Service Dogs for
Veterans

Veteran Service Dogs

At The Dog Alliance, based in Cedar Park, we proudly provide Free service dogs for Texas Veterans managing PTSD, mobility challenges, or other disabilities. These highly trained working animals are not pets—they’re capable of performing essential tasks that improve daily life. Veterans can adopt a service dog through one of our two core training pathways, each designed to ensure a strong and supportive partnership.

See Available Dogs

Service Dogs for Veterans

Your Options for Adopting a Service Dog

Fully Trained Service Dogs

These dogs are certified, raised and trained by our expert handlers from puppyhood and are ready for service at around 20–22 months of age.

Train Together Program

Dogs are professionally trained until approximately 1 year of age and then matched with a veteran who completes our service dog training.

How to Qualify for a Service Dog

1. Be a Texas Veteran Enrolled in our Service Dog Training Program

2. Provide documentation of your service and specific needs of assistance.

3. Commit to ongoing training and care of your service dog.

Available Service Dogs

Turbo

Gender: Male
Born: October 28, 2023
Breed: Whippet
Status: Ready for Matching

Learn more
Tuck

Gender: Male
Born: January 19, 2024
Breed: Labrador &Golden Retriever
Status: Ready for Matching

Learn more

Have Questions or Need More Information?

Contact Us Explore Service Dog Training

Carefully Selected & Trained

Service Dogs for Veterans with PTSD

Our service dogs come from long-established bloodlines of proven service dogs. Bred for generations to possess calm temperaments, high intelligence, and unwavering focus, these dogs are born to serve. Each one undergoes over a year of intensive task-specific training and temperament testing to ensure they’re not only capable—but exceptional—companions for veterans facing PTSD and related challenges.

Want to support Our mission?

Help Us Provide Service Dogs for Veterans

Your support can change a veteran’s life—whether you raise a puppy, sponsor a dog in training, or donate essential supplies, every action brings healing and hope to those who’ve served.

Donate
Raise a future service dog

Volunteer to help raise a puppy who will one day change a veteran’s life. We’ll guide you every step of the way.

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Sponsor a Service Dog

Support the training and care of a PTSD service dog for a veteran in need—your donation makes healing possible.

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Frequest Asked Questions (FAQ)

Dam and Sire of Each Litter:

Panini is part of the Assistance Dogs International Breeding Cooperative.  Her health records are maintained by the International Working Dog Registry (IWDR.org).  She has had her hips, elbows, genetics, eyes, and heart tested.

The sire for Panini's litter has undergone similar health testing.  He is a proven stud with a good record of producing service dogs.

Ava has been health tested per the OFA Canine Health Information Center requirements.  You can review her health testing information by clicking HERE.  Health testing for Whippets includes basic cardiac, thyroid, BAER hearing test, and an eye exam by a veterinarian ophthalmologist.  Ava's hips will be tested after she weans her puppies.

The sire of Ava's litter has the OFA CHIC award for health.

Puppies:

All the puppies will receive vaccinations for distemper and parvo at 6 and 8 weeks.  All the puppies will be dewormed at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks.  All the puppies will receive a microchip, bordetella vaccination, and a basic health screening by a veterinarian at eight weeks of age.  The Whippet puppies will receive a BAER hearing test at ten weeks.  All the puppies will receive an eye exam by a veterinarian ophthalmologist before 12 weeks.  (A genetic eye condition can be detected in young puppies.)  

Panini was paired with Edgar, a yellow Labrador Retriever from Guide Dogs for the Blind in California.  Edgar was selected by using estimated breeding values in the International Working Dog Registry and the expertise of the breeding cooperative leadership team.

Ava was paired with Turbo (Liberty's Pickup Man), owned by Alissa Huckabay and Donna Bennett of Liberty Whippets.  Turbo resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  You can view his health clearances and titles by clicking here. 

Ava and Panini's puppies are being raised using the early socialization protocols of the International Working Dog Association.  Every day, each dog is worked with individually and as a group.  Big thank you to our puppy care team for helping us give these dogs the best start in life.

Dogs form all of their neurological connections by 14 weeks of age.  Early socialization is vital to the development of a dog.  To learn more click here.

All the puppies will be temperament tested at eight weeks for suitability as service dogs.  The Dog Alliance staff have been trained to use the Guide Dog Behavioral Response Assessment Test If any puppies show tendencies outside the range preferred for service dogs, they will be available for adoption by families interested in training the puppies to be pets, therapy dogs, and or sport dogs.  

The fee to adopt one of these puppies is $2,500 if the dog is not being adopted/purchased as part of the Train Your Own Service Dog program.  Puppies are provided for free to disabled Texas veterans with an approved application.

Yes.  Puppies will be available for FREE to veterans with an approved application.    A limited number of puppies will be available for civilians with approved applications in our service dog program.

Want to learn more? Visit our Service Dog Training Program page.

If you are interested in raising a puppy for a Veteran please visit our Volunteer to Raise A Service Dog Puppy page. If you have more questions regarding the program, please feel free to contact us.

The vast majority of the Dog Alliance's requests for a service dog are due to mental health challenges.  Whippets are friendly, easy to train, medium-sized, low shedding, calm, good with children, friendly with other dogs, devoted to their person, seldom bark and love to snuggle/burrow.  Many of our clients have difficulty sleeping.  A warm, snuggly dog may be a great alternative to sleeping medication.  Whippets do not require extensive exercise to be content, although they do best if they can run free and fast for at least 10 to 15 minutes every day.  

One word of caution about Whippets.   They can get cold easily.  A nice warm fleece jacket is a must for Whippets when taking a walk in cold weather.  


Ava has passed the same public access and task testing that our more traditional lab/golden dogs have passed.


In our experience, our Labrador and Golden Retrievers take close to 20 - 23 months to be fully trained and reliable.  Our Whippet was ready at about 18 months.  We do not have enough data to determine if all Whippets will be ready for service dog placement by 18 months.


Tax-deductible donations from individuals, grants, and corporate sponsorships. 

If you have any more questions or need further assistance, please feel free to contact us—we’re here to help!