An old man was strolling along a beach one day. In the distance he saw a young boy and girl reach down, pick something up and throw it back into the sea. Drawing nearer, he saw that the sand was littered with thousands of small stranded sand dollars. The children were patiently picking them up, one at a time and returning them to safety below the water. “What are you doing he asked.” “Saving sand dollars,” replied the children as they continued about the job at hand. The old man, somewhat jaded by age, thought the children’s actions were futile. “But the beach is littered with dying sand dollars. What possible difference can you make by doing this?” The young girl bent over, picked up another, and threw it with all her might. With a plop the sand dollar landed safely below the water. Then, turning to the old man, she said with all the wisdom of a child, “I made a difference for that one.”

And so go the efforts of PENNY’S FROM HEAVEN FOUNDATION’S PTS SUPPORT DOGS, offering comfort and support to our wounded warriors with Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and/or Post Traumatic Stress (PTS), one at a time.

Kelsie and Chase have been selected as the Penny’s From Heaven Foundation’s Post Traumatic Support Dogs. Working with our wounded warriors returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, these dogs, with their calm, patient and quiet demeanors, provide a safety net of support and comfort.

Through recognition, education, acceptance, treatment and support Penny’s From Heaven Foundation is promoting the use of trained therapy dogs with post traumatic stress patients.

Patients and clients suffering from this very real illness have flashbacks, trouble sleeping, nightmares, feelings of being alone, anger outbursts, and feelings of worry, guilt or sadness. PTS is caused by living through or seeing a traumatic even, such as war, a hurricane, rape, physical abuse or a bad accident. It affects lives of not only the person, but those around them.

This leads to findings that dogs that are provided for soldiers and others with PTS on a full time basis, as a companion dog, have abilities to make a huge difference in lives. The dogs can provide safety checks of the person’s room, interrupt a panic attack or nightmare by turning on lights, focusing on the owner during extreme stress, and create a safe non-threatening environment.

So Kelsie and Chase are making a difference, one patient at a time, by alerting patients to the realization that perhaps having their own ‘support’ dog might be just what the doctor ordered.