Welcome To Camp Fiona

Our Mission

Camp Fiona strives to support Veterans & First Responders struggling with PTSD(Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and Trauma/Sexual Assault that are currently either Active or Retired. We also work with Special Needs that have similar trauma & behavioral issues. Our cutting edge Biofeedback Service Dog Training in association with Therapeutic Recreation (AAT) will be used to combat the stress/anxiety that leads up to the trauma or flight/fight response. The service not only reduces but actually neutralizes the trauma response. This allows for social growth in communication leading to more confidence with higher cognitive learning in both groups with higher self-esteem and situational awareness. Camp Fiona aims to build a holistic healing experience through Meditation, VR, Massage Therapy, Hypnosis Therapy and Therapeutic Recreation (AAT) Biofeedback Therapy to name a few that will allow the individual to heal. We also will be breeding/training service dogs for individuals as well as offer a Biofeedback bootcamp for those still active not needing the service animal. Our goal also is to have a dog stationed in Police Dept, Fire Dept and so on for those not wanting a service dog but wanting self checkups. Lastly the hope is to be able to spread the movement by offering valuable learning opportunities for college students interested in working with kids with disabilities through a class elective (still in the works). By offering a camp that shows all therapies available in the State programs gives the student an opportunity to experience them all as well as the kids on the waiting list. It also allows them to se our new RT Biofeedback (AAT) dogs. It's a great opportunity to educate them on what's available as well as allow the students see if this is something they could do as a career. Camp Fiona will adhere to the best practices of service dog training but also introduce new advances in service dogs that allow a more autonomous way forward.

A Deep Dive Into Camp Fiona

WELCOME TO THE PACK SABINE WREN

Want to help support our cause?

Thank you for your interest in our Recreation Therapy AAT (Animal Assisted Therapy) Biofeedback training program for PTSD(Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with or without drug addiction), TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and Trauma/Sexual Assault that are currently either Active or Retired. We are currently trying to work out funding to build a kennel which is stage 1 of the trauma and behavioral facility timeline. Service dog take home program is still delayed but we expect to take applications by Sept 2026 which is sooner than expected. We have acquired the new puppy to meet that timeline but can acquire an older dog if needed.

------------ We are hoping to get approved for a grant to help with building the housing complex for the veterans. The reason being many will only want the biofeedback recalibration and want to get back to work without a service dog. We are working hard trying to figure out the best setup for different outcomes. The individuals that might need the service dog for Mental and Physical needs the housing complex can be a place to teach the individuals both in one place. First Responders current and retired, Veterans or current active military could benefit a program that will have everything they need available on site.

----------- However the Recreation Therapy AAT Biofeedback training program (without the take home dog) is going and plan on picking up new candidates in the Fall of 2025 with Camp Fiona (AAT specialized service dogs only). This will depend on when Triwest approves us to become a provider but do expect it soon. The VA has approved to take Recreation Therapy with (AAT) dogs only and Biofeedback Therapy as a separate therapy. Our dogs are the first of its kind and debut giving (AAT) starting September 2022 but went live February 2023. Our dogs through Recreation Therapy (AAT) actually teach you Biofeedback in real time. What does this mean for the individual getting service from Camp Fiona/Takoda Therapies? (The private LLC associated to run the therapy claims) The individual will get hands down the best form of therapy that will help the individual learn to tame the amygdala. It will be the first of its kind learning from back to front and then join forces with the rest of the behavioral therapies which normally start with the prefrontal cortex. Ultimately you need the amygdala and by using traditional measures with ours you can complete the circle of learning and control. Understanding you can take back control is amazing. Taking back control of the Amygdala allows it to help you and not possibly hurt you. It also helps with everyday Bio conditions that affect you in everyday life too. I do plan on writing a journal about this and go into more details but for now please be patient. I plan on explaining how it all fits together and what I thought I knew and how the dogs opened up my mind to a whole new level of understanding and control. I have currently been doing the (AAT) with RT live since February 2023 and have learned that learning never stops. I have been doing RT for almost 9 years. Nothing could get me over the hump to the next level until I was shown the way. Therefore I want to give a shout out to the Lord above for showing me the way. Without him guiding me I would not have been able to design these dogs to do what they do or have an open mind to listen. Also, RT is amazing but the (AAT) dogs steal the show. You can not do this without them! No machine can distinguish what they have to do in a blink of an eye and give the correct response over and over. Believe me they are not detecting 1 thing but 3 different things which is why I taught them to abstract thinking. Lastly if you are wondering if I can repeat the process the answer is yes! I even used my other dogs to heal a very traumatic dog named Luke Skywalker to just about 90% normal. He also does the alerts now too.

Everyone could benefit from this therapy not only the people I mentioned!

We do plan to offer:

Rec Therapy Biofeedback with (AAT) dogs(Takoda)in process

HypnoTherapy (Mayan Spirit is Triwest provider)

Massage Therapy(TBD)

Virtual Reality Therapy in association with RT(TBD)

NOTE: The therapies we will be providing will require additional training designed especially for this clientele. Therefore Camp Fiona and its board will have specific requirements that will need to be met to do this type of work. An example would be the RT Biofeedback (AAT) program is only done with Takoda Therapies due to they are the only ones that know how to train the specialized dogs and use RT correctly with RT activities. More in depth training will be needed in RT to utilize how the dog to therapist combo works. A CEU course will be made available in the near future to help teach what to expect and how to utilize the dogs in the activities. I plan on writing this with Bonnie. Imagine doing Rec Therapy and knowing exactly how your client is doing with stress and at what level all in real time.

----------- Required By Everyone

Everyone goes through the RT (AAT) Biofeedback reconditioning if you plan on getting the dog now, later or never. If you feel you need the dog and only did the reconditioning we can also start training to get your own dog when the facility is built. No training, No dog! Too many dogs go down the path of trying to love the individual giving service and they either get hurt or traumatized themselves. No individual will go home with a Camp Fiona Service dog that can't show they have been reconditioned. Trust me we will know if you are conditioned and you will too. If you are ready to bring back that real smile again then we are ready to prove you wrong and give it to you.

(One thing to point out is we focus on individuals over the age of 18.)

We are actively seeking volunteers to join our efforts once we start building a kennel. We are closing in on the area we will be building. Stay Tuned!

If you’d like to support our mission in other ways, a donation form is provided further down, along with a QR code linking to our GoFundMe page for additional opportunities to contribute. or shoot an email to Chrisgriffin@campfiona.org

We are looking for land between Kyle and San Antonio to build the kennel and eventually the trauma center.

Application Link

Our Pups

Princess Leia

Han Solo

Hon Solo will be our starting male stud, a special Terrier mix that will be breeding with a Silver Lab Retriever. Depending when the kennel is built will determine which dog he breeds with first. Anywhere from late 2026 to early 2027. We had to move up the timeline to have all in place to house the puppies in the new kennel, However if we are able to build it sooner Han Solo is ready to breed.(check out our first concept art of facility down below). This will be the start of our star and lead puppies. Princess Leia is a Lab/Retriever mix in which we are breeding to her specifications. Once the dog program is on its way the females will only give 4 litters and then spayed and allowed to enter the program. We have tested rescued dogs such as Luke Skywalker pictured below and already vet owned military dogs. The findings were yes we could eventually train the caged rescues but it took extensive training from our lead dog using the same concepts to break the trauma as used on the individuals. It also took 1yr 6m to get Luke to 90% stress free in the home. He is about 80% in the community and 70% in car and vet trips. When the goal is to save lives that's too long. He did start to give alerts but only inside which is still amazing and now starting to do the lower level alerts too. The already owned vet military dogs we tried to train were indeed traumatized due to actions caused by the veteran in most cases. In both cases training the dogs to perform at high levels require minimal childhood stress to allow the dog to be able to understand a higher level of learning as well as detect there different levels needed. We would love to save some of them if possible but we have a high level of skill required and certain traits that only certain dogs can do. Our proprietary program has been used, tested and succeeded in various cases ranging from veteran PTSD, TBI to Special needs behavioral traumas with Autism spectrums, Downs Syndrome, for the last 2 years. Each puppy will be trained using our custom program and will be offered as a service animal through our program. In some cases the veterans or police officers will be wanting to try to gain control and get redeployed not needing the service dog feature. Others trying to become a citizen again will need the use of a service dog to show others and themselves they are doing great with mental health. This will also hold true for Police officers having a dog stationed allowing them to see how they are doing. If they need help the dog is always there to stop anything from arising as well as comfort or to help them get realigned with breathing. Giving Hope back is now possible with this breakthrough training!