Where did you serve and what did you do?
USAF, 1966-1971 Avionics and photo maintenance for the 56th Spec Ops Grp Nakhon Phenom Thailand
Stateside 456th Bomb Wng Beale AFB CA
Tell us how your dog is helping you continue #StillServing in your community.
Injured and put out of work in 2006, I was introduced to service dogs by my therapist. Already a dog trainer I retrained my search and rescue dog for mobility assistance. I got my second dog Dec 2009 and trained him to be PTSD, medical alert and mobility assistance. Friends asked me to help train their service dogs and I fell into it. Went back to college and received a degree in canine studies.
Why do you do it?
My dog Djinn (silent ‘D’) helped me over come deep PTSTD and ADD/HD problems. Having an autistic grand child, for whom I trained a dog, and meeting many veterans with the same challenges and who wanted service dogs but could not afford them, I started training vets to be owners and handlers. Like many of them I live below the poverty level. My training is free because many of my students cannot afford the training.