Lt. Dan was further trained to alert Mike to oncoming anxiety attacks, wake him from nightmares and calm him down in other certain trigger situations. At home, throughout the day and night, Lt. Dan never leaves Mike’s side. Mike also has a second service dog in-
training who helps him with balance issues. JoJo, a Golden Doodle, goes with him to public places like the grocery store, bank or post office; places where some people don’t always understand per- sonal space. Like Lt. Dan, JoJo instinctively knows when Mike’s heart rate and blood pressure are rising. “Recently, while driving, there was a situation occurring in front of me,” said Mike. “I hadn’t verbalized anything, but I guess I was getting pretty worked up about it without consciously being aware of it. JoJo, who was secured in the backseat, stretched her body to reach me and placed her paw on my right shoulder. That one gesture at that instant changed the whole dynamics in the truck. JoJo and Lt. Dan know what’s up before I do. It’s up to me to listen to them.” The group technique of training at
K9 Partners helps the veteran integrate back into a social environment which improves many aspects of their lives. Part of their program includes what they call urban training. When they’re ready, the teams will go out in public to places they are going to have to frequent in everyday life. They are prepared to face and/or either diffuse a potential trigger situation. People can be rude, ignorant and invasive, either questioning the veteran and their dog or just flat out ignoring the vest that says the dog is a working dog, and to please not touch. The rise in the use of fake service dog vests further exacerbates some of these situations our veterans are facing. “Think about this: For every person
who goes online to buy a fake service dog ID and vest, it prevents a veteran from get- ting a service dog,” said K9 Partners’ Mary. A few breeders have donated dogs to
K9 Partners for Patriots. JoJo was donated by a breeder in North Florida. While some veterans come into the program and graduate with their own dogs, most of the dogs have been adopted from area rescue groups or pulled from high kill shelters. “Our K9 Acquisition Team spends
34 THE NEW BARKER
Hans, a Lemon Dalmatian/Treeing Coonhound and trained service dog.
countless hours searching local shelters and rescue websites looking for potential service dog candidates to be matched with a veteran,” Mary said. To date, they have rescued more than 66 dogs since the program’s inception three years ago. A total of 100 veterans have graduated from the program. Many of the rescued dogs have back-
stories that are just as heartbreaking as the veterans’ stories. “Veterans who are hurting seem to identify on a special level with dogs that have been abandoned, mistreated or neglected,” said Mary. Take Brody. At just 16 weeks old, he
was thrown out of a car, left to die. The dog went through training with Terry, a veteran. Chewy was found in the Everglades and came into the K9 Partners program and matched with veteran Tom. Shadow was a retired bomb sniffing dog who ended up in a California kill shelter. “Tim, who had worked with Shadow in one of their tours of duty together, flew out to California to pull and adopt the dog,” said Mary. “They are now graduates of our program.”
ONE MAN’S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE. Unable to work as a result of injuries he sustained during the military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Dan wanted to do something, anything to make him feel like he was a contributing member of society. 4 Paws Rescue in Louisiana needed volun- teers to help socialize the dogs. That’s
where Dan first met Gloria, the dog who would change his life. Thrown away like a piece of garbage,
volunteers from the shelter found Gloria’s almost lifeless body inside a dumpster. Once she was healthy enough for exercise, Dan worked closely with the dog, eventually gaining her trust. His fun com- mand “table time!”meant belly rubs and lots of hugs for Gloria, once she jumped on the veterinary exam table. After adopting and bringing her
home, Gloria always seemed to know just when Dan needed emotional support. She would instinctively place her front paws on his legs, move up around his waist to hug him, then gently place her head on his shoulder. Dan and his wife Belinda had been
looking into the possibility of getting a service dog, but were discouraged by the costs involved. They found one organiza- tion in Los Angeles charging veterans $60,000 for a trained service dog. The couple figured there was no way they could afford a service dog, until Belinda discovered K9 Partners for Patriots. They took Gloria in for an assessment, and the Lab/Australian Cattle Dog mix surprised the everyone with her skills. Now, in addi- tion to helping Dan get through a flash- back or come out of a nightmare, Gloria helps him with his balance and retrieves things he’s dropped. Their training began with Dan in leg
braces. When walking became too painful for him, he started using a wheelchair.
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