New York Islanders 4th Puppy with a Purpose Jethro Matches with Russ Fincher

New York Islanders 4th Puppy with a Purpose Jethro Matches with Russ Fincher

[Music] How you doing? Hi Matt. I’m Russ Fincher. Nice to meet you. Good to meet you, sir. And this is Jethro, which I think you already know. Hey, bud. My name is Russ Fincher and I am a veteran and a first responder. I spent 12 years in the Coast Guard and active in reserve time and I worked on a rescue boat and provided a rescue and medical care for people that were, you know, lost at sea. Returning to civilian life, there’s there’s a reintegration period that has to happen. And over the years that became more and more and more difficult. The Islanders have always done a great job of being involved in the community in different ways, but this program is one that I love personally because I’m a dog lover and I’ve seen the impact that a service dog can have on someone. You notice like a lot of changes in yourself and the way like the things he does and way he operates. You know, veterans and first responders like me that have PTSD start to feel uncomfortable in places where there are lots of people. We like people, but when we’re around people, it’s extremely stressful. And he gets that. In the beginning, you don’t realize it’s happening to you. You don’t realize that you have trouble reintegrating. And then it dawns on you that you’re still turned on from being overseas. What would you say to first responders that don’t know if they want to go down this road? Use the therapeutic resources that are available to you and apply. It’s not in place of those other resources. It’s in addition to and to complement those other resources. So apply to Vet Dogs and give yourself an opportunity to do this. Not only does he help me, it’s the other people in my life like the extended family. Hats off to him for understanding that there was a problem and addressing it. It sounds like he’s back to doing normal things with his family and a lot of the stress and things that he was worried about before are gone. Obviously, he’s still a puppy. He’s still a dog. He wants to play. He wants to But can he turn it on and off? Yes. Just like that. As soon as he feels it from you and it’s he feels it from me or a command from me and he associates work with the vest and sometimes when we want to play, even at work, I take his vest off so he knows that’s playtime. He can be a dog and but when it’s time to work his vest is on. Okay. So, that’s his queue. That’s his queue. Oh, yeah. Fast. He can move. But even stuff like this, we’re playing, but he follows commands. And when you reinforce it, and then when you really need him to do something, he just loops right in. Just does it. You know, it’s kind of like what we did, you know, what you did on the ice and what I did in the field. You know, that training. Now, when you need it, you just loop right in and you function. [Music]

Meet Russ Fincher, U.S. Coast Guard Veteran, retired FBI Agent and volunteer first responder.

Russ has been matched with Jethro, the #Isles 4th Puppy with a Purpose through America’s VetDogs. As a fully trained service dog, Jethro supports Russ every day by helping mitigate the effects of PTSD.