Faith Harris gives back….

One day when I was going through one of my stressful moments, I called my brother for advice. While catching him up on everything, my frustration and desperation coming across clearly in his end.  “Hang in there Sis, don’t worry” he encouraged “These Veterans, they will take care of you…” I was unclear exactly what that meant……

I had just received my third message from Veteran Faith Harris, asking me when we would be coming to Boston for Honor’s follow up visit. I delayed calling her back, because frankly I myself was unsure if we would really be able to afford to do that. It took courage  for me to call her back, all prepared to explain how financially strapped Stiggy’s Dogs was…..

Faith answered the phone, without even waiting for my “Hi” she began the longest sentence I have ever heard:“I wanted this to be a surprise……planing a big event and fundraiser for Stiggys Dogs……in Boston…….wanted to give back….help raise money for other Veterans…..November 5th……” Read the rest here…

Meet ‘Doc’ in honor of ‘Doc Stiggy’


Our next training class was starting beginning of September. We recently joined with Oakland County Pet Adoption, who volunteered to donate dogs to our organization! Appreciative of the offer and  anxious to save money for our  next class, we loaded up the car and drove the hour drive to the Shelter….

The days when we look for dogs are full of emotion, excitement for the possible contenders and sadness for the ones we couldn’t help. I remember walking down one very noisy isle. There were at least 10 cages lining the wall- stacked on top of each other. The Shelter was full and loud. Once one dogs starts to bark, they all join in.  Donna and I walked past the cages, each had a black Lab looking dog inside, cage by cage, was the same dog; black, big and barking.

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Stiggy’s Dogs Class of Fall 2011 Needs YOU!

A new class of dogs in training is always an exciting time for Stiggy’s.  New smells, new tails, new wonders all greet us and new challenges meet us.  One of those challenges is sustaining the funding necessary to train a Stiggy’s Dog.  Remember, Stiggy’s Dogs is committed to providing psychiatric service dogs free of charge to veterans.  That means 100% of the cost needs to be funded elsewhere.  And, unfortunately, it doesn’t look like any of the dogs in Stiggy’s Class of Fall 2011 came with pockets full of money.

People often ask how much it costs to train a Stiggy’s Dog.  There’s no one simple answer because each dog and each veteran has different needs.  However, on average, a Stiggy’s Dog costs at least $6,500 to train and deploy.  Stiggy’s saves money by employing a trainer in house, rather than paying for individual training for each dog.  If we didn’t, costs would skyrocket to at least $11,000 per dog. Read the rest here…

Jason Keller, Brutus and Trust…

Some conversations stick with you, as in this particular one. There is that point in a conversation, when you have nothing left to say, and you dare say the words ….”Trust me”…

One of the things we stress when working with our Veterans is communication. Honesty and trust are key components throughout this process. The day before Jason was to travel here, we were having that conversation.  Upon being vague many times throughout it (not being able to answer questions about his dog, what if they don’t bond, how long will it take)…..I ended it with saying  “Jason, when you leave here, you will be  100% satisfied with your dog……Trust me...”

Long story short, he was! Jason, happy and grateful for his service dog Brutus thanked me as he left. “You told me to trust you, and that was huge for me, but I did “ he said “And when i get back home,  I want to do something for you and Stiggy’s Dogs to help raise money and help other Veterans like myself.” Then he added “Trust me”…

Read the rest here…