

And it's always, it always, each one is special.

So we, we can't wait to hear 'em.

We want him to change and affect someone's life, even, even a fraction of their lives.

And he's gonna go out and do that.

So at the end of the day, that's, that's what we do this for.

So as hard as it is for us to let go, we gotta imagine what he's gonna do.

- They're gonna go out and be with somebody all the time.

They're not gonna be alone in the backyard, they're not gonna be neglected.

- I really appreciate everything you did.

I know that you've been doing this a long time now and that's why you're the professional trainers you are, so, great job.

Thank you so much.

Every single one of you.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

We need you to hand over your dogs now.

So if you come forward one at a time, we'll get someone to take your dog.

Okay?

- I will be taking Tiffany.

Thank you very much, Sky.

- Good dog.

Let's go.

Thank you so much, Vera, good job - People have often told me, how can you do it?

I couldn't do it just to, to have them taken away from me.

I said I could give up months of happiness for moments of pain.

It's sad, but I've learned that I'm just a, I'm blessed to be a part of this.

Thank you so much.

- So welcome.

- You are so welcome.

- You guys take care.

It's, it's hard not to cry.

It's, it's very hard not to.

It's like a piece, a piece of your heart's going.

Your time because you train with these dogs 24 hours a day.

Every moment that you're interacting with this dog is a form of training.

So you're pouring your heart into everything and you pour your heart into it with the expectations that they're gonna go out and give a piece of your heart back to the community.

So it's really what you're going for.

- Bye.

- Goodnight ladies see you in class tonight.

For me it's a big deal to see.

That is what helps the ladies turn their lives around because they have that opportunity to melt their heart and start over.

They give back a lot to the community when they train a dog.

- Today we're out here at the facility and we have all our clients out here and we're going to start working with dogs and seeing which dogs work with them best.

- Well it goes back to Carol.

She builds wonderful matches in the clients and the dogs.

She's really intuitive on how she matches the dog with a client.

- We have some, some clients who have seizure disorders, heart conditions, and a couple of military people who have some disorders.

They'll be introducing, like getting to know them, just starting to develop a rapport with them.

That's it.

- And as you see those relationships build nice matches were made.

- Yes, let's go.

- Since that's an emotional support dog, he was doing it just perfect from the get go.

All focused eye contact, giving her affection, receiving affection, building a great bond between the two of them.

It's looking good for Trace.

- Okay, if you could go clear down there.

And turn around and face me.

- I have autonomic dysfunction, which means that my body's autonomic nervous system doesn't function correctly.

When you're ready to go, you grab the harness.

- Okay.

That becomes their cue to move.

- Okay.

- I've never worked with a service animal before so - Come on.

Come on, come pull, - Come, come on.

Well, I'm hoping to be able to leave the house by myself some, I'm unable to do that.

- Come on Leo.

Thatta boy.

- Come on, thatta boy.

Leo is looking really good with his client pulling her chair.

But even better, he is giving her great eye contact focus and attention really watching what she needs.

Really reading her there.

- Now this would be something I would use without my cane.

- Yes.

It would be something you would use without your cane.

- Okay, - Perfect.

- Ernie is already responding well to his commands for the harness that he's in.

Shifting his weight just perfectly from for his client also so that Mike can work well with him.

- Down - Gentle.

- Good job.

- For Shayla, she's doing really well on emotional support and to build a great bond with her person so that she'll be prepared to seizure alert for her.

- This usually works a little better if you can put the leash around her neck.

- Well, I have seizures and I have drop attacks, so mine just come out.

Those kinds come out of the blue.

I live in Boston and I also fell in Harvard Square and people just tend to walk around you.

Walking is so important in my life and being able to walk again would be phenomenal.

It'll give me hope.

I'll be able to do things in my life.

I think having a service dog will, people might actually stop and say, are you okay?

- Walk.

- But when you've lost some of your independence and something as simple as dropping an item on the floor or not being able to open the door or not being able to turn on a light switch or walk without assistance or having to push a wheelchair becomes a big deal.

So when you are able to gain that, that, that feeling of, of I've got that back.

It's liberation.

- I went over overseas when I was 20, killed my first person when I was 20.

Well, I killed my first person that night, plus 50 others.

- Good girl.

- I did call it quits.

You know, if I didn't get Tikka, I'd be dead.

I just didn't want to deal with it anymore.

I didn't wanna deal with the army's crap no more.

I didn't want to deal with, you know, the haunting memories and, and living my every, you know, day to day life knowing that I've destroyed families and taken women and, and sons and daughters and brothers and husbands and dads and everything away.

You know.

My name is Andrew James Trotto and I was a tank crewman in the United States Army.

I pilot the M1 A2Sep battle tanks.

I was attached to 168 Combat Action Battalion with the 4th Infantry Division.

Our job was patrols, SKTs, small kill teams, reconnaissance, surveillance, foot patrols, house raids, detainees, firefights, left and right for about four or five months.

It was pretty solid, heavy action.

My first firefight, we had 54 kills and it went downhill from there.

- It's hard for me to talk about what I hear from veterans because it's pretty horrible.

There's an enormous amount of PTSD in our returning vets.

Current estimates are that between 15 and 20% of the returning veterans have PTSD now.

The world is a really dangerous place for someone with PTSD.

A veteran coming back from Iraq is experiencing the United States as if it were a little bit like Iraq.

So when you're driving down the street and you see a trash can, it's a trash can.

When a vet from Iraq comes down the street, it, there's always the likelihood that that's actually an IED, that that's an improvised explosive device that could destroy his car.

- So around 2004 to 2005, our our unit, my unit went to Iraq, I got injured, I came out.

Around 2006, seven, I got medically discharged.

- Okay, good girl.

My name is Blade Anthony.

I'm HM3 Anthony Corpsman, medic for the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps.

- Bravo, sit.

Good girl.

Gimme five.

Gimme five.

Yeah.

Other than saving my life, literally not speaking rhetorically or metaphorically, she just came into my life and has literally turned my life around for the better.

I didn't think I needed anything.

I didn't need help.

I don't need counseling.

I don't need any type of medication.

I'm fine.

In my career in the army, I was a robot.

I wasn't meant to get hurt.

I wasn't meant to have feelings and I was supposed to be a machine.

And it's hard to ask for help when you're in that kind of position.

- I'd call the 1-800 number, Suicide Prevention Center for military.

That's probably three or four times.

- Two months go by and became even more suicidal.

Homicidal, didn't sleep, was seeing things that wasn't there.

Hearing things that wasn't there.

- I didn't know that.

Hey, I had PTSD, I better go see a doc.

I just started getting angry at people at Rite Aid in line, 'cause they would cut in front of me.

- Yeah, I was an evil person.

I hated you or I wanted to kill you.

- I would find myself crying all the time.

When people would ask me what's wrong?

I would say nothing.

So it was a lot of denial.

I lost a lot of friends 'cause they didn't know how to deal with it.

I didn't know how to deal with them, not dealing with it.

I became more isolated, highly emotional, really pissed off at everything and everyone.

I almost got into fight like maybe once or twice a week.

And the nightmares were pretty bad.

So I was just pretty much on the cusp of just wanting to end it all because I, I didn't understand what was going on.

I didn't wanna go through the pain.

- My name is Stephanie Baigent and I work for Freedom Service Dogs.

And we rescue dogs from shelters and we train them as service dogs to assist people with mobility impairments.

We train for soldiers and veterans and children with autism.

Last year we placed 30 service dogs and six of them went to military or soldiers or veterans.

We love rescuing the dogs.

There's so many wonderful dogs with the temperament of a service dog sitting in shelters.

We don't need a breeding program to have the same temperament and quality dog to train for service dog.

When I met Andrew and interviewed him, my thoughts were that having a service dog would help him move forward in his treatment and be able to go places and do stuff.

- There's a program in the WTU called the AW2 program.

A couple of the soldiers had dogs and I've been a dog lover my entire life.

So I went to AW2 and my AW2 advocate told me about the program.

So I went ahead and filled out the application and sent it in.

And within I think two weeks I had a phone call, did an over the phone interview, and then went into Freedom, sat down with Erin and Stephanie and the whole crew.

And then they brought out three dogs and she was one of 'em.

And her and I just, it was love at first sight and... ...hold on.

- Tikka came to us from the Weston County Humane Society in Wyoming.

She was rescued by them when she was just about a year old.

The shelter identified her as a service dog candidate for us and sent her to our facility in Inglewood, Colorado.

And I met Tikka there.

I fell in love with her instantly.

She came out of her kennel to go for a potty break and I snagged her as my dog in training.

She was just, she's wonderful.

- Usually they said it would take up to six months to a year to be matched with the dog.

I was matched with Tika in three weeks.

It was cool 'cause her and I just got along so well.

The first day that Stephanie let me take her with me.

No one else.

I was a special one.

So I took Tikka with me and ever since then, if it wasn't for her, I'd be dead right now.

- I am Clarissa and I'm the founder and national director of Pets for Vets.

And we rescue shelter dogs.

We train them and we specifically match them to veterans to match their personality and their lifestyle to the temperament of the dog.

To help them with things like post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, anxiety and depression.

Blade's application stood out to me from the beginning because there's a question on there saying, what are you looking for in a dog?

And he didn't say a specific breed.

He didn't say short hair, long hair.

He didn't say male, female.

It wasn't anything specific.

It was, I just need a companion, a dog that I can love, that can love me back.

- So she had me close my eyes, open my door, and then I heard the collar.

And then the first thing the dog did was sniff my hand.

And then I, I started to pet her and she said, okay, you can touch her and stuff.

And then she said, you can open your eyes.

And we made eye contact and I started crying.

- She knows when I'm upset, you know, she knows when I'm having issues and anxiety and she'll come over and snuggle up next to me and lick my face and put her paw on me.

And she gave me that satisfaction that I'm not alone anymore.

You know, I have somebody next to my side 24 7.

I don't have to worry about looking over my shoulder.

It's what she does.

- Tikka was a good for Andrew.

She just has a very soft temperament.

She's very in tune with what your emotions are, what your feelings are.

Part of her training was to recognize when Andrew was feeling stress in public.

We trained the dogs to post and block, which is to come in front or stand behind if we have somebody that's standing too close or crowding the client.

And Tikka kind of offered that naturally, - She'll just watch my back and that takes so much off of my shoulders.

I've calmed down a lot.

- All that I needed to know was that she was a rescue dog too.

The whole rescue aspect, taking care of one another is very much prevalent.

In other words, I was in need of help.

I've been through stuff, I've gone through hell and I need help.

Same thing with her.

She was a stray.

She was probably obviously abused.

She was covered with mange and she was really skinny.

And you could see her rib cage.

She had scars all over her face.

So we were both kind of in the same boat, so to speak.

Even though she's a dog and I'm a human being, we still feel the same pain.

We still felt the same isolation, not being loved being by ourselves.

So we're kindred spirits and we're helping one another.

Daily - Dogs are very tolerant of human beings.

They form very strong bonds.

Most veterans feel safer with a trusted colleague.

And there's no more trusted colleague for a vet than a dog.

- We meet a lot of dogs going through our program.

'cause not every dog makes it as a service dog, but some dogs are just born to do it.

And Tikka was one of them.

- From what I know, she was given up for adoption.

So she went into the shelter and then Freedom came and got her and adopted her.

And she was the best dog in my class.

They put her in a shelter in the valley somewhere in San Fernando.

And that's where Clarissa found her, - I was meeting a lot of different dogs and none of them were the right dog for Blade.

But when I met Bravo, I could just tell that she had been through a lot.

And the same feeling that I got from Blade was the same feeling I was getting from her.

Yet she also had this sort of goofy, playful side.

And I knew that that goofiness was what was gonna keep Blade from getting too much into his head or when he was in his head, it was gonna bring him right out of what he was going through - And getting Bravo.

I was able to admit that I needed to look for help.

I was able to just feel that there was something worth living for.

I wouldn't be here talking to you right now had it not been for her.

- People say suicide is very selfish.

I get that.

But when you're in the zone, you're not thinking about that.

You're not thinking about, it's selfish, you have people that care about you.

I understand that.

But what people don't understand is the terror that just completely, I mean just plays over and over and over and over and over again inside your head.

And it literally drives you insane.

She's kind of taken all that anxiety away.

Most of it.

I still have my days, still have my nights, but she'll wake me up outta my night terrors and she'll lick my face and let me know everything's all right.

And she just gives me that, okay, that you're good.

You're not alone.

- I'm a lot less of a hothead.

I don't get pissed off all the time anymore.

This dog has done so much for me and I feel that, you know, they kept saying, I'm gonna get a dog, I'm gonna get a dog.

And I, it was the other other way around.

You know, she was gonna get a person to be able to take care of.

She has done more for me in a short amount of time than a lot of my really close friends have over my lifetime.

She has literally just saved my life and been here so that I could continue what I need to do.

Now I'm all gung-ho about wanting other Marines or other, other military personnel to know that they too can have a shelter dog.

And, and I don't know if it's gonna save their lives, but there's certainly a potential or the hope.

There's hope now, I guess is the word I want to use that, that it's gonna be okay and that things aren't as screwed up as they think they might be.

It is cool to see so many organizations springing up all over the country that are honestly and sincerely devoted to helping us.

'Cause God bless the Veterans Administration, Veterans Affairs, they're trying their best with what they have to deal with and just starting to come up with novel programs and helping reach out.

- Good girl.

- We are not going to have enough resources to deal with all the men and women coming back with PTSD.

We know that.

- As a Marine combat veteran, it's a unique honor for me to see this bill considered today by the full house, the Veteran's Dog Training Therapy Act is not only my first bill, but it is extremely important and I'm very, very pleased that it has passed the house already.

This is a pilot program to get started.

We are gonna have those with post-traumatic stress train shelter dogs to get them certified so that they can then help veterans that are disabled.

Whether a veteran has lost a limb or two limbs and they need a dog to help open doors or pick things up.

So it's veterans helping veterans and the best part is when you marry them together, these dogs that need that chance and these veterans that are putting their lives back together, trying and fighting to assimilate back into society.

It's a, it's a huge win for everyone.

And I can tell you these, these shelter animals are, are marvelous, wonderful animals that I can tell you firsthand brings so much joy into my life.

And I know they'll bring 'em into these veterans' lives.

- I, I'm to deal with that sad statistic that's out there, that more of us are, are dying by their own hands here at home, than have all the casualties of both Iraq and Afghanistan combined since whole thing's begun.

- I feel if we pull in service dogs into this situation, we're gonna save a lot of soldiers because they have somebody that they can put their hand on and realize that there's somebody there that cares for 'em and that takes this hand off your head, puts the gun down, or takes this hand with a cup of pills and puts it down and focuses on her.

- I keep thinking about the other brothers and sisters that I have that are still over there right now and are coming back and I want 'em to get a dog.

- There's so many amazing animals and shelters right now that could make wonderful companions, but aren't having the chance because there's just so many dogs in shelters and it's really important to rescue.

It's really important that, you know, we're helping them and we're helping get them out.

And to, to stop that, that 4 million to 6 million being euthanized across the country.

- I think the word is getting out.

More and more soldiers and veterans wanna know how they can get a dog.

We've had soldiers or veterans call them their battle buddies.

'Cause even when humans fail them, the dog is always right there.

- I'm not alone.

There's guys out there who have been through this and been worse and 10 times worse.

If one of my brothers or sisters in the hospital was having a tough time, I would bring Tikka around and people that I didn't think would ever smile again, smiled.

You know, I felt like it was my duty to really push this out there.

The guys were asking me, I called Erin or I called Stephanie and said, I got another one for you.

I got another one for you.

I got another one for you.

Here's the application.

Having Tikka and being retired and back home.

I'm definitely happier than I've been in a long, long time.

Yeah, she makes all the pain go away.

- Shelter pets are amazing pets.

There are so many things you can do to get involved.

You can adopt, foster, create an online profile for a pet, volunteer, and donate food, toys and blankets.

Please go to ShelterMe.com to learn how you can help your local shelter.

♪ They can kick me down and ♪ break every bone in my body ♪ Force tears from my eyes ♪ ♪ They can get the best of me, ♪ best of me, best of me ♪ They can get the best of me, ♪ best of me, best of me ♪ 'Cause I got you ♪ ♪ I got you ♪ - Petco Love Lost.

A national lost and found pet database can help.

Using image recognition technology so every pet can be back where they belong, - Oh my baby - home with the families that love them.

Petco Love Lost.