Trainer Kat Carter (second from right), leads a service dog training class Tuesday, June 26, 2018, with veterans (from left) Jay Smith, Raphael Ramos, and Brandon Young.
Military veterans Brandon Young (left), and Jay Smith look over a new service dog vest in the Saving Grace K9s office in Lexington, NC, Tuesday, June 26, 2018.
Military veterans Brandon Young (left), and Raphael Ramos relax at the Saving Grace K9s office in Lexington with their service dogs Sarge (left), and Max, Tuesday, June 26, 2018.Â
Sarge, a service dog belonging to military veteran Brandon Young, relaxes in the Saving Grace K9s office in Lexington, NC, Tuesday, June 26, 2018.
Brigette Parsons, director of the Saving Grace K9s in Lexington buckles a service dog vest she made for “Mad Max,” using an old uniform belonging to Max’s owner, military veteran Raphael Ramos (left).
Brandon Young ventures into a busy grocery store with his service dog, Sarge, as a training exercise under the watchful eye of Kat Carter, the lead trainer for Saving Grace K9s of Lexington.
LEFT: Brandon Young ventures into a busy grocery store with his service dog, Sarge, as a training exercise under the watchful eye of Kat Carter, the lead trainer for Saving Grace K9s of Lexington.
Marine Corps veteran Jay Smith holds Diesel, his service dog, at the Saving Grace K9 office. The nonprofit organization in Lexington helps military veterans train their service dogs at no charge. “I never went out anywhere,” Smith said of his life before Diesel. “I was a hermit.”
Brigette Parsons is the director at Saving Grace K9s, a non-profit service dog training center for military veterans in Lexington, NC.
Marine Corps veteran Jay Smith walks his service dog, Diesel, in a training class led by lead trainer Kat Carter (center), at Saving Grace K9s in Lexington, Tuesday, June 26, 2018. Raphael Ramos (right), waits his turn with his dog, Max.Â
The service dog vest for Diesel, Jay Smith’s dog, is made from one of Smith’s old Marine Corps uniforms, complete with Smith’s pocket tabs, unit patch, and service dog warnings.
A fiberglass dog leaping through a hoop hangs at the entrance to the Saving Grace K9s in Lexington, where military veterans can receive help training their service dogs.