K-9 Caring Angels Service & Therapy Dogs @ Dulles Expo Ctr, Mar. 15-17

K-9 Caring Angels Service and Therapy Dogs trains puppies as well as dogs owned by veterans to serve as psychiatric service dogs for vets suffering from post-service issues. Ted Madsen, the group's vice president and a professional dog trainer said if it passes a trainer's initial evaluation, the dog could, after training, and passing the public access test, become an essential companion to veterans suffering from issues including post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], traumatic brain injury [TBI], anxiety or depression. The headquarters for K-9 Caring Angels is located in Bealeton, Va.

Achieving excellence in obedience is the first step for a service dog, then appropriate tasking, followed by the public access test to evaluate the dog/veteran partnership in several real-life situations and locations. Only upon passing the latter test is the dog recognized as a Service Dog through K-9 Caring Angels.

“When the dog recognizes debilitating anxiety for instance,” said Madsen, whose wife Sonny founded K-9 Caring Angels, “it recognizes this and alerts the vet-- by applying pressure--which helps him/her cope more easily with the challenges of anxiety. The pressure redirects the vet’s attention to the canine. For example, crowds can stress some vets while others have challenges with individual people close to them, or both. Dogs can learn proximity tasking. This is where the dog will place itself between the handler and another individual, creating a larger personal bubble.”

K-9 Caring Angels Therapy and Service Dogs count on others to support their work so that the dogs are trained and/or given free to vets. Some of these other angels have included the Subaru Share the Love campaign, Moose Lodge, Colin Powell Elementary, to name a few, and visitors to Super Pet Expo at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Va., March 15-17, where the organization has exhibited for 14 years. Visitors will meet a trainer and a therapy dog.

The organization also tests and certifies therapy dogs for facilities such as firehouses, police departments, assisted living and funeral homes and provides certificates to individuals and their therapy dogs so that they may give back to their communities in a variety of ways.