A dog finds its purpose

“An average of 22 veterans a day commit suicide, It’s a big number.”
McLean Raybon of Edna is a veteran who suffers with post-traumatic stress disorder. But his life was drastically changed when he was introduced to his service dog, Merrick.
“There for a few years, I shut off, I kind of stuck to myself,” he said. “Merrick has allowed me to go out in public more and do more things – little things like grocery shopping. And I was also able to host my own veterans’ event. I went from being scared of people to having over 500 people around at one time.
“Merrick’s helped me sleep at night. That was my weakness, stupid night terrors. He wakes me up as soon as I go in to it. He wakes me up and then I’m able to go back to sleep and I’m done with it, I don’t have another one. I’ve been getting more sleep and that makes me more productive during the day.”
Merrick and McLean were paired up by K9 For Warriors, a program that trains service dogs to help veterans that are struggling from PTSD. K9 For Warriors is a non-profit that is dedicated to turning shelter dogs into service dogs who help heal military veterans suffering from PTSD. Ninety percent of the dogs are shelter dogs, and the rest are donated by breeders.
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