After years of waiting, Hank Ford, a U.S. Marine Corps and Army veteran who retired from the military in 2009, applied for a service dog to help manage his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The pet parent to several hunting dogs, Ford, 54, decided to postpone committing his attention to a service animal until his current canines died. In early 2023, he reached out to Dogs Inc , a nonprofit based in Palmetto, Fla., that provides trained service dogs to people across the U.S.

Ford completed a phone interview and online classes with the organization before Amy Bernard, Dogs Inc's service dog program manager, came to his Fort Lupton, Colo., home for an assessment and to learn what Ford wanted in a service dog.

"They're an outstanding organization," Ford said about the experience.

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