Brothers & Sisters In Arms Facility

Brothers and Sisters In Arms Dog Training has been a non profit organization since 2012. Our organization's primary goal is to improve quality of life for our active duty soldiers, military veterans, First Responders and their special-needs dependents by providing them with highly trained Service Dogs. Currently we train in an open field in Louisiana in heat conditions of upwards of 107 degrees. This is very difficult on both the handlers and their dogs. Since 2012 we have graduated over three hundred handler/dog teams. The dedication of these brave men and women to train in high humid heat, bitter cold and even in the rain is a testament to how much these dogs change their lives. Not one handler is charged a cent for their dog or for the training. We are a completely volunteer organization. We do fundraisers to help pay for veterinarian bills, buy dog food, provide collars, leads and vests. However, these items take all the donations we currently receive. Our goal is to be able to provide a safe and comfortable environment for our handlers to be able to train in. Many of our handlers also have medical conditions that extreme temperatures can aggravate. A facility with heat and air conditioning would mitigate these difficulties for our handlers. It would make access to handlers with mobility problems much easier and safer. We have handlers with vision difficulities and the uneven ground can make training much more strenuous and demanding than it needs to be. For veterans with PTSD, standing in the open field with cars driving past, people walking by makes being able to focus on their training especially hard. A facility would allevate these problems and provide a safe haven for them to train their dogs.

Here is our Founder/President's Story:

"For those of you that doubt the effects a Service Dog can have on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), let me tell you my story. I am a Desert Storm Veteran, what I did there is the demons I must face. I came back with all the class symptoms, I drank all the time, I couldn't get along with anyone, I kept checking every room in the house to make sure it was clear every time I came home., I got up and checked the locks on the doors and windows too many times to count, I was always depressed and pissed at the world, and I never slept. I drove my family so crazy that they wanted to leave. I still do some of those things, but it's getting better. After the military, I worked for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center until about 2006 when my PTSD became so bad, I had a nervous breakdown. For the next three years I basically stayed on my Couch. Seldom leaving my land except for a trip to town once or twice a month. This became my standard until a nice person named Brenda Wagner asked me to foster some dogs for her. There was one pit bull that was a lot like I was. Scared, avoided people, wanted to hide under a rock, and always on guard. I worked with this dog named Mia, and we became attached. She would ride with me where ever I went. I started to feel I had someone to watch my back again. That is one of the main things that is wrong when we come back, we go from knowing we have a whole group of soldiers watching our back to coming home and being alone. Mia became my "battle buddy" she would wake me up when I had nightmares, calm me down when I had an anxiety attack, watch my back at the counter at a store or the bank, even assure me when I had doubts. Mia was the constant in my life that PTSD took away. Everyone would leave for work or school but Mia was always there. After almost two years with Mia by my side, I can now travel some places on my own but she still comes with me on trips out of town. You can read all of the medical research for and against service dogs for PTSD, I am living proof that service Dogs work and they are necessary."~~Phil2012

From Team Journey who came out of our prison program:
                                Jake Norotsky-US Army
"As a veteran of two tours in Iraq, I have struggled since my last deployment with the nightmares, anxiety and hyper vigilance from being down range. It was very difficult to put myself in a situation where there were large amounts of people around or even keep from getting overwhelmed while driving. After flying air assault missions in combat for 18 months, I couldn't find a way to calm myself down. My struggles caused a wall between myself and my fellow Soldiers, even my family and wife. Last September, I was just at the point of giving up, I met Phil Ruddock and he told me about this program where they train dogs to counteract the effects of PTSD. With nothing to lose, I filled out an application and entered the program. The first dog Phil introduced me to, Journey, was a perfect match. Under Phil's guidance and mentorship, we attended the eight week training course, we passed the final evaluation and earned our handler and service dog identification cards. Phil and Journey have completely changed not only my life, but my family's as well. Without the efforts of Brothers and Sisters Dog Training, I wouldn't have been able to coach the post girls softball team this year or taken my wife on a cruise for Valentine's Day. Journey continues to provide the support and confidence that allow me to gain my life back one day at a time. I recently went fishing again for the first time in six years and Journey was right there with me. This organization is taking on the task shirked by so many by caring for the thousands of veterans just like me that are trying to regain normalcy after serving their country. I am eternally grateful for the work Phil does and pray for this cause every day."

Please take the time to click on the link below and  visit our Brothers and Sisters In Arms Dog Training  website. Any size donation is a huge donation.

We would be happy to answer any questions you have! Thank you!!!Any help, no matter how small would be so greatly appreciated. We thank you in advance for any donation you can give. Our link to our website is below.

www.brotherandsisterptsddogs.org