Warrior Canine Connection

Rather than turning inward to focus on their past trauma, the trainers must get outside of their own heads to focus on the dogs and their mission to help another Veteran. Additionally, dogs offer opportunities for Warrior trainers - who often isolate themselves from society - to experience positive interactions with members of the community. Their training requires emotionally numb Warriors to demonstrate positive emotion in order to successfully teach their dogs.

Timeline

• 1996: Licensed Social Worker Rick Yount begins working with his first Certified Therapy Dog, Gabe
• 2008: The first Warrior dog-training program to help treat the symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTS) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) is created in Palo Alto, CA
• 2009: The program is established at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Warrior Transition Brigade (WTB) in Washington, D.C.
• 2010: The program becomes part of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), in Bethesda, MD
• 2011: Warrior Canine Connection (WCC) is created
• 2012: WCC debuts 24/7 live puppy cam in partnership with Explore.org
• 2016: A new Healing Quarters is established in Boyds, MD
• 2018: WCC launches its first Veterans Treatment Court program in California
• May 2018: The program expands to the Marcus Institute for Brain Health, Anschutz Medical Campus, in Denver, CO
• July 2018: The program expands to Asheville, NC