PTSD Service Dog

For nearly a year and a half, a Labrador retriever named Archie helped Debbie Carleton get out of bed every day.

Archie was matched with Carleton, a Halifax Regional Police detective who logged more than two decades on the job, by Canadian Intervention and Assistance Dogs, or CIAD.

But Carleton, who now lives in New Brunswick, will spend Christmas without Archie, after the service dog organization took him back.

It’s left her grieving the loss of the bond she had with Archie and without a service dog to navigate daily life.

“It’s like you have a best friend and now it’s gone,” Carleton said.

Carleton started with the Halifax Regional Police in 1995. As a detective, she investigated difficult cases, from sex crimes to human trafficking. But she said she also had to deal with homophobia, sexism and sexual harassment on the job.

She’s been off work for the last five years after being diagnosed with severe work-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It’s been a rough time to say the least, because the stigma of being a police officer, especially a female police officer, you’re always having to prove yourself over and over and over again.”

During the time Carleton has been off work, CIAD was founded in Nova Scotia as part of a group of service dog training schools that were chosen and funded by the mental-health services provider Wounded Warriors Canada.

CIAD is a non-profit run primarily by volunteers and focused specifically on matching service dogs with first responders. It has since expanded to also include veterans.

After an application process, Carleton was matched with Archie. She said he was dropped off at her house on June 30, 2019.

“It just seemed like the perfect thing for me to have a service dog, to be able to help me in my recovery and to get some kind of quality of life back,” Carleton said.

“Archie gave that to me, even though we weren’t perfect.”

Carleton suffers from flashbacks and nightmares. Archie helped by waking her and bringing her back to the present moment.

“He would always come and wake me or nudge, something to get my attention, or just lay right across me,” she said.  “He always was beside me, like, never left my side.”

But Carleton noticed some issues with Archie’s obedience training. She said Archie would react to other dogs while on leash, which made it difficult to even take him for a walk.

She said she raised the issue with CIAD numerous times, asking for help with Archie’s training. But she said the organization didn’t seem to have the expertise or resources to fix the issues.

Carleton’s psychiatrist, Dr. Marina Sokolenko, also wrote to the organization’s board about the problems.

“Having known Ms. Carleton for a long time and having had an opportunity to observe the dog, from the very beginning Archie, unfortunately, did not behave like that of other service dogs who I had an opportunity to observe,” Sokolenko said in an email Sept. 30.

“As time passed, I saw the dog’s behaviour improve, with much of [the] training done by Ms. Carleton.”

Carleton said she even found a trainer to work with her in New Brunswick, so that trainers wouldn’t have to travel from Nova Scotia. But, she said, CIAD didn’t allow it.

At the end of November, CIAD took Archie for a two-week reassessment.

“I gave Archie in good faith that he would be returned,” Carleton said.

Sokolenko also advocated for Archie to be returned after his assessment, warning CIAD that keeping him could have “grave consequences.”

“It is my strong belief that if the dog is not returned to Ms. Carleton, it will have [a] very detrimental effect on Ms. Carleton’s mental state and may increase the risk to her safety,” Sokolenko’s Sept. 30 email said.

Sokolenko went on to say the action was “inhumane” and “absolutely inappropriate” for a patient with PTSD.

But on Dec. 10, CIAD told Carleton over a Zoom meeting that Archie hadn’t passed key testing that allows a service dog to accompany a handler to public places.

“[They said] that his demeanour now, he’s very anxious, that he may have to be put on anxiety medication, that his needs are not being met by me and it’s not safe for him to return to this environment,” Carleton said.

She said the call seemed to rule out getting Archie back even as a pet.

“They did say I could say goodbye to him in a nice, quiet, non-anxious environment.… It’s torturous,” Carleton said.

“It’s like, where’s the humanity from their end?”

Carleton said she understands that Archie may not have had the right temperament to be a service dog, but she wishes the organization realized it before they built a bond.

Jenna Conter, CIAD’s communications co-ordinator, says there was a “miscommunication” in the match between Archie and Carleton.

Conter said there were several “red flags” over the year and a half that indicated they may not be the best match.

“We all love our animals, but sometimes it’s just not a perfect match,” Conter said.

“Though the 18 months that she had Archie, I think there was a general miscommunication as to if it was a good mix of her personality and his personality, where she lived and his needs as a dog to have the best outcome.”

She said the decision to remove Archie “was not made easily.”

When asked whether it’s possible for Archie to be reunited with Carleton as a pet, Conter said she wasn’t sure.

“If the dog can be suited to be a pet within that home, then that would be a beautiful ending, so at least she can reconnect with that,” Conter said.

“And if not, we just have to deal with the — I guess what I don’t want to say — but is the business side of it, as this animal is not happy in this home and this client and handler will not benefit from a dog with those behaviours. And that’s just something that we both have to sort of accept.”

Carleton’s friend Doug Pynch, who also has a service dog from CIAD, was in “disbelief” when he found out that Carleton and Archie were separated.

“I can’t believe a woman that’s served her community for as long as she has and asked for help and has PTSD as bad as she does, for them to come and take that dog after two years…. I feel so sorry for that woman,” he said.

“They just put her so far behind in her training and her PTSD. They set her back three, four years now because of what they’ve done.”

During 30 years as a volunteer firefighter, most recently with the Windsor Fire Department in Nova Scotia, Pynch has been to a lot of bad calls. It exacerbated the PTSD he was first diagnosed with at 16 due to childhood trauma.

Nearly three years ago, CIAD matched Pynch with a PTSD service dog named Catie. Pynch said he was only given a piece of looseleaf with a few commands written on it.

Like Carleton, he found the golden retriever helped him, but she had issues with obedience.

“To me, a service dog should already have been trained before I got her,” Pynch said. “That didn’t happen.”

Conter emphasized that CIAD is still a new organization with its first generation of puppies.

“I think any organization learns from any difficulties they’ve had along the way,” she said.

Conter said the organization would be willing to look into connecting Pynch and Carleton with another service dog that “better suits their living conditions and better suits their needs, if that is what they desire.”

After watching what happened to Carleton, Pynch is worried he’ll lose Catie, too.

“I kind of felt like me and Deb and a couple of the other handlers were guinea pigs, and it didn’t work out so now they’re backpedalling,” he said.

“Well, it’s too late to backpedal for us. It’s two and a half years. We don’t want to give these dogs up. We love them. They’re part of our families.”

Carleton doesn’t hold out much hope that she’ll get Archie back. It’s a loss she’s still grieving. Since Archie left quickly, his toys are still piled in a toy box in the corner, his leash hanging on a personalized wooden holder at the front door.

She’s hopeful she can get another service dog someday and it will help her in her recovery.

“I would like to see Debbie be able to have a smile on her face, to want to get out of bed, to go to a store and feel safe,” Cheryl Smith, Carleton’s partner, said.

“That’s what a service dog was there for, is to give her that safety. And unfortunately that didn’t happen.”

K9s For Warriors

Service Dogs For Veterans

When his U.S. Army detachment was sent to serve in the War in Afghanistan, Tim Kellermann’s first stop was the massive Bagram Air Base.

“You can actually see pictures of it in the first ‘Iron Man’ movie,” he said, his voice containing perhaps a hint of pride in having arrived at such a high-profile destination.

Then there’s the flipside. “The first two weeks I was there,” he said, “a suicide bomber hit the front gate.”

A serviceman and some civilians were killed in the attack, which turned out to be a portent of what Zimmermann would experience during a nightmare of a year of duty in the war-torn country.

When he returned stateside in March 2008, he continued to suffer, through the trauma of a divorce and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I barely left my house for almost eight years, besides just the basic needs, in and out,” Zimmermann, who recently moved to Charleroi from Belle Vernon, recalled. “And it would be tough to even do that.”

Then he was paired with Pilot, a medical service dog who became his constant companion. Four years later, he and his wife, Amber, are the parents of two young children, Serena and Julian.

Zimmermann often speaks about his life-revitalizing experience with Pilot to help raise awareness and encourage support for the nonprofit Life Changing Service Dogs for Veterans and the Florida-based organization it supports, Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs Inc.

On Monday, he and members of his family – Pilot, too, of course – visited a Peters Township restaurant to say thank you for helping the cause. Joining them was Bill Jeffcoat, Life Changing Service Dogs for Veterans president.

“The Dairy Queen Chill and Grill was approached by some of our members, asking if we could put a donation jar in the store,” said Jeffcoat, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. “Since then, we’ve been able to receive over $3,000 in donations.”

Coordinating the effort is Shirley Hruby, another LCSDFV member.

“With the pandemic, it’s been hard to fund raise. So this has been awesome. It’s consistent. It’s all the time,” she said. “People will put $20 in there. They’ll write, ‘Thank you to our veterans.’ ‘Thank you for doing this.’ ‘How can I help?’”

The money goes toward the substantial cost, about $25,000, of Guardian Angels’ two-year training program for each of the service dogs.

“They’re trained to mitigate the physical and cognitive injuries resulting from PTSD, traumatic brain injury, insulin dependence, mobility issues and/or a combination of those,” Jeffcoat said. “With the support that Western Pennsylvania has given us, we’ve been able to raise $1.7 million. We’ve paired 30 veterans with 30 dogs, and we have enough for 60 dogs.”

The regional outpouring of support on behalf of veterans helped prompt Guardian Angels to purchase 102 acres in Robinson Township, Washington County.

“The goal is to build a new campus where we can breed, raise and train medical service dogs,” Jeffcoat said. “We’ve exceeded the capacity to train down in Williston, Fla., so that’s why we’ve taken the initiative to build this new campus up here.”

Zimmermann’s situation is indicative of what members of the service can face when they try to adjust to life after war.

As a member of the Army’s 19th Engineer Battalion, he spent much of his time in Afghanistan at numerous outposts set up in the Korengal Valley, a hot spot for fighting until U.S. forces withdrew from the region in April 2010.

“The Apache helicopters were absolutely annihilating the hillsides, mortar rounds upon mortar rounds,” he recalled. “If we weren’t getting attacked, the bases next to us were. Every day, it was some type of contact. I literally had a two-star general come up and say to me, ‘You are in the worst of the worst of all the war.’”

By that, the general meant American military operations throughout the world at the time.

The ordeal of spending so much of his time amid the dangers of the Korengal Valley – two of the outposts at which he was stationed, Restrepo and Vimoto, were named for soldiers who died there – weighed on Zimmermann to the point where he barely could function.

Thanks to Pilot, he now can enjoy taking part in everyday activities that the rest of us tend to take for granted.

“Instead of waiting to go to Walmart at midnight, I could actually go during the day,” he said. “It’s not so stressful. And if I do start getting stressed out, the dog will lean into me or paw up on me. It actually gives me a moment to collect myself.”

And he wants to see as many other veterans as possible be able to overcome their issues in a similar manner.

Canine Companions

Wallis Brozman’s service dog Renata is always ready to work: to pick up items that Brozman drops, to help pull her wheelchair and in general, to stay attentive to her needs in any situation.

“I could probably find ways to do some of the things Renata helps me with,” Brozman said. “But she allows me to do those activities safely and with a lot more dignity.”

But Brozman also knows what can disrupt Renata’s ability to work. In her own experience, encountering animals with less training and socialization in public places has often been most problematic.

That’s why a new rule change from the U.S. Department of Transportation that will likely curb the number of animals allowed in the cabins of commercial airline flights brought Brozman a sense of relief.

“It was a weight off my shoulders,” she said. “It’s a game-changer.”

The new rule, which takes effect Jan. 1, allows airlines for the first time to treat emotional support animals accompanying passengers the same way as ordinary pets. It draws a distinction between certified service animals, like Brozman’s highly-trained Labrador retriever, and emotional support animals, which are generally not trained. While airlines are still required to fly service dogs for free, they will now be allowed charge fees to transport emotional support animals, as they do already for pets. The fee to bring a pet aboard a plane can range from $95 on Southwest, $100 on Alaska Air and $125 on United, American and Delta.

The goals of the rule change are to help curb unsafe and unsanitary conditions caused by animals that are unprepared for air travel, according to the text of the published rule. The agency also hopes to disincentivize fraudulent use of emotional support and service animals by allowing airlines to charge money to transport support animals and to check the certification of service animals.

“The Department sought … to propose a rule that would ensure passengers with disabilities can continue traveling with service animals in air transportation while also reducing the likelihood that there would be safety or health issues at the airport or onboard aircraft,” the rule read.

The changes are cheered by Canine Companions for Independence, a Santa Rosa-based nonprofit that trains and matches between 300 and 400 service dogs annually with people with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities.

The organization, which employs Brozman and connected her with Renata and two previous service dogs, urged the DOT this year to differentiate between trained service dogs and untrained support animals in the Air Carrier Access Act. Members said the issue is about equitable access, and ensuring that people with disabilities are able to both rely on their service dogs and keep them safe in an airplane cabin.

“I don’t think people understand when their animal lunges at a service dog or does something inappropriate and makes it difficult for that service dog, it’s basically a $50,000 piece of medical equipment you’re disabling,” said Paige Mazzoni, CEO of the nonprofit, which manages a nationwide network of dog trainers raising animals to assist with a wide variety of needs.

The number of comments received on the proposed change indicate the level of interest in the subject. The DOT received more than 15,000 comments this year on the proposed rule change from disability rights advocacy organizations, airlines, airports, transportation worker associations, animal health and training organizations and others, it said.

The interest likely corresponds to the growing prevalence of emotional support animals on flights. Well beyond dogs, those animals can include a wide range of species, including birds and pigs.

Brozman recalled taking a flight in 2010, accompanied by three other people with service dogs. The flight attendant assisting passengers with boarding told them she wasn’t sure if the flight crew could handle four service dogs at the same time.

Less than a decade later, boarding a flight in 2018, Brozman said, she and her dog, Mork, navigated a terminal with 12 dogs in it, including two that lunged at him. At the gate, a flight attendant told her she was in luck — only four other dogs would share the cabin with them.

“The attitude and numbers were so drastically different from eight years prior,“ she said.

As the number of emotional support animals traveling in airplanes has increased, the department noted that dangerous and unsanitary conditions have resulted.

“Airlines and other passengers have also reported increased incidence of misbehavior by ESAs on aircraft and in the airport. The misbehavior has included animals’ urinating, defecating, and in some instances, harming people and other animals at the airport or on the aircraft,” the department said.

While service dogs undergo rigorous training, either by an accredited program or private trainer, emotional support animals are not trained to do work. Instead, medical professionals prescribe those animals to serve as a comforting presence for people experiencing a wide variety of mental or emotional disabilities.

“They provide many benefits,” Brozman said. “But they’re not performing any specific tasks.”

Still, about a third of the comments to the Department of Transportation advocated against allowing airlines to charge for emotional support animals, saying it puts undue burden on people with mental and emotional disabilities to pay for an accommodation that is essential for their travel.

Some health professionals stated that the rule “appears to have a disproportionately negative impact on individuals with mental disabilities, in comparison to those with physical disabilities,” the department said.

Accredited organizations such as Canine Companions train some service dogs to help with certain mental disabilities, such as post traumatic stress disorder. But many people experiencing PTSD, autism, or other conditions use emotional support animals instead.

The organizations also train their dogs to continue working amid the stimuli and stressors of a wide variety of environments — including the crowded, cramped space of airplane cabins.

“If they’re out in public with a dog that comes at them and attack them, they won’t necessarily fight back,” Mazzoni said. Afterward, though, “it can make them skittish, distracted, so if they see other dogs, they will watch them instead of their person.”

Brozman had to retire one of her previous service dogs Mork from his job early after he was attacked by a few aggressive dogs and was unable to perform his duties as needed afterward.

“I went to flying around the country for work with Mork to being terrified to leave my house alone because I felt unsafe,” she said. “It crippled my independence in ways I couldn’t have predicted. … I’m still fearful of unknown dogs. Renata does help me through that, though.”

For the rest of the year, emotional support animals will continue to fly as service animals. By January, however, airlines may roll out new policies.

Jon Stout, manager of the Charles M. Schultz-Sonoma County Airport, said it’s not yet clear how local flights might be impacted. Alaska and American Airlines, which both service the Sonoma County airport, have not yet publicized any policy changes in response to the new rule.

“We’re kind of on the sidelines on this,” he said.

Mazzoni said she was grateful to have seen the efforts of airlines to provide more equitable services for people with disabilities. The changes made possible under the new rule will make an important impact, she said.

“The airlines have a very hard job, and a lot of them have really stepped up and tried to make this work,” Mazzoni said.

Arson Dog Teams

The Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office is welcoming three new members to its team — and they’re all dogs.

K9 Phantom, K9 Gunny, and K9 PJ are the newest accelerant detection canines, also called arson dogs, to investigate suspicious fires in the state.

Officials said these dogs are highly trained to sniff out evidence at fire scenes.

The arson dogs will work with their human handler to help identify the cause of home or business fires, assist in cold crime cases, and uncover possible evidence in homicides.

K9 Phantom will work with Special Agent Michael Kuban to investigate fires in Will, Kane, and DuPage County. K9 Phantom, a 2-year-old male yellow Labrador retriever, is the first arson dog for Kuban.

K9 Gunny and Special Agent Kenny Arnold will investigate fires in Williamson County and the surrounding area. K9 Gunny is 2-and-a-half years old and is a male yellow Labrador retriever. He is the third canine partner for Arnold, replacing his recently retired partner, K9 Dollar.

K9 PJ is teaming up with Special Agent Jeff Pride to investigate fires in Marion County and the surrounding area. K9 PJ is a 2-year-old male yellow Labrador retriever. He is the fourth arson dog for Pride, replacing his recently retired partner, K9 Gemma.

Currently, Illinois has six certified arson dog teams in service.

Military Working Dog

The silence is deafening as I stare into his eyes. He’s looking at me from 15 yards away, his gaze unwavering and I feel as if he’s staring into my soul. The suit I’m wearing is heavy and makes the thought of running a laughable idea. In my head I hear the faint whistle from the movie “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.”

Like gunslingers we size each other up. Both waiting for the other to make a move. I wonder if his heart is pounding as hard as mine. Does he even sweat? I’m sweating. I’m facing off against a military working dog (MWD) and there’s a good chance I’m going to lose this fight.

Working dogs are trained to perform a wide array of tasks and skills. In addition to patrol and combat capabilities, military working dogs also are experts in detection and aiding military, homeland security and law enforcement officials in finding things like explosives and narcotics.

Unlike most police dogs which are trained to a specific purpose, military working dogs are trained to be “dual purpose,” said Cpl. Cody Grosinky of Fort Sill’s 902nd Military Working Dog Detachment. Fort Sill’s MWDs are trained to either perform as explosives detection and patrol or narcotics detection and patrol.

The military has used working dogs since the Revolutionary War, initially as pack animals to carry equipment, and later, for more lethal purposes, such as killing rats in the trenches during the First World War.

By World War II use of working dogs had expanded to support military operations. The military deployed more than 10,000 specially trained canines, most as sentries, but others as scouts, messengers and mine detectors.

Today, working dogs are serving with U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan as patrol dogs and explosives and drug detectors. Nearly 2,000 more working dogs provide similar services at U.S. bases and military posts around the world.

Training for all MWDs and their handlers takes place at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. The 120-day program, conducted by the Air Force’s 341st Training Squadron, teaches the dogs basic obedience as well as more advanced skills, such as how to attack and how to sniff for specific substances.

Once the dogs receive their initial training, members of the 37th Security Forces teach the dogs and their trainers to work as a team where the dog’s human counterpart will learn the dogs signals when it’s “hitting” on a substance.

From Lackland, the dogs and their handlers will be sent to bases around the world, including Fort Sill. Once here, the training of both handler and canine doesn’t stop, said Grosinky. The dogs will learn to ride in helicopters, staying calm during gunfire and more detection training as well as obedience. The dogs also will need continual practice in detaining a fleeing subject, commonly referred to in the community as bite work.

Bite work training for the dogs is how I found myself in a Kevlar suit playing chase on a sunny day at Fort Sill.

Lolek, a 4-year-old German Shepherd trained in explosives detection and patrol, is my adversary. He’s lying calmly at Grosinky’s feet, but there’s an air about him that seems to say, “you’re going down, son.”

I hear a whisper to my right telling me to run, and like a bull on roller skates, I turn around and begin my turbo waddle toward freedom. My knees and elbows are pumping for all I’m worth, but the suit is so heavy and cumbersome that I’m making little headway. I’m hoping I can outrun Lolek and amaze, not only these soldiers watching me but the world, with my swiftness. Deep down I know I’m not going to get away and my only hope is that I don’t wet myself in front of these soldiers and our readers.

I never hear the command to attack from Grosinky to Lolek, and even if I did, it’s in a foreign language to prevent others from commanding the dogs, so I wouldn’t have understood it anyway. I never hear Lolek coming either. I’m not sure if that’s because my heart is pounding in my ears or he’s gone into stealth mode.

I’m almost to the point where I think I’m about to win this race of fools when suddenly I’m struck by a fur covered missile with teeth. As I’m bowled over, I realize I never stood a chance against Lolek. He’s got me on the ground and while the suit is protecting me, I can only imagine what it would be like if I was a real criminal or bad guy in battle. This guy would make me wish I was never born.

With another command Lolek is called back to his handler and I’m assisted to my feet. I’m no worse for wear but humbled by the sheer power of the small dog. So we do it again. With much the same result in the end.

For Lolek, this is a game he’s played many times and will continue to play until his retirement. Depending on health and other circumstances, the dogs can work for many years. At retirement, the handlers themselves can opt to keep the dogs or they can be sent out to organizations to be used as service animals.

Family Gets Service Dog

On Dec. 17, 2012, Nichole and John Flemens’ son, Canton, made his way into the world, but their lives would be changed forever a couple of months later when they learned that Canton had a stroke in utero.

They went through therapy with their son, and things were progressing well when they learned shortly before his third birthday that Canton was going to have seizures for the rest of his life. Canton was diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, a difficult to treat form of epilepsy where seizures often do not respond to anti-seizure medication. Those with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome can have different types of seizures; Nichole Flemens said her son will have three to five seizures a day, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on what is going on.

Due to the seizures, Canton lost his ability to walk, and his mother said he does not talk as much as he used to; he does still give nuzzles and kisses, expressing his love to his parents when they are with him.

A school nurse for the Magnolia Kindergarten, Nichole Flemens said she is an advocate for children with special needs because she knows how it feels as a parent to have her child looked at like they are different.

“Most people fall in love when they meet him,” she said over the phone, choking up as she spoke.

“I think God definitely put Canton with us for a reason. People tell me all the time I don’t know how you do this. Some days it’s easier and some days it’s hard, and we know what we have to do because that’s what we were given and you have to make the best of it,” she added.

Nichole Flemens said she was doing research on ways she could help to make Canton’s life easier when she came across the organization 4 Paws for Ability, based in Xenia, Ohio. The organization provides seizure alert dogs, mobility dogs and dogs that can do various things for children.

She contacted the organization, which sent her and info packet. The family applied for a dog and were approved in February of 2018.

“It is kind of (like) a waiting list, but they want to make sure your dog is trained specifically for your needs. The put us on an August, 2020 class time date, but due to corona(virus) we got pushed back to October, 2020,” Nichole Flemens said. “It’s about a two- to three-year long wait for the training process and the match, which is what they call picking the dog for the child.”

She said she was informed the organization puts about $60,000-$80,000 into training a service dog, but because it is a nonprofit, it tries to cover as much as possible through donations. The normal cost for a family is around $17,000.

“Once we got approved, we put it on my Facebook page that Canton would be put on a list to receive a service dog, but due to the cost we would be doing some fundraisers,” Canton’s mother said.

John Flemens was working for Albemarle at that time. One of his coworkers reached out to the family and suggested that the Albemarle Foundation could host a barbecue, a project the organization has done in the past to raise money for others in need. Nichole Flemens said that was when the ball started rolling on the fundraising.

During late March, 2018 when the fundraiser was held, not only were the employees of Albemarle involved, but the communities of Magnolia, Camden and El Dorado donated money in support of Canton. With the help of contributions from companies, organizations and individuals, the family received more than double their goal in a month’s time.

“It was pretty amazing,” Nichole Flemens said. “The Albemarle Foundation and everybody was amazing. People I don’t even know donated money. There are children that wait three to five years to make the amount of money that we did in less than a month, so sometimes coming from a small town makes a big difference.”

Before their dog’s arrival, Nichole Flemens sent seizure shirts to aid in its training; Canton wears the white shirts, and when he has a seizure, a smell that the dog can recognize is emitted, allowing the dog to alert others to Canton’s seizure.

On October 4, the family made their way to Xenia, Ohio for the training at 4 Paws for Ability, where they finally got to meet Alton, their Labrador Retriever-Golden Retriever-Newfoundland Retriever, in person.

“It is very emotional, but exciting that the dog is so excited to see you,” Nichole Flemens said. “He connected with our family very quickly.”

There was a big reveal day, with 10 people in the class when the dogs were brought out to their families. Alton pre-alerted to one of Canton’s seizures during the training, stepping into action on just the second day of the family’s training period.

They brought Alton home on October 17; Nichole Flemens said now he is another member of the family. She said Alton has adjusted well as the family and working dog. For her children, they got used to having a dog in the home.

“Canton was excited but not real sure at first,” his mother said, adding that Alton would lick all over him. Now, Canton has gotten more comfortable with his new furry friend, letting Alton run all over him and sitting atop the dog himself.

Alton’s training isn’t over yet; he’s now learning to bark when Canton has a seizure in order to alert the rest of the family. Nichole Flemens said this ensures that no matter where in the house she or her husband are, Alton is able to reach them quickly and effectively.

She added that this is all thanks to the members of the community that helped her family bring Alton home.

“All I can say is thank you,” she said. “We have a child who was given a difficult life and people have tried to help us to make that easier for him — not only easier medically, but just to have somebody who can be his friend, and we would never be able to thank everybody but we want to let them know that we appreciated it.”

She said a major thanks goes out to Ouachita, Union and Columbia counties for helping out when they saw a family in need. She said the family is getting ready to start bringing Alton to more places in town, and that if anybody sees him, they can feel free to pet him as long as they ask.

Forever Friendship

Some friendships are built to last, and one of them is between Cpl. Dustin Borchardt and his military working dog, Pearl. The two have been together for six years, an unusually long time compared to most handler-MWD relationships, Borchardt explained. But their friendship wasn’t always so stable.

“We showed up to Fort Campbell at the same time,” Borchardt said in a recent press release about first meeting Pearl. “I was absolutely terrified. She was less than a year old, jumping all over the place. I was fresh out of training, and I had no idea what I was doing.”

But soon the two got on the same wavelength. Over the year and a half they trained together, Pearl’s hyper puppy stage faded while Borchardt grew more confident in their abilities. They learned the skills of explosives detection, bite techniques and force protection.

Borchardt still remembers their first mission together: pulling guard duty at Trump Tower in New York City for then president-elect Donald Trump, where they stayed in a hotel room together for three weeks. After that, Borchardt and Pearl served on several secret service missions before deploying to Afghanistan with the 1st and 10th Special Forces Groups.

“Pearl had 30-plus confirmed finds ranging from homemade to military grade explosives, and multiple unconfirmed,” Borchardt said. “We were able to get everybody back home safe. We did our job and nobody got hurt.”

The soldier said Pearl saved his life multiple times in Afghanistan. The two has since been assigned to the 100th Military Police Detachment based in Stuttgart, Germany. Usually, military working dogs are assigned to one base for most of their lives, while handlers rotate between duty stations. But this pair is unique in that they’ve stayed together through multiple assignments. It’s gotten to the point where they can read each other’s body language.

“I just look at her and she knows what she needs to do,” Borchardt said. “I’ve picked up on her little mannerisms when she’s found something or when she’s excited. Flicks her ears, wags her tail.”

If Borchardt taps his chest, Pearl leaps up to plant her two front paws on him for a quick embrace as he pets her ears. As they walk, she matches his pace. At night, Borchardt often wakes up to Pearl laying on his chest like she’s still that growing puppy he met six years ago.

Borchardt isn’t the only one happy to have Pearl around. At Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, where the two support a NATO-led peacekeeping mission, other soldiers stop to give her plenty of pets. Borchardt said Pearl loves the attention.

“Knowing there’s an explosive trained dog here helping keep everything safe is a big morale booster,” he said. “She’s definitely spoiled by the people on camp.”

After years of secret service and combat missions, the pair now spends most of their time searching vehicle traffic coming into Camp Bondsteel, Borchardt explained. They also sometimes go out with explosive ordnance disposal units and help with route and helicopter landing zone clearance missions.

“If there’s a special event, before COVID-19, we’d be involved with searching the event and providing security,” the soldier said.

But Borchardt has his eyes on a different mission someday in the future. When Pearl is too old to work, his plan is to adopt her and help her transition to the “couch potato life.”

“She’s the best dog in the world,” Borchardt said. “She’s got my back and I’ve got hers. It’s been a really amazing experience working with her, and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Goku lee hall pup

• He is watching me above and taking a photo shoot
• He is a boxer australian shepherd mix

Looking at my reflection

She’s just too cute, always looking at her self in my mirror in the craft room. After this I moved the mirror and she got really upset  lol

Terrah is my service animal in training

My dog helps me with my PTSD. She is my best friend that always seem to know when my anxiety is getting bad. She senses when I am not feeling well and makes me feel better.

Emotional therapy dog

Chloe is emotional therapy dog for Donna Tomasik as of December 12.2020. State of Michigan 

Coconut Emotional Support Dog

1. COCONUT Emotional Support Dog White 7 lbs dog Owner Catherine Benedict

Kona and her toy

Kona enjoys playing with her favorite toy this past summer. She is such a good girl. We just had to reward her for all her hard work.

Assistance Dog Retires

Assistance dog Yazmin, who belongs to a medical secretary at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, is retiring at the age of 11 following nine years of service.

Yazmin will enjoy her retirement at home with Jill Southgate’s husband, who is also retired, while Mrs Southgate welcomes a new assistance dog in the New Year.

Mrs Southgate has worked at QEH since 1981 and said Yazmin had “made such a difference” to her life, giving her confidence and safety over the years, and that they had a special relationship.

Mrs Southgate, who is blind, initially worked with an electronic typewriter but now uses a computer with a voice synthesiser called JAWS, provided by the NHS to carry out her work.

Mrs Southgate is an advocate for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and gives regular talks in schools and in the local community. She has also worked closely with the hospital trust to raise awareness and empower staff to take action and work inclusively with colleagues and patients assisted by guide dogs.

Training for guide dogs usually takes around 14 months, during which time they learn the basics, which include walking, recall and navigating public spaces and transport. They then take a further three months at an advanced training centre before finding a suitable match built on the lifestyle and mobility needs of the owner. A five-week programme then ensures a match is right.

Mrs Southgate said: “It can take around six months to build complete trust with a new assistance dog.” The usual retirement age for assistance dogs is 10, but with training restricted by COVID-19, Mrs Southgate won’t be matched with her new dog until February. Yazmin has loyally continued her duty into her eleventh year and after her retirement in December, Mrs Southgate will use a white cane to aid her mobility until she is matched with her new dog.

PTSD Service Dogs

A PTSD service dog that earned nationwide attention has died, according to the pet’s owner. Army veteran Justin Tucker says Roxy, his beloved pit bull, was euthanized Friday morning after being diagnosed with cancer back in August.

“Roxy was my entire world,” Tucker said on Friday.

“From leaving active duty Army and becoming a civilian, she helped with my transition,” Tucker said. “She helped me so much with my PTSD issues, better than any pharmaceutical could ever could. She was a true hero and breed ambassador. She was everything that the bully breeds could be, with a little bit of dedication to training.”

Roxy had a huge social media following, and Tucker took to her Instagram page @roxytheptsdservicedog Friday to share photos of his beloved girl and share a tribute to her.

“10-42 EOW End of Watch; Roxy crossed over the rainbow bridge at 10:20 this morning. She went out with honor and dignity. She will be forever remembered as a hero dog,” Tucker wrote.

“Just try to continue to support me and pray for me as much as you can cuz I’m already feeling a certain type of way,” he continued.

“Until Valhalla, Roxy the PTSD Service Dog.”

Roxy was a finalist in the American Humane Hero Dog Awards back in 2018.

“She’s literally touch the lives of thousands of people worldwide,” said Tucker. “I never would have thought my service dog from Haywood County, North Carolina, would make a big global impact as she has.”

Tucker frequently trained his prized dog in downtown Asheville, drawing a lot of attention from folks on the street.

“Cause most people see a pit bull in the news it’s a ferocious, aggressive animal,” he said in 2017. “But when they meet Roxy, they have to ask, ‘What kind of dog is that?'”

Roxy came into his life in February 2014, not long after an explosion in Iraq shattered Tucker’s life. The Army veteran said that experience left him with severe PTSD.

“A dark, downward spiral of depression,” he described. “It’s hard to speak of the issues and not be emotional about it.”

“My worst incident was a hand grenade explosion that blew up down onto my shoulder,” Tucker recalled during an interview with News 13 3 years ago. “The recurring nightmares and the intrusive thoughts; it plays a toll on your mind.”

Roxy gave him emotional support and much more. Tucker is devastated, but proud of her legacy.

“She will always be remembered on social media but through other ways as well,” he said. “Haywood Spay and Neuter has the Roxy Fund, which is dedicated to helping low-income veterans in Haywood County — to help assist with spay, neuter and microchipping (their pets).”

Boys Wishes Come True

After more than one misdiagnosis and struggles that at times seemed insurmountable, help is on the way to Berkshire Forest’s Holman family.

Peppa, a 4-month-old chocolate lab, is in training to become a service dog for 12-year-old Nicholas, who is just about 100% disabled because of a calcium channel disorder called CACNA1A.

Perhaps by chance, perhaps by Providence, a representative from Hands of Hope told Nicholas’ mother, Chrissy, that the family might be eligible to get such a blessing from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The foundation grants the wishes of critically ill children, one every 34 minutes.

“A wish can be that spark that helps these children believe that anything is possible and gives them the strength to fight harder against their illnesses,” the foundation’s website says.

After checking all the right boxes, the family was approved, and that pro-Peppa decision was celebrated with a Nov. 1 parade in Berkshire Forest where the family lives.

Organized by 501 First Legion, a Star Wars costuming company that works with Make a Wish under George Lucas’ guidelines, the parade included Star Wars characters, police cars, fire trucks and about 75 community members. Chrissy Holman says her son loved it.

Holman says the Berkshire Forest community has been wonderful to her family, and especially to Nicholas.

“In New York, if an ambulance came to the house, nobody asked if we needed help. Here, everyone is so supportive and even the children are so nice to Nicholas.”

The dog, scheduled to be ready to join the family in a couple of months, will be a companion for Nicholas and will help him stay calm.

But the most important thing Peppa will do, Holman says, is alert the family as much as 24 hours in advance that Nicholas is going to have a seizure.

The Hands of Hope representative approached Chrissy at MUSC where Nicholas was flown as a result of an incident that caused him to code twice.

“It was as if he had a full stroke,” his mother says.

The Hands of Hope woman not only told the distraught Mom that the Make A Wish Foundation, with which Hands of Hope works, may provide a dog, the woman also offered the lifetime palliative care services of Hands of Hope.

Those services include everything from needed medical equipment to emotional support, both of which Chrissy Holman says have been life-changing.

Nicholas, who can communicate through his electronic device, is unable to speak except for a very few words such as Mama and Daddy.

He cannot walk or dress himself. Nicholas cannot feed himself or use the bathroom himself.

Nicholas attends sixth grade at Ocean Bay Middle School where an aide helps him through his day.

And of all the issues she deals with as his primary caretaker, Chrissy Holman says the seizures, which can happen anytime without warning, are the most challenging.

Before having a seizure, Nicholas emits a scent the dog will recognize.

When they met Peppa, she and several other dogs were taken to a park where seizure samples of several people were hidden. Each dog successfully sniffed out its person’s sample.

“By alerting us that Nicolas may have a seizure, we can be prepared,” Chrissy Holman says. “We can have his equipment right there, we can make sure he’s lying down.”

Nichola’s seizes might be followed by a hemiplegic migraine.

The first one was in 2015, a couple years before the family moved to Berkshire.

Unfortunately, the problem was misdiagnosed as a virus on his brain.

Family friend Michele Caietta said another challenge is the need for services such as physical and occupational therapy “which are minimal here.”

Caietta is an almost-constant presence in the Holman home when she’s not working as a physician’s assistant at Grand Strand Medical Center.

She moved across the street from the family, which includes Holman’s husband Richard Csukas and Nicholas’ sister Samantha, from New York where she was already a family friend.

Peppa will respond to commands from Holman, Csukas, Ciaetta and Nicholas’ father, Jamie Holman.

She won’t be socialized to be around other people or even other dogs, and will be a working dog, intent only making life easier for the family.

Caietta says she knows her friend doesn’t complain about her responsibility with Nicholas, but Caietta sees what she goes through and knows how difficult it sometimes is.

“Yes,” Holman admits, “There are days when I get angry and frustrated and it weighs me down, but I do what I can do.

“If I can’t get the laundry done that day, it’s OK.”

With Peppa’s arrival on the horizon, the only other immediate issue the family is dealing with is the HOA.

The family would like to extend the HOA’s fence guidelines on their property so Peppa will have an area to run in.

They’d also like to see a wheelchair lift at the pool. That would accommodate not just Nicholas, but three other children in the community who are confined to wheelchairs.

Holman says her Christian faith helps her deal with Nicholas’ circumstances, and says most days, that’s what gets her though them.

Faith, and soon, Peppa.

“Peppa will give me peace of mind when I’m alone with Nicolas,” Chrissy Holman says.

“There will be other eyes on him, even if it’s a dog’s eyes.”

Atascadero Police K-9s

Today the Atascadero Police Department’s K-9 Unit will receive an unexpected holiday donation. The owners of two businesses in town, Glenn’s Repair and the Grocery Outlet, have arranged for a check presentation ceremony to take place in front of the Atascadero Police Department, located at 5505 El Camino Real.

Geoff and Kate Auslen, the owners of Glenn’s Repair, together with Pete Novak and Theresa Hughes who are the owners of Grocery Outlet of Atascadero, reached out to the Atascadero Police Department and graciously coordinated efforts to present the K-9s with a check for $5,000. Due to the cancellation of the Annual K-9 Wine & Dine Dinner this year, they wanted to find a way to continue support of the K-9s. The City of Atascadero and the Atascadero Police Department are extremely thankful for both Glenn’s Repair and Grocery Outlet for assisting the K-9 Program with this donation.

“It’s the least we can do during such a difficult time for our community and the money will assist a local program that will continue to keep our neighborhoods safe,” said Auslen. Glenn’s Repair has been an active member of our community for over 52 years, with recent involvement as a part of Parents for Joy, a non-profit parent group under the United Cerebral Palsy of San Luis Obispo County, which recently opened the all-inclusive Joy Playground in Atascadero.

Pete Novak and Theresa Hughes have also been supporters of the community of Atascadero and equally share in helping to keep the community safe and investing in the K-9 program. Grocery Outlet has been a part of the community for the past eight years. Novak and Hughes bring extensive expertise in the industry to the city, with over 40 years in the grocery business.

The primary objective of the Atascadero Police Department K-9 Unit is to reduce hazard exposure to uniformed patrol officers as they carry out their public safety mission. The Atascadero K-9 Unit is overseen by Sergeant John Taylor and currently has two officer handlers, Corporal Chris Hester and Corporal Chris Hall, who serve together with their respective service dogs, Pit and Luke.

Lalo

Lalo Rodriguez we love you so much, thank God for bringing you to my life. I promise to take care of you, always respect & love you.

A Christmas Miracle

A service dog who went missing for more than 3 years is finally back with her family and home for the holidays.

Steve and Debra Mejeur said their black lab mix, Lola, disappeared in 2017 while they were visiting a friend’s house in Illinois. Somehow, she managed to escape from the friend’s fenced-in backyard, nearly 3 hours away from the Mejeurs’ home in Kalamazoo, MI.

Debra, who has epilepsy and grand mal seizures, told CBS News that she didn’t just lose a pet that day — she lost her seizure response dog, too.

“I went through so many different emotions when I found out [Lola was missing],” she said. “I immediately started walking around the neighborhood and yelling out her name.”

Despite searching through the night, the Mejeurs returned home empty-handed. But they never gave up hope.

For about a month, the couple spent their weekends driving back and forth between their Michigan home and Elk Grove Village, IL, searching neighborhoods in an effort to find Lola. Debra said she even posted in local Facebook groups for 2 years, begging people to keep an eye out for her.

Then, out of the blue, the Mejeurs received a message on Dec. 3 that Lola had been found by DuPage County Animal Control in Illinois.

“I immediately called the shelter and asked, ‘By chance, do you have a female black lab named Lola there?’ The lady on the phone quickly responded with ‘Are you Debra?’ I started shaking and crying,” Debra told CBS. “I was relieved that she was finally safe.”

It turns out, a local couple had been feeding Lola outside for several years — but every time they tried to catch her, she ran away. Eventually, they were able to grab her and bring her to the shelter, where her microchip was scanned.

“We are just over the moon and forever grateful to the couple that looked after her,” Debra said. “They are now a part of our lives forever.”

Lola and her family were finally reunited Dec. 5. DuPage County shared a video of the sweet moment on YouTube, crediting the microchip for the reunion.

Lola didn’t know what was going on at first, but the confusion didn’t last long. “It took her a little time to recognize me,” Debra said. “When she finally came up to me, she did a small sniff, licked my forehead, and that’s when she knew.”

Losing a service animal is about more than losing a pet. There are about 500,000 dogs in service of helping people in the United States, according to the Department of State. Service dogs make it possible for people with disabilities to live independently and overcome the challenges of day-to-day life.