RON FLAVILLE NAMED CEO, K9 PARTNERS FOR PATRIOTS
BROOKSVILLE, FL– At the request of Mary Peter, founder and CEO of K9 Partners for Patriots since its inception in 2014, its Board of Directors has approved her recommended appointment of Ron Flaville, Chief Operating Officer, to the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Flaville was the first veteran to complete the K9P4P program which trains a veteran to train the dog the program provides; becoming the veteran’s own working ‘service’ dog in compliance with specific ADA requirements for that status.
“Ron exemplifies the purpose of K9 Partners for Patriots, which is to help the veteran with PTSD find a positive path forward. That’s exactly what Ron did, together with Sophia, the dog he trained,” Mary Peter explained. “The experience of training Sophia and gaining self-confidence from that effort opened up new possibilities that I’m sure he once considered ‘out-of-reach.’ But he kept working at it and it was clear that he was in a better place. We first hired him as a dog trainer, then as Veteran Liaison, interviewing all the new applicants. Just a year ago he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer; I couldn’t be prouder,” she added.
Ron’s consistent progress enabled Sophia to transition to ‘semi-retirement’, where he no longer needs her to accompany him everywhere but she remains the proud pet of the Flaville family.
“I’m humbled and cannot begin to express the gratitude I have for Mary and this program; because without it, I might have been one of the 22 veterans with PTSD that we’re losing on a daily basis,” said Flaville. “She gave me my life back. She gave me my wife and kids back.”
Mary Peter transitions to Executive Director, Training Operations, which enables her to focus on both training and sharing the K9P4P methodology with like-minded veterans’ organizations. K9P4P is also a founding member of the Association of Service Dog Providers for Military Veterans; a group dedicated to the highest quality K9 training standards for service dogs, and, legislative support to make service dogs more accessible for veterans in need.
K9 Partners for Patriots https://k9partnersforpatriots.com is a nonprofit 501c3 organization based in Brooksville, FL. Its mission is to give veterans and active military a second chance at life by empowering those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Military Sexual Trauma (MST) through the experience of training and caring for their own service dog.
