Further Than Yesterday - The Inspirational Story of a Canadian Air Force Captain

Canadian Air Force Captain (Ret’d) Medric Cousineau won an Urban Animal Summit Award for Innovator of the Year in 2014 for his efforts with PTSD service dogs and Paws Fur Thought. Cpt. Cousineau works to educate all levels of government, landlords and business owners, pet industry staff and the general public; he has improved the working and living conditions for both dogs and their handlers. Cpt. Cousineau has also won an Inspiring Lives Award from the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.

Cpt. Cousineau received the Star of Courage after one particularly harrowing search and rescue mission. The Star of Courage recognizes acots of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril. Unfortunately this mission precipitated his downward spiral with PTSD. In 2014, InfoStream interviewed Cpt. Cousineau and he told the Urban Animal community about his story. 

Cpt. Cousineau is now ready to share his story with a wider audience. Further Than Yesterday: That's All That Counts is now available on Amazon! The book has been billed as “Intense and Inspirational" and allows readers to, “Follow Capt. Cousineau’s descent into hell, his rescue by a Yellow Lab named Thai, and then The Long Walk to Sanity to fund the service dog program called “Paws Fur Thought”... Read how Thai and other service dogs are changing the landscape of the battlefield of PTSD from the front lines.”

FURTHER THAN YESTERDAY: THAT’S ALL THAT COUNTS

Seattle Children’s Hospital and PetSmart Partner to Fund Hospital Canine Therapy Team

Seattle Children's Hospital is teaming up with PetSmart to fund the hospital's animal assisted activities program that will provide patients with access to canine comfort teams. Animal Assisted Therapy at Seattle Children's Presented by PetSmart for Hope kicked off last week with PetSmart funding the program at a commitment of $157,500 over five years. 

"At PetSmart, we know the healing power of pets and the positive impact they have on kids," said David Lenhardt, PetSmart CEO. "Animal assisted therapy offers a healthy diversion from the usual hospital routine and an opportunity for social interaction, which we know are important components to the healing process." 

Support from PetSmart will allow the hospital to grow its animal assisted actives program from 12 therapy dog teams to 18 dog teams over the next few years. This increase will result in hundreds more children receiving the comfort of animal assisted therapy during their visit to the hospital. 

READ THE NEWS RELEASE 

Positive Pet Experiences of Ottawa's homeless

A touching photo exhibit capturing homeless people and their pets demonstrates the strong positive human-animal bonds that exist on city streets. 

Ottawa radio DJ and photographer, Sandy Sharkey, attended a community outreach vet clinic run by Dr. Michelle Lem, to snap some photos of low-income people receiving free vet care for their pets. The project, which started out as an initiative by Global Pet Foods franchisee Karla Briones, quickly escalated. 

Sharkey spend eight weeks photographing people living on the streets or in community housing. She discovered a pet experience unlike any she had seen before. 

"The human-animal bond on the streets is one of the most beautiful that I have ever witnessed," said Sharkey. "For may of these people, their animals are the only relationship that they truly value." 

The 30-day exhibit, Joy To Their World, will include 15 photographs and will be on display at Holland's Cake and Shake beginning Saturday, November 22. Admission is free and all proceeds from the event will go to Community Vet Outreach. 

READ THE OTTAWA CITIZEN ARTICLE

A&E makes reality show about veterans struggling with PTSD

Photo Credit: A&E

A new docuseries on A&E titled "Dogs of War" will illustrate the challenges faced by war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as they are paired with shelter dogs trained to help them adjust to life after combat. 

This real life series chronicles the fog of PTSD that many veterans find themselves in after serving in combat, and the service dogs that bring them out of it. "Dogs of War" is the crossroads where a veteran condemned to a life of isolation, and an abandoned dog condemned to a shelter, come together to rescue one another. 

"This series is full of raw, real and intensely emotional moments that don't often get a spotlight in mainstream media," said David McKillop, General Manager and Executive Vice President of A&E. "Each veteran's story of survival is humbling and we are proud to create a series that captures the light at the end of the tunnel for these heroes." 

For more information, visit www.aetv.com 

Alliance for Urban Animals - Allies Creating Healthy Communities for Pets & People

The urban animal industry is fractured. All too often, pet families discover negativity, judgement and mixed messaging from interactions with our industry sectors.  The sectors often work independently and and compete with one another for revenues, client loyalty and business.  While most care very deeply about animals, there is a tendency to compete to prove “we care more”, often at the expense of others’ reputation.

Watch the Pet Sourcing Dilemma on YouTube! 

During the 2014 Urban Animal Regional Conference Tour, Dr. Drew Van Niekerk examined the impacts of animal sourcing on a positive pet experience. What he determined, is that pet families and communities are confused about priorities and issues, and skeptical of the urban animal industry. When sectors work against one another, pet families struggle to find trustworthy information and resources, which in turn leads to negative pet experiences.  Most pet owners don’t want to be embroiled in the controversial polarizing issues we often find so important.  They want to avoid the guilt, judgement and negativity associated with this.  The result is that they choose the path of least resistance and disengage, becoming reactive pet families.

Pet families and consumers are confused and bitter and we wonder why they’re not “responsible". We haven’t created an environment conducive to a positive pet experience. In order to engage these communities, we need to create an alliance of like-minded industry thought leaders. 

The Alliance for Urban Animals are individuals and organizations who:

1.  choose to communicate in respectful, open, positive ways
2.  are willing to suspend beliefs in favour of inspiration, evidence and new ideas
3.  who prefer collective intelligence and empathy over an individual win
4.  who collaborate in the development of resources to build healthy communities for pets and people, and

5.  focus on creating a positive pet experience

Healthy, Happy, Pet Relationships - Pacific Innovation Showcase Spotlight

Terri Perrin
InfoStream Staff Writer

Infostream staff writer Terri Perrin interviewed Sarah Bull, Supervisor of Bylaws, Licensing and Animal Services and Andrea McDonald, Manager of Bylaws, Licensing and Animal Services from the City of Coquitlam, BC. The duo are spearheading an innovative program called ‘Happy, Healthy Pet Relationships.’ They were eager to discuss how they are inspiring companion animal industry innovators to collaborate in an effort to enhance relationships between pets and their families.

Infostream (IS): It was obvious at your presentation that you are both passionate about this program in particular and pets in general. Can you give us some insight into your own personal Pet Experiences and what fuels your passion for this collaborative effort?

Sarah Bull (SB): I had originally wanted to be a veterinarian and I was taking post secondary education to work towards that goal. I had also gained work experience in animal hospitals, a pet store and at a groomer. When the City of Coquitlam started their own animal shelter in 2002, I was hired as one of three shelter attendants. I worked in the shelter for two and a half years and then I had an opportunity to move into bylaw and animal enforcement. I became an officer and then eventually moved into a supervisory role. It was a fork in the road that I had never envisioned but once I started to do the job I found it very rewarding and decided to make it my career. I simply took a detour that landed me where I feel I needed to be. As for my personal Pet Experiences, I currently have a Miniature Pinscher and four cats.

Andrea McDoanld (AM):  I had a different path. I worked in recreation and parks for 20 years and was managing an aquatic facility. The City of Coquitlam approached me when the position of Manager of Bylaws, Licensing and Animal Services came up in 2004. I must say my business experience relating to Bylaw was limited. I had received a parking ticket and I owned a cat. That’s all!  But it is not unusual for me to tackle something completely new to me. For example, my university degree is in teaching but I perused other avenues. Whether I am at an aquatic centre or an animal shelter, managing a facility and crew has a lot of similarities but different perspectives. Now I am here and I love it. I have two cats and a dog… but no more parking tickets!

IS: Healthy, Happy Pet Relationships is a collaboration of several urban animal industry sectors. How did it get started?

AM: The concept was originally discussed amongst a group of people at the Summit for Urban Animal Strategies in 2012. Afterwards, I met with a local veterinarian and a representative from Petland to brainstorm ideas of what the message might look like in Coquitlam. Our goal was to move away from the common ‘Responsible Pet Ownership’ label and try to come up with a concept that we could collectively agree on. Our intent was to create a public education program but to take out the perceived judgment of the word ‘responsible’ because it also implies ‘irresponsible’. We view ‘A Happy, Healthy Pet Relationship’ as a program where companion animal industry innovators collaborate to enhance and enrich the relationship between pets and their families.

SB: We developed the program in 2013 in the city of Coquitlam. We have also presented the program to the Lower Mainland Regional animal Control Managers Committee and had great feedback. Several municipalities want to run with it already. When we presented at the Pacific Regional Urban Animal Conference, representatives from several rescue groups liked the messaging and are now using it.

IS: What is the basic premise of the program?

AM: We worked together with several industry sectors and originally came up with five steps to a Happy, Healthy Pet Relationship:

· Safety and Identification

· Health and Wellness

· Food and Nutrition

· Exercise and Play and

· Manners and Training.

We developed the program and Sarah had been presenting to a variety of groups for a number of months. After the April 2014 Urban Animal Conference – with its focus on pet sourcing – we added a sixth step: Choosing a Pet.

IS: How did you come up with the criteria and were there any challenges creating it?

AM: The food and nutrition area was quite contentious because everyone has such different ideas. We focused on developing relationships with veterinarians and retailers for information.

IS: How is the program managed and funded?

SB: For now, it is funded by the City of Coquitlam. We have had further discussion about program expansion with the Lower Mainland Regional animal Control Managers Committee and we are starting to produce new materials so we will have to address further funding soon.

IS: How is it that you came to present this topic at the Pacific Region Summit?

AM: We had a meeting with Larry Evans from PetLynx in January and he said that he was looking for ideas for a few other presenters. Conversations at that lunch sparked his interest. The day of the Urban Animal Conference, however, I ended up getting called away so Sarah did the presentation for me.  We will co-present at Lake Louise in October.

IS: How was your Regional Urban Animal Conference experience?

SB: This was my fifth time at a Regional event. Being able to sit down and have such meaningful conversations about our industry is mind blowing. The October 2014 Summit will be my first time at the national event. I’m really looking forward to it.

AM: The Regional Urban Animal Conference was absolutely amazing. It is a different format than a typical conference. There is so much networking and interacting at a national level.  It was fabulous.

IS: What do you hope to achieve by being an Innovation Showcase presenter at the national Summit in October?

SB: The main reason I wanted to spend time on this was to draw on the energy from the Summit and get valuable feedback. As importantly, I want to get something down on paper. This can be the most difficult step. This program could be taken nationally to ensure that all pet owners visiting a veterinarian, pet store or rescue agency, for example, get consistent information. We need to be on the same page and have the same goals but we need collaboration. This is what we came up with at the Summit two years ago. I hope this will be a good starting point for some national messaging.

The 2014 Urban Animal Regional Conferences presented the second annual Innovation Showcases. Across the continent, 20 local Innovators were given the opportunity to share their stories and successes with Urban Animal subscribers. From those, eight were selected to present at the 2014 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies, October 22–25 in beautiful Lake Louise, Alberta.

The Human Walking Program

An innovative adoption program in Melbourne, Australia changed the way people look at shelter dogs and helped rescue thousands. 
The Lost Dogs' Home launched its Human Walking Program earlier this year to provide desk-bound Melbourians with a chance to get out of the office, get some exercise and get to know a shelter dog. Promoting healthy living and shelter adoption, the Human Walking Program turned the tables on shelter adoption by sending the message that the dogs are, in fact, rescuing the humans.  
Studies have shown the average working hours of full-time employees in Australia are long and have been steadily getting longer which is contributing to extra stress, poor family relations and a lower quality of social relationships. 

"We don't always realize as office workers how many hours we spend cooped up inside rarely getting out. So what better way to spend a lunch break than with a friend who will  no doubt take the stress out of your day!" - Kate Hoelter, The Lost Dogs' Home General Manager, Fundraising and Communications. 

During the event, over 5,000 office workers were rescued and every dog was adopted. 

PetLynx HomeSafe invites Guest Authors to contribute pet experience stories!

Since March 2009, PetLynx has published a HomeSafe blog intended to celebrate success stories and educate pet families. 

Earlier this week, HomeSafe writers announced the blog would kick off its own Guest Author Program, starting immediately. The GAP at HomeSafe is a place for the urban animal industry to introduce their own pets and share their pet experiences.  

HomeSafe, together with willing Guest Authors, will open the lines of communication between industry sectors and help break down the silos. Sharing personal stories and experiences with fellow thought leaders will increase our understanding and respect for one another when tackling touchy industry subjects.

If you feel inclined to share your story and introduce us to your pet experience please contact Lisa Milton (Squish's mom). In the mean time you can read our first GAP by Susan Dankert at PIJAC Canada here.

PetSmart opens Pop-Up Dog Park in Downtown Detroit

Photo Credit

Earlier this month, PetSmart Inc. partnered with the City of Detroit and the non-profit community organization Detroit Dog Park to bring a portable, pop-up dog park to a vacant lot in Detroit. This is the first official dog park in Detroit, providing more than 10,000 square feet of space. 

PetSmart's P.U.P. (Pop-Up Park) is a shipping container that contains everything needed to create an interim dog park, including 340 feet of fencing, three Oops clean-up stations, three moveable, backless benches, lighting on and inside the container (powered by solar panels on the roof) and a storage closet. The shipping container serves as the park's point of entry and exit. Through the partnership, PetSmart supplied the P.U.P. and the City of Detroit will maintain the park. 

PetSmart has currently supplied P.U.P.'s to two other Phoenix, Ariz. communities and hopes to bring parks to four more communities throughout the country by the end of 2014. 

READ THE NEWS RELEASE

Atlantic Innovation Showcase Spotlight The Prince Street Puppy Project

InfoStream Staff Writer 
Terri Perrin 

The urban animal industry has spoken! From April 22 - 30, in Toronto, Halifax, Calgary and Vancouver, industry thought leaders gathered for the 2014 Regional Urban Animal Conferences. A high point on each agenda was the Innovation Showcase presentations. 

In Halifax, Summit delegates were moved by Eileen Higginbotham’s winning presentation about the Prince Street Puppy Project, which was one of two Innovations in the region selected to move on to the Summit level. InfoStream staff writer Terri Perrin chatted with Eileen, who is a special education teacher at Prince Street School in Charlottetown, PEI, to learn more about how her school has ‘gone to the dogs!’

InfoStream(IS): After reviewing your presentation it is obvious that you love dogs … and children! Tell us about your own personal ‘Pet Experiences’ and what inspired you to bring your dog into the classroom.

Eileen Higginbotham (EH): The Prince Street Puppy Project (PSPP) started in December 2011 when my husband, Chris, and I added a new puppy, Kannon, to our pack. My husband is a high school biology teacher and had been keeping rats in his classroom and was noticing the positive connections some of the students were making with the animals. I wondered if I could make some of those animal-human connections with our students and our new puppy.

After approaching my principal with the idea, and finding a teacher who would be on board for housing the dog in the classroom during the day, we were ready to start. Kannon came to school, and since then, we have added two more dogs, Shazam and Archie.

IS: What challenges have you faced, relating to funding and support from your school district.

EH: There have been no real challenges to funding, as the only cost related to our program so far is the treats used for the daily training sessions. Two of these dogs are mine and my principal, Erin Johnston, owns the other. We absorb all the cost of crates, toys, treats and veterinary care. We have good support from our school district but that is mainly because of the impact we have had with our students and their parents.

People often ask us about hurdles. Many things have to be considered before starting a program like this because it is not simply just taking a dog to school. The success of this program hinges on the fact that I am an experienced dog person. I have many years of dog rescue and rehabilitation experience and I’ve attended many dog-training seminars. I am also a Special Education teacher—for children, not dogs! I feel you really do have to be part schoolteacher and part dog trainer to do this program justice. One must also consider things like potential allergies, child safety, dog safety, and the logistics of caring for the dogs.

IS: Speaking of hurdles, from looking at the Puppy Project’s Facebook page it is obvious that your dog, Kannon, is quite the agility and fly ball star. Do you think that participating in these ‘extra curricular activities’ helps these classrooms dogs release tension?

EH: Yes! For sure! Dogs who get mental and physical exercise are happy, more relaxed, and easier to live with dogs. All of the PSPP dogs have full lives at school and at their homes. But I don’t think dog sports are the only way to have a happy dog. Spending time with your dog playing games such as fetch, going for a nice leash walk (or run), or working on trick training can also provide that much needed physical and mental stimulation.

IS: Where do you see your program in the next five to 10 years?

EH: We have been doing the program for just over two full calendar years now, spanning across three school years, and we have been changing and evolving the entire time. Every day the Puppy Project involves five teachers, eighteen to twenty students directly, and another fifty students indirectly. Going forward, the teachers plan to look at our project goals and programming and align them to some of our health and science curriculum outcomes, particularly for the grades four, five, and six levels. This more formal planning will make it easier to share as a fully laid out school program integrated with curriculum.

IS: We understand that your students have been invited to share the Puppy Project experiences. Tell us about that.

EH: Our students have been asked to author some pieces for the PEI Humane Society, from kids to kids, about what they have learned about dogs, training, stewardship and safety. Their work will be published on the PEIHS website. We will also add a published sharing component, much like our Facebook and my blog, written by students to share their thoughts and experiences. We are talking to the students now about what form they would like that to take.

IS: What is your long-term vision for the program?

EH: I hope to see a Puppy Project that is fully integrated into our school curriculum, covering many outcomes for health, science, and writing. We will continue to run our daily training session and will enhance our ability to support the behaviour resource programming needs of incentives and self-regulation. We will broaden our impact within the community by expanding the sharing of our stories about what we do and why it matters.

IS: How did you learn about the Atlantic Regional Conference and how did you come to be a presenter?

EH: I was nominated to do an Innovation Showcase presentation, so I started looking up information about the Urban Animal Conferences. I was very excited to be invited and even more excited to be voted forward to the Annual Summit.

IS: Tell us about your first Urban Animal Conference experience.

EH: Going to the Urban Animal Conference in Halifax was wonderful! It was such a great opportunity to talk to so many different people involved in the urban animal experience. Listening to the Innovation Showcase presenters was humbling and I was pleased to be included in their company. The keynote speakers were interesting and I could not believe how many different topics we covered in just a few hours. I came away with so many new and exciting contacts. It is an experience I would highly recommend to anyone interested in the health and welfare of our urban animals.

IS: What do you hope to take away – or contribute to – the Summit for Urban Animal Strategies in October?

EH: I am beyond excited to be going to the Summit and am hoping to make more contacts with like-minded people. Of course, I am keen to share information about The Prince Street Puppy Project and I hope to contribute to all the discussions we will be having at the conference.

Learn more about the Prince Street Puppy Project on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/PrinceStreetPuppyProject?ref=hl

OR blog: princestreetpuppyproject.wordpress.com

Toronto's WOOFSTOCK, May 24-25

A unique festival aimed at pet families is taking place this weekend at Woodbine Park in Toronto. 

WOOFSTOCK is North America's largest outdoor festival for dogs and it's getting even bigger. Drawing over 300,000 people in 2013, WOOFSTOCK is relocating and tripling in size for the 2014 event on May 24-25. 

Now entering its 11th year, WOOFSTOCK offers family and pet friendly events and vendors. New features for 2014 include: 

• Dogs Open Toronto, a new place where dogs have the freedom to play in an off-leash area. Dogs Open is paying homage to the famous Toronto festival, Doors Open, taking place the same weekend.  
• The Woofstock Chill Zone presented by Tito’s Vodka, take a moment to chill with “vodka for dog people”! 
• Milk Bone has a new dental cleaning product and a photo booth for pet owners and their pups! 
• The Canadian Kennel Club has arranged to have the most rare of Canadian breeds, The Canadian Eskimo Dog, along with the Newfoundland, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever and the Labrador Retriever – having all dogs together for the first time ever in one place! 

For more information, visit www.woofstock.ca

Atlantic Innovation Showcase Spotlight Paws Fur Thought: Service Dogs for Veterans Battling PTSD

Medric and Thai

Terri Perrin
InfoStream Staff Writer

The 2014 Urban Animal Regional Conferences presented the second annual Innovation Showcases. Across the continent, 20 local Innovators were given the opportunity to share their stories and successes with Urban Animal subscribers. From those, eight were selected to present at the 2014 Summit for Urban Animal Strategies, October 22–25 in beautiful Lake Louise, Alberta.

Infostream staff writer Terri Perrin spoke with the winning presenters to get feedback on their Regional Conference experience, their respective ‘Pet Experiences’ and what we can expect from them at the Summit this fall. Terri tracked down retired Canadian Air Force Captain Medric Cousineau – known to friends and family as ‘Cous’ – at his home in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, to talk about his important work matching service dogs with retired military personnel. 

Infostream (IS): Before we get started with your ‘Summit Experience’, we’d love to know how your personal life and ‘Pet Experiences’ lead you to be an a champion for service dogs and soldiers. Tell us a little about your journey, including how (and when) you were partnered with your service dog ‘Thai’.

Medric Cousineau (MC): My life was punctuated by having dogs in our home while I was growing up. As an adult, I consider myself a ‘dog person’ and my wife Jocelyn a ‘cat person’. Due to an illness in the family, from 2001 to 2012 we didn’t have a dog but had four cats. The move towards getting a dog again stems from the fact that I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) … a result of search and rescue work done in the military. I received the ‘Star of Courage’ for one particular incident and ironically, it was this incident that precipitated my downward spiral with PTSD.

In 2012, a friend learned how badly I was struggling. Her son had a hearing assist dog and the school he got the dog from also trained PTSD dogs. I was desperate. Something had to give. We decided to give it a whirl. It’s the best thing decision I ever made!

I got my service dog ‘Thai’ – a yellow Labrador – from Kansas-based Canine Assistance and Rehabilitation Education Services (CARES) on August 6^th, 2012.

IS: Tell us about your first experience meeting Thai at CARES.

It was ‘love at first sight’... according to Thai! While all of the other dogs were wandering around the room kind of nonchalant, the second that Thai laid eyes on me she broke from her handler and rushed across the room. She was at my side, licking my face and on me like white on rice!  This is what she had been trained to do. She was aware of my physiological issues literally from the instant that  she was brought into the room … and she’s been doing her ‘job’ ever since.

IS: Can you give an example of how she helps you?

MC: One of her jobs is night terror intervention. It only took a few days for her to get into the swing of things and start waking me up during these episodes. A few weeks after I first got her, I woke up one morning and realized I hadn’t had a night terror … and I had a panic attack about that! (Laughs.) Thai helped me through that episode, too!

IS: How did you come up with the idea for the Paws Fur Thought Program?

MC: I knew within a couple of months that Thai was making dramatic changes in my life. Just after Christmas 2012,  Jocelyn and I  were out waking Thai. We decided that we had to do something to help others. To ensure accountability with funds raised, we approached the Nova Scotia Nunavut Command of the Royal Canadian Legion. They established the foundation and they administer all funds and provide tax receipts, as well as allocate the money to veterans so they can acquire dogs from accredited facilities. The name – Paws Fur Thought – is a play on words … basically meaning ‘dogs helping with mental issues’.

IS: How is it funded?

MC: We put together a ‘Walk to Sanity’ that started on August 1^st, 2013. Thai and I averaged a ½ marathon every single day for 50 days. We walked across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec ... raising money and awareness along the way. We covered 1,065 kilometres and raised about $90,000 from that. Other community partners have come on board. Global Pet Foods HRM’s, Lucie Larochelle, for example, heard one of our interviews on CBC. She named us the company’s ‘Show Us Your Heart’ chosen charity. Petcurean came on board as a result of Lucie’s participation and, from that, it is just starting to snowball!  We have a half dozen fundraising events coming up in the next few months.

IS: How is it that you came to be a presenter at the Atlantic Regional Summit?

MC:  I was shocked ... and pleasantly surprised … when PetLynx actually contacted me! Somebody had heard my story and said ‘Here’s a guy you need to listen to.’ I didn’t even realize the implications of what I had agreed to, in terms of the potential opportunities that would arise from it. When I learned that I would be going to Lake Louise, as an Innovation Showcase winner, it was like a dream come true! I get to tell people exactly what it is that we are trying to do. God smiled and said, “Go there and tell ‘em your story.” It could be being held anywhere in the world and I would be happy to go.

IS: Was this your first Summit for Urban Animal Strategies. What did you think about it?

MC:  For me, the networking was very important. Talking about animal sourcing and hearing some of the challenges within the industry was very interesting because it was something I’d never thought about before. A lot of what happens in the urban animal industry is about animal rescue. We were a little bit different in that we were using animals to rescue humans. I would rate the experience totally PAWsome!

IS: What do you hope to achieve by being an Innovation Showcase presenter at the national Summit in October?

MC:   While Paws Fur Thought is primarily focused on the military but the need for psychological service dogs covers what a group of communities. There are all kinds of places where PTSD can rear its ugly head. I like to refer to what I call ‘Red, White and Blue, A and A’. This represents fire fighters, emergency responders and RCMP (police), as well as assault and abuse survivors. I’m just one guy … a smashed up guy with serious mental health issues at that … and I know that I can’t do this all on my own. At the National Summit I am going to make an effort to find people who want to do what I have done. I will give the blueprint to repeat what we have done, so that they can go home and champion their own cause in their own communities.

During the interview, InfoStream learned that Cous and his service dog 

Thai had just received an Inspiring Lives Award from the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia.