NEWS

From left to right, Continuing the Mission (CTM) Norman, Tanner, Scotty, RK, Gil, and Chiller!

Continuing the Mission (CTM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that improves the lives of Veterans in North Carolina living with the challenges of Post-Traumatic Stress (PTSD), Military Sexual Trauma (MST), and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) by providing them with trained service dogs at no cost. Founded in 2016 by Suzy Lutz and her husband Robert, CTM has paired a total of sixteen dogs with Veteran recipients!

One of our graduated dogs, CTM Boss, performing the “rest” task

We currently have six service dogs-in-training in our program. Usually our pups stay in training until they are 20-24 months old before they are sent out with their fur-ever Veterans. Our dogs graduate with public access skills as well as service dog tasks that assist their Veterans in grounding and feeling more comfortable in crowded public spaces. In order to qualify for a service dog, our Veterans must be in current trauma based therapy for at least three months and continue to stay in treatment for at least six months after receiving their dog. While service dogs are not a magic pill, used in conjunction with treatment they allow our Veterans to ground themselves and better navigate the world with an invisible injury.

Gil and Scotty, two of our advanced dogs are currently in the process of pairing! They are currently living at home with their Veteran recipients and attending weekly training events. 

CTM Gil training with his Veteran recipient

We make sure our Veterans are comfortable taking their dogs to malls, grocery stores, their workplaces, and even church! Our third advanced dog, Tanner, will also be paired with a Veteran during the first quarter of this year. We have three 8 month old puppies,RK, Chiller, and Norman, who have begun taking their obedience skills out in public.

If any members of the community want to get involved with CTM, we are looking for weekend puppy fosters! Here is the application form on our website.

This Spring we will be offering a group Canine Good Citizen (CGC) class! Our service dog trainer Tracy Crotts is a certified AKC CGC evaluator and will be leading the 6-week class. Our first class will start Monday April 7th at 6pm; see the flyer below for more details.