“The idea for this innovative pilot program — titled Dog Ownership Enhancing Recovery, or DOER — came to Dr. Hamrock from tracking what sets patients who maintain their recovery apart.

“I noticed a common theme over the last 20 years — most of my patients who seem to maintain recovery, a lot of them have pet dogs,” he said. “It seems the dogs become a real stability factor in their lives. Having a pet helps them face some responsibility, accountability, and sense of purpose, which are critical to maintaining your recovery.”

Power Forward’s goal for DOER is to place trained service dogs into MASH approved sober homes. Then, Dr. Mike and his team will track the residents progress toward maintaining sobriety and compare their outcomes to dog free sober home residents.

While the program — the first-of-its-kind in the country — is in its infancy, Dr. Hamrock is excited about the possibilities.

“Addiction is a tricky disease and we need to do more for people suffering from addiction beyond medication and counseling. Pet ownership could be an additional tool that we can use,” Dr. Hamrock told us. “We hope this takes off as an additional treatment for this really complicated brain disease.”

-Steward Medical Group

Dr. Michael Hamrock and Sawyer, the first DOER Recovery Dog