Training Services Dogs for Veterans with Debbie

Meet Debbie Perkins, a volunteer for K9 Partners for Patriots, a non-profit pairing veterans with rescued service dogs. Debbie helps to find, foster, and train shelter dogs while searching for veterans to pair with the dog. 

Debbie has a passion for the mission of K9 Partners for Patriots and believes in the services the organization provides to the community. "Veterans have a great part in our community, and they served us so well, so I wanted to give back to both the veterans and the local K9 population," Debbie said.

Debbie has recently been training and socializing a foster dog named Pi. After weeks of work, Debbie helped to find Pi a veteran to take him home. 

When she passed Pi along to his new forever partner, Debbie said, "It's hard to let him go, but I know he will help someone else much more than me if he was just a family pet. He is going to change someone's life."  

As Pi was about to go home with his new owner, Debbie hugged Pi and explained Pi's personality and behavior. It was clear that Debbie deeply connected with Pi and passionately cared about his well-being.

Thanks to Debbie and the other amazing volunteers, K9 Partners for Patriots have trained and graduated 329 veterans with service dogs and rescued 213 dogs from local shelters. As part of the training, the facility simulated grocery stores, doctor's offices, and even restaurants to help acclimate and train the dogs. After meeting their veterans, the dogs spend over six months working directly with their veteran owners on various skills to become certified service dogs through the program. 

When asked if she had a memory that stood out, Debbie said, "When my first foster got paired with its veteran, it b-lined directly to her, and the veteran sat there laughing and crying with tears. She was so excited the dog picked her. I knew I was in the right place. The veteran told me that before getting her K9, she didn't want to leave her house, and now she can't wait to go out in public." 

Debbie gives so much to this program. Not only during her time at the facility but also by fostering dogs from the shelter to get them ready for adoption. 

Do you know someone who is making a difference in our community? Nominate them to be featured in our #BeMoreKind series to help spread kindness across our community!