The West Virginia University Hearts of Gold Program will play a key role in setting new industry standards for service dog training and support with the help of a more than $590,000 award from the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Grant Program.
For nearly 20 years, the WVU Hearts of Gold Program, a partnership between the WVU Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Human Animal Bond, has given back to Veterans who have sacrificed so much — transforming their lives by pairing them with specially trained service dogs.
With the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs working to expand access to service dogs as a therapeutic resource for Veterans with disabilities, this research will be fundamental in setting guidelines for service dog training and support.
This award is part of a broader initiative that has secured nearly $3 million in funding for the Hearts of Gold program since 2018, resulting in an expansion of staff, classes and the number of service dogs placed with Veterans.
The program’s mission is simple — to provide WVU students with the rare opportunity to learn about, research and train service dogs specifically for Veterans with mobility and psychiatric disabilities.
“The Wounded Warrior Service Dog Grant Program found significant variations in how different entities train dogs,” Matt Wilson, professor of animal sciences and member of the Hearts of Gold staff, said. “Over the next few years, we will evaluate a list of more than 130 best practices for service dog training. Annually, all the entities involved will gather to share their findings and set industry-wide standards.”
These standards, Wilson explained, could ultimately pave the way for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to cover the cost of training and placing service dogs for Veterans nationwide.
“That’s what’s really exciting,” he said. “We are a part of a group that will put in a mechanism whereby Veterans can access service dogs as a therapy for their disability.”
Over the course of two years, Hearts of Gold dogs are trained by students, inmates at Federal Correctional Institution — Morgantown, faculty and doctoral students with the WVU School of Medicine Occupational Therapy program, and Hearts of Gold staff to assist with tasks personalized to their matched Veterans.
“Hearts of Gold was established to give students in the Division of Animal and Nutritional Sciences experience working with dogs but also to expose students to what it is like to work with people with disabilities,” Wilson said. “The program is rooted in ‘unleashing the power of service.’ It is all about giving back to those who have taken the initiative to serve our country in the U.S. Armed Forces and as a result of that they have a need we can help to address.”
For students like Thomas Sico, a senior animal and nutritional sciences major from New Jersey, the program has been a transformative experience.
“When I came to school, my original thought was to go to veterinary school. Now, after taking this lab, my future goal is to train dogs for a K-9 unit. This class totally altered my college experience,” Sico said. “This class helps you to find a love for helping people with dogs.”
The Hearts of Gold program primarily serves Veterans within a 100-mile radius of Morgantown, providing these service dogs — typically valued at upward of $25,000 — at no cost. Through hands-on coursework, students can make a difference in the lives of Veterans while gaining real-world, practical experience for their futures.
“It definitely makes me feel like I am doing something good,” Sico said. “I have Veterans in my family and I can appreciate efforts being made to help them.”
Wilson said it’s a project with lasting benefits for the Veterans and the students.
“Students get into it because they see the dog, but the effects on them seeing how the program serves a vital community in our state is really important,” Wilson said. “Hopefully, it gives them a broader perspective on what they can do to have an impact on other people’s lives.”
