A 17-year-old Brownsville girl is training a therapy dog to donate to a local veteran as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project.

Susie Scheiber is working to get her dog, Ash, certified as a therapy dog. Once certified, Ash will be donated to a veteran chosen through the Brownsville VFW Post.

Scheiber is also raising money to make sure the veteran who receives Ash does not face any financial burdens.

K9 Trainer Derek Rivera explained how a trained animal can help veterans.

"By having a trained service animal or therapy dog with him, the dog is actually trained to understand those triggers in the human," Rivera said.

Rivera said he is looking forward to the work ahead.

The Gold Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn.