SERVICE DOG GRADUATES
Since our founding in 2011, Project 2 Heal has served veterans, children with special needs, and adults with disabilities by donating world-class puppies to more than 30 service dog training organizations nationwide.
BUILDING OUT A VISION OF SUSTAINED HEALING
After 24 years in the military, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Gomez aims to help other veterans find their own sustained healing.
PADDLE-BOARDING & RIDING THE WAVE OF RESILIENCE
From paddle-boarding to everyday support, service dog Vinnie is an ultimate companion for Sergeant First Class Amanda Strimel.
ART THERAPY & SERVICE DOG HELPS VETERAN HEAL
Art therapy and a service dog named Frankie help Staff Sergeant Val Schaefer reframe his future in a positive light.
GIVING NEW PURPOSE TO INJURED ARMY VETERAN
After losing his right arm and left leg in a terrible explosion, a service dog named Griff has given retired Army Captain Ryan Kules a new mission in life.
SERVICE DOG HEALS PTSD FOR COMBAT VETERAN
Even after 26 surgeries to mend his wounded hand and leg, Staff Sergeant Nick Bennett wasn't completely healed until he received his service dog named Festus.
OUR PUPPY TRAINED AS DIABETIC ALERT DOG
After imprinting a litter of Project 2 Heal puppies, Samantha selected a Labrador Retriever she named Moonpie to train as her diabetic alert dog. Moonpie became a beloved companion and life-saving partner for Samantha. When it was time for Moonpie to retire, Samantha began training her next Project 2 Heal dog, Ember, to step into this vital role. Ember now carries on Moonpie's legacy, providing Samantha with the support and companionship she needs.
VETERAN DROP 52 LBS THANKS TO SERVICE DOG
After a period of depression induced by PTSD, a service dog helped Brian drop 52 lbs and stop taking 4 anxiety medications.
HEARING DOG HELPS LEAD FIDOS FOR FREEDOM
As a recipient of a Project 2 Heal dog and the Executive Director of Fidos for Freedom, Diane Bernier knows well the impact of our pups!
SERVICE DOG BRINGS HOPE TO DESPAIRING WOMAN
Relying on a wheelchair for mobility, Bitsy Anderson's service dog Maya has dramatically helped regain hope and independence.
OUR COMMITMENT TO REDUCING VETERAN SUICIDE
EMPOWERING SERVICE DOG ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH PARTNERSHIP
Since our founding in 2011, Project 2 Heal has proudly served veterans, children with special needs, and adults with disabilities by donating over 350 exceptional puppies to more than 30 service dog training organizations across the country. Our partnerships are the cornerstone of our mission, and we place great emphasis on cultivating these relationships. We carefully select and vet our Partner Organizations, ensuring they are ADI accredited or actively pursuing accreditation. Through monthly check-ins, we monitor the progress of our donated puppies, working closely with our partners to track their journey through graduation.
In addition, our Partner Organizations can take advantage of our unique Started 4 Service (S4S) Program. This program provides our puppies with essential early training—socialization, potty training, crate training, and more—giving them a strong foundation. The S4S Program eases the burden on organizations by reducing the need for puppy raisers for eight-week-old puppies and ensuring a smoother placement process after training. It’s especially valuable when trainers are at capacity but still need to introduce new dogs into their programs for future training and matching.
To learn more about our Started 4 Service Program, If you're interested in becoming one of our Partner Organizations, please fill out the application below.
Did you know that 75-80% of Project 2 Heal puppies donated to our partners are successfully placed with someone in need?
STARTED 4 SERVICE
Finding the right dog for service work is an extremely difficult task. Without a successful breeding program, many service dog organizations struggle to acquire suitable dogs for their program.
If a dog or puppy comes from a shelter or rescue, the chances of that dog becoming a service dog is extremely low. In fact, a longitudinal study has shown that on average only about 8.33% (1 of 12) of rescue dogs graduate to become service dogs, even when trained in a professional organization. In an effort to decrease the time it takes someone to receive a service dog, we have developed a program that gives service dog organizations access to older, trained dogs that have shown to have the temperament needed for service work.
There are two tier options for our Started 4 Service program. The first tier covers 2-3 months of basic puppy training, so puppies are placed with service dog organizations around 4-5 months of age. The second tier covers 5-8 months of advanced obedience training. These 8-10 month old dogs have hundreds of hours of professional training and public access skills prior to being matched with an organization. To help cover the costs of breeding, raising, and training these Started 4 Service dogs, we ask for a contribution that will range from $3000- $10,000 per dog depending on the dog's age and level of training.
For more information about acquiring Started 4 Service dogs for your program or organization, please email us at information@project2heal.org.
Our Started 4 Service puppies come with basic on-leash obedience training, socialization, grooming/handling exposure, and house training. Below are our expectations for a puppy with two months of professional training. These puppies are typically between 4-4.5 months of age when they are ready to be procured to an individual or organization.
