PPH SOUTHWEST REGION
SERVICE AREA: SAN DIEGO AND SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
BAY AREA LOCATIONS
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
MENLO PARK
Phone
(650) 684-7244
PENNGROVE
Phone
(650) 684-7244
Hours
M-F 9am to 5pm
Hours
M-F 9am to 5pm
Location
795 Willow Road, Bldg 400,
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Location
10201 Old Redwood Hwy
Penngrove, CA 94951
Based at the VA in Menlo Park, CA.
We provide canine assisted therapy sessions to Warriors with PTSD and/or TBI in partnership with the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System (VAPAHCS). During this therapy, we teach the Warriors to help train our service dogs for fellow Warriors with a disability. The service dogs we train in this program will be placed with Warriors facing challenges such as mobility impairments, PTSD and TBI. We start training and socializing our dogs at the VA when they are as young as two weeks old. Our dogs go home with Puppy Parents on the weekend to help them acclimate to the local environment and community, and build their socialization skills. This helps make them better service dogs when they are ready to be assigned permanently to Warriors.
We work together with our local community to help spread the word about the important work we do with Warriors, and to seek financial and volunteer support for that life-changing work. Our wonderful volunteers help train our dogs and perform many other tasks that help us accomplish our mission and we are very grateful to them!
Our site is unique in that our dogs stay and live with the Warriors that help us train them while they are in a residential treatment program. There are two Warrior trainers per dog. This helps to simulate co-parenting, and is beneficial to the Warriors and the dogs alike. We also provide dogs to support cutting edge research by organizations such as the VA’s National Center for PTSD.
TIMELINE
2008: Launched the first therapeutic canine intervention program at VAPAHCS.
2011: Webb graduates as the first Facility Dog at the VA.
2012: Started canine assisted therapy in the Women’s Trauma Recovery Program (WTRP).
2013: VA opens the Welcome Center building with a K9 Corner.
2013: Commenced canine assisted therapy for Intensive Outpatient (IO) program patients.
2018: Timmy graduated to become the facility dog at the Women’s Trauma Recovery Program (WTRP).
2018: Started CAWT® at the San Francisco VA, helping Veterans in the PTSD Outpatient Clinic.
2020: Ralph graduated as Facility Dog at the San Jose VA Clinic.
2020: During the pandemic, we started weekly window visits with Veterans in the Community Living Center.
To volunteer at our Menlo Park, CA site, click the button and fill out the volunteer application.
PLEASE NOTE: AT THIS TIME, THE ONLY VOLUNTEER ROLES AVAILABLE WITH OUR MENLO PARK, CA TEAM ARE PUPPY PETTER, PUPPY RAISER, PUPPY SITTER.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Click on a photo in the calendar to see details of that event.
You can also visit our Amazon Wishlist to purchase a needed product like these:
Choose Paws for Purple Hearts’ Gift Registry Address in the list of shipping addresses when checking out.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
SEE PICTURES OF THE IMPORTANT WORK (AND ADVENTUROUS LIVES)
OF OUR SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA SERVICE-DOGS-IN-TRAINING
To contact our Menlo Park, CA site fill out the form.
TESTIMONIALS AND QUOTES
ELIGIBILITY
Service Dogs
We place service dogs with Service Members and Veterans facing challenges such as:
– Mobility issues. Our dogs can help with tasks such as: retrieving items, pushing buttons for elevators and doors, turning lights on/off, plus many more.
– Diagnosed trauma-related conditions (PTSD or TBI). Our dogs help by performing a variety of tasks specifically designed to reduce symptom severity.
Through our thorough application process, our qualified staff determines if a PPH service dog will be a fit for your specific needs.
Facility Dogs
Facility dogs are placed with managers who work in care facilities that serve Service Members, Veterans, and/or military families. They are also placed with counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, occupational therapists (and other specialists) who serve military-connected individuals and wish to integrate a dog into their clients’ treatment plans. Facility dogs provide invaluable benefits to the populations they serve, but they do not meet the legal definition of a service dog and do not have public access rights outside of their assigned facility. Facilities must serve at least 50% of military-connected individuals to qualify.
Our History
Paws for Purple Hearts is the first program of its kind to offer therapeutic intervention for Veterans and Active-Duty Military.
Canine-Assisted Warrior Therapy®
Under the guidance of PPH instructors, service members engage with specially bred Golden Retriever and Labrador puppies.
How the Program Works
Read more about how Canine-Assisted Warrior Therapy® helps ease a Warrior’s symptom severity through assisting PPH trainers with soothing, light-hearted contact with PPH puppies and dogs.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT.
Donations to Paws for Purple Hearts can change a Warrior’s life from hopelessness to optimism.
Your generous, tax-deductible donation helps thousands of Warriors facing the visible and invisible wounds of war. Our Canine Assisted Warrior Therapy helps them heal as they help others – all with the goal of raising top tier service dogs for Veterans and active duty Service Members with mobility and trauma challenges.