Aiding first responders in San Mateo and San Francisco counties

“When I got the dog, my family said that I was finally living like a human being again,” Smith said. “She changed my whole life.”

Smith is one of many clients of Urban Paws, a nonprofit in the San Mateo County and San Francisco area, created specifically for first responders and veterans in mind. Founded in 2022 by Dave and Jenny Uziel, along with Dana Froomin, the organization trains and places psychiatric service dogs for PTSD. 

“We see completely different people just by handing them a dog. The therapy that those dogs provide is just remarkable,” Froomin said. 

Froomin has trained dogs for more than 10 years and is very passionate about service dog therapy. She and Urban Paws have taken a unique approach by placing the dogs with their recipients almost immediately rather than wait up to two years for them to be fully trained. 

“We place our dogs with a recipient when they’re puppies and then we guide them all the way through the training process,” Froomin said. “This is nice because the recipient and the dog get attached very quickly. The bond is magic.”

Unlike emotional support and therapy dogs, psychiatric dogs are trained to perform at least two tasks, which provides public access through support of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Urban Paws dogs perform tasks such as deep pressure for panic attacks, retrieving items and comfort for nightmares. They can sometimes even detect panic attacks before they happen. Froomin trains the dogs for this by teaching them to smell chemical differences in their owners before, during and after an episode. The puppies have been very receptive to these chemical changes, she added. 

San Mateo police Officer Carlos Basurto lost his leg in a 2018 car crash and has benefited from his service dog Wesson. He had originally sought a service dog for his son who was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and will have to undergo multiple surgeries throughout his adolescent life. He has since recovered and continues to work full time for the San Mateo Police Department. Following his incident, Urban Paws reached out and asked if he would like to be part of the new organization. 

“They told me all about it and I was like yes, yes, yes, please, please, please,” Basurto said.

Wesson is not just a dog but also a member of the family and provides both psychiatric and physical support for Basurto through helping with his mobility after a long day on a prosthetic and urging him to take mental breaks. 

“I take him outside to go to the bathroom and play a little bit and then I realize how much I had on my shoulders and it just melts away. I just sit there and pet him and thank him,” Basurto said.

First responders and veterans don’t always have the ability to get a service dog and may not know how much it’s going to help them, Basurto said.

“I don’t think they realize how much they changed my life and my family’s life,” Basurto said.

Urban Paws financially support the dogs the first year and supplies food, medication, service vests and anything else. A one-year anniversary and fundraiser will be March 23. Proceeds will go toward food and training supplies. Go to https://urbanpawssf.org for more information.