At the Ontario SPCA annual conference we spoke to Medric “Cous” Cousineau about his life living with his service dog Thai.

In the first of our series of videos with Cousineau, he explains what exactly a PTSD dog does, and we get to see it for ourselves. Cousineau starts experiencing symptoms of PTSD while we were recording, and Thai helps to alert him and pull him out of the situation. Cousineau has graciously allowed us to broadcast this experience.

“Cous” graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1983 and went on to earn his Wings as an Air Navigator and subsequently became an Anti-Submarine Warfare Specialist on the Seaking’s.

In 1986 ‘Cous” was injured in a daring Air Sea Rescue, which resulted in his being awarded the Star of Courage and developing serious PTSD.

Thai is Cousineau’s PTSD service dog who he connected with in 2012. She inspired him to co-found the Paws Fur Thought initiative that pairs veterans and first-responders suffering from PTSD with service dogs.

Watch to hear more!

To learn about Paws Fur Thought, visit:
http://www.pawsfurthought.com

To listen to the whole Animals’ Voice Pawdcast, go to:
soundcloud.com/ospca/