Paws-ability is giving back to Louisville area veterans one service dog at a time

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- An organization is changing lives for veterans living with PTSD by pairing them with service dogs.

Paws-ability trains the dogs to help comfort and offer support to those dealing with the lingering impact of post traumatic stress.

It may look like your average training, but retrievers like Daisy will be working dogs.

"Not every dog is a good candidate to be a service dog," said trainer Heike Purdon. Daisy has already been through six weeks of basic obedience training and some additional intense training. She will soon be ready to serve.

"You have a dog and a handler that you really work closely together. They love each other. They wouldn't do anything apart from each other, and they've really dedicated their lives to each other," Purdon said.

But some things can't be taught.

John Wells is the founder of Paws-ability and has had his service dog Johnny Cash for eight years. He served in Vietnam and talking about his time there can take him right back.

“This is what he does," Wells said as the dog stood on his hind legs to "hug" him. "At ease. This is what he does for 10 minutes. He was doing this until I finally was able to get out of it and start feeling better."

To this day, Wells has severe PTSD.

"My mind was in Vietnam," he said. "It was awful, ugly, it was probably the worst dream I had, and he's the one that finally, after almost two hours, (was able) to get me out of it. He won't leave me alone when he sees I'm stressed."

Wells isn't alone.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 10% of Vietnam War veterans experience PTSD at some point in their life. Nearly 30% of those who served in the war in Iraq will experience it, too.

Dwayne Draggoo is another one of those veterans.

"I didn't realize I was white-knuckling the steering wheel, not upset about anything that I knew of, not any road rage or any just and she starts whining," Draggoo said. "I look back at her. She distracts me, so I stop white-knuckling the steering wheel."

Rosie helps him in ways he doesn't even realize, and is now teaching her ways to Daisy to help another veteran or first responder in the future.

“Daisy actually has the same instincts. Daisy can sense when I get a little bit stressed or when I get whatever, and she’ll come up and she’ll put her, I call it hugging. She’ll put her head right here and hug me," said Draggoo.

Daisy and four other dogs are currently available to start changing lives for the better.

If you or someone you know might be interested in adopting one of the service dogs through Paws-ability, you can contact John Wells at (502) 410-9490 and 1pawsability@gmail.com

It costs an average of $5,000 to train each service dog. If you would like to support their mission, you can shop their Amazon wish list or donate to PayPal @pawsabilityinc. Donations go toward adoptions, as well as for spay/neutering, feeding, training, vaccinations and service attire.