America's VetDogs CEO John Miller joined Newsmax on Veterans Day with a special guest, service dog Luke, to explain how his organization trains dogs that "save and change lives" for veterans coping with physical disabilities or post-traumatic stress disorder.
"America's VetDogs is an internationally accredited organization that trains dogs to perform tasks for folks who have disabilities," Miller told "Wake Up America Early."
"Whether it's from PTSD tasks or mobility tasks, we work with veterans from all eras, and it's a real serious training program," he added.
"Each dog is almost handpicked for the veteran that they're going to get based on their lifestyle and their temperament, energy level, and size."
"It's really a great program," said Miller. "The dogs really do save and change lives."
Most of the dogs used by America's VetDogs are Labrador and golden retriever mixes because "those breeds take best to that type of training and have the right temperament," said Miller.
"All of our training is what they call positive reinforcement — so, it's food-motivated. So we use Labs and goldens and crosses of Labs and goldens."
When it comes to helping veterans struggling with PTSD, the dogs are trained to perform specific, life-improving tasks.
"One of the most popular tasks that the dogs perform is something called nightmare interruption," Miller said. "The dogs are trained to sense night terror, and they would wake them up in the middle of the night to get them out of that moment and really put them in a better headspace and clear their heads."
The training can take months, Miller said, and is customized to each veteran.
"It's meticulous," he said.
"The training goes for about three months. The dog will be trained specifically for the task that the veteran needs."
The dogs also help veterans with mobility issues.
"The dogs assist in that mobility can help open doors, help press buttons to open handicapped electronic doors, and really just do a great job, and the dogs really are second to none," Miller said.
Matching each dog to a veteran's specific lifestyle is key to success.
"For instance, we had the opportunity to work with former President George H.W. Bush," Miller recalled.
"He got his service dog from us, Sully, when the president was 94, in a wheelchair most of the time."
Bush needed a "very certain type of dog and a very chill dog, so to speak," he said.
"Sully fit that bill, as opposed to a gentleman who's with me on Capitol Hill all the time, who's a professional bodybuilder who also happens to be an amputee and lives a very different lifestyle than the president did," Miller noted.
Veterans can begin the process at VetDogs.org, said Miller, while reminding viewers that service dogs shouldn't be pet while working.
"They live great lives as dogs as well, but that's when the vet's off in their home," he said.
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