Alpha Bravo Canine in Newtown is helping veterans cope with PTSD by providing them with service dogs it has raised and trained, writes Kelsey Fabian for PHL17.

According to the National Center for PTSD, seven percent of veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, with symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety.

Veteran Aaron Blender has experienced all of them.

“I finally decided to get some treatment for it and get some help,” said Blender, who was deployed to the Iraq War 21 years ago.

In 2021, he contacted Alpha Bravo Canine.

“We train the dog to pick up different triggers and then redirect their person,” said Jennifer Senechal, founder of Alpha Bravo Canine.

The nonprofit donated a service dog named Tristan to the veteran, and he now has a much easier time navigating the world.

“Just going out in your community for a lot of people with social anxiety that doesn’t happen so if you have a dog that can help your work through that you can be apart of your own community again,” said Senechal.

It costs the nonprofit approximately $25,000 to provide and train a service dog for a veteran.

Read more about Alpha Bravo Canine in PHL17.