Service Dogs For Patriots

My husband is a veteran that suffers from severe PTSD. We recently moved to Florida and found this organization and we’re super excited to be a part of this organization. We filled out an application and received an email that we had been accepted into the program. Super excited we made the commute from Ocala to Gainesville. We met with Michelle who was super knowledgeable and eager to start Noir’s training. We were scheduled for training every Friday and told to expect the training to be 12 months. We currently are into our almost 6 months of training. What started out to be amazing, emotional and exciting with structured classes and excellent communication, changed. Our trainer Michelle handed over training to Sammie who was also very knowledgeable in training. We started having poor communication from Sammie, training dates getting moved, times and days even the locations of training. We tried to be patient and understanding of it all but it continued to the point of not knowing when our next class was or where. Any Veteran especially with PTSD knows structure, communication and a consistent schedule helps to keep a running brain at ease. When my husband and I finally decided enough was enough and something needed said so we could get this problem resolved, we became the problem student. We were told Sammie was going out of town for three weeks for training for another job and Noir would go three weeks without any class it imposed an issue with us. We voiced the concern and were told their healths were in bad shape and to bear with them as money was also an issue. Michelle told us when Sammie returned in three weeks she would reach out and get things back on track and have us start coming back to their location. 3 weeks in we had heard not a word. I reached out to Michelle asking if we could figure out Noirs training schedule so we could plan things around that. That’s when we received an email stating if we wanted to continue Noirs training we would have to pay $130 each session due to their financial hardship. Keep in mind my husband and dog have been working so hard for the last 6 months in this program to be told sorry u either pay to finish or you don’t! With no other option given. We were made to feel like we were the problem rather than the ones being screwed out of something their organization accepted us into. We weren’t opposed to helping out in some way financially but to set a price on a family you had already accepted and had been apart of the program for 6 months is shameful. Michelle is the owner of the organization and in good faith should have stepped u and finished what she started with Noir, but instead we were given an ultimatum. This organization was a true let down and have left a terrible sense of the value they see Veterans are worth.