Category Archives: Wounded Warrior

Experience, Military, PTSD, San Antonio, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Changing of the Service Dogs

What a bittersweet day it was yesterday! Our dear, dear client, Tracy, who suffers with psychiatric difficulties, and her wonderful husband, Jon, had fully-trained Great Pyrenees, Apollo, as her Service Dog for a year. Unfortunately, even though their bond was strong and Apollo was a wonderful Service Dog, over time, Apollo started bonding more with Jon. Tracy made the tremendous sacrifice to adopt out her beloved Apollo to a Wounded Warrior, Brian, who is currently at Laurel Ridge. Brian was a dog handler in the military, and has extensive experience with dog training. He has a very sad story – the dog he worked with on deployment became extremely special to him, as they saw a lot of combat together. When the mission ended, however, they took the dog away from Brian. This started his PTSD and other symptoms. He tried his hardest to get that dog back, and SHOULD have, but he found out that the military had “retired” the dog and adopted it out! He says it was probably the greatest trauma of his life.

He saw Apollo on our website, and fell in love. Tracy, Jon, and I went to Laurel Ridge and the bond was instant between Brian and Apollo. Brian was so sensitive to Tracy, who was both sad to say goodbye to Apollo, but so happy he was going to someone like Brian. Laurel Ridge is letting him stay there while he goes through treatment. We also saw client Joseph, who was there with his SD, Viva!!

Apollo will be in wonderful hands. And the happy ending to this is that Tracy finally found a dog that suits her better – the beautiful Cooper, lovingly fostered by Margaret Melvin. Cooper is almost fully trained and clings to Tracy in a much more helpful way than Apollo did.

Two SDs and two happy owners! Attaching a picture of Tracy’s new SDIT!!!

God bless you, Tracy and Jon, for your generous sacrifice. You are paying it forward. And thank you, Margaret, for giving the gift of Cooper to Tracy! Here is a picture of Apollo, then a picture of Cooper!

Houston, Military, PTSD, TBI, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Ronnie and Roxy

From our wonderful trainer Kendra, in Houston. She is training with Ronnie, a Wounded Warrior with PTSD and TBI, and his SDIT, Roxy!

“We met at Target and practiced a mock Public Access Test. Roxy did perfect! We also practiced walking behind a cart, and they will continue working on that.

At our next met we will have the official Public Access Test. In the picture is Roxy in a dressing room; she goes right under the chair. She is going to rock the exam!”

WAY TO GO RONNIE, ROXY, AND KENDRA!!!!

Anxiety, Dallas-Fort Worth, Equipment, Marine, Military, PTSD, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Sean the Marine…Semper Fi

From our trainer, Candace, in Fort Worth, who is working with the Morrison family. They have a very unique and special situation. Sean is a Wounded Warrior with PTSD, and they adopted a 3 – legged German Shepard. They were curious if her disability would disqualify her as a Service Dog. They will be looking at getting her a prosthetic leg as she was born missing her leg at the elbow, and has enough left for a prosthetic. The veterinarian said that she would be just fine as a Service Dog! She has the perfect temperament and trainability.

As a PTSD, service-related Marine, Sean struggles with thunderstorms, loud, sudden noises, and going out in public in general. The family were told by his psychologist that a service dog would help him greatly, and after looking into it and doing hours of research, they believed this would be most beneficial for him. It has been!! What a remarkable family they are to adopt this highly intelligent dog, and to do everything necessary to ensure that being a Service Dog will be healthy and productive for both the dog and Sean. They will constantly be reviewing progress with their veterinarian.

“I would like to introduce the newest member of the Service Dog Express family: The Morrison Clan. Yep, that’s right, Sean’s SDIT was born with just 3 legs! But, according to Sean, she is everything he needs. She will look around corners for him as they go down halls. She always remains on alert wherever they are. She passed her assessment with flying colors! The next step is working on their SDIT’s endurance and basic training. So far, she responds very well to Sean, and I think they will be a remarkable team.”

Anxiety, Military, San Antonio, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Wounded Warrior Nathan and SDIT Owen

From our trainer, Beverly, who is working with Wounded Warrior Nathan and his SDIT, Owen!!

“We worked on Owen’s sit/down stay, as he tends to become anxious and want to get up when Nathan is more than 10’ from him. Since we met at the dog park in Selma at Bluebonnet Bunk n Biscuit, and there were dogs present to utilize as teaching tools for Owen to “Leave it” and “Watch” Nathan, it was a very productive session! We also discussed using the Adaptil collar to help calm Owen’s anxiety and working on exposing Owen to short periods of separation from Nathan to reassure him that he is not being abandoned and to start getting him past his separation anxiety. Overall Owen did very well and picked up leave it and to ignore other dogs quickly!

During the week, Nathan will work on sit/down stays with distractions using his wife to assist with the distractions. Lots of rewards will be used and plenty review to help Owen relax. They will continue working on their PAT skills and we will keep reviewing each session until Owen is ready.

We did so much educating and discussing ways to help Owen with his anxiety that I forgot to take pictures!

WONDERFUL, INNOVATIVE WORK, BEVERLY!!!!

Diabetes, El Paso, Military, New Mexico, Psychiatric, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Beto and his SDiT Osito

From our trainer Michelle, who is in New Mexico.

“I had the pleasure of meeting with Beto and his SDiT Osito. Beto is a Vietnam Veteran with memory loss, diabetes and agent orange.

Training went well and we worked on making sure Beto knows how to hold the leash to prevent Osito from running off when the team works together. Osito also worked on “Leave it.” He does that perfectly! While working on Sit/stay and down/stay, not so much. I have learned from watching this team that SDiT Osito needs to be at Beto’s feet in case something happens with Beto’s medical condition, as Osito is extremely bonded to Beto. SDiT Osito has also learned when Beto says “Medicine” he comes and alerts Beto to take his meds! This is awesome, as it was a concern in the beginning.

SDiT Osito does alert to Beto’s diabetes – low and high! Good work team! I believe that with the new training, Osito will be ready for testing within the next 2 visits. He is a perfect little dog, and is still getting used to his vest – he is adorable.

Great work Team…. Keep up the work and training!

Experience, Military, Psychiatric, San Antonio, TBI, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Daniel’s love for SD Ivan – RIP Beloved Ivan

Some very sad news. Ivan went into congestive heart failure last night. They wanted to keep him at the Vet ER overnight, but Daniel refused because he said he did not want his beloved SD to spend his final hours in a hospital. This morning, at approximately 10:00 am, Daniel, following the realistic but dreadful prognosis of Dr. Muisquiz, decided to end Ivan’s suffering as his murmur was so advanced his poor, 3 year-old body could not take anymore. I made sure I was with Daniel to interpret what Dr. Muisquiz was saying, and go over with him what to expect during the procedure, and help him sign the paperwork. Daniel’s 18 year-old son, Logan, was there to support his father. It was truly one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever seen. Ivan was everything to Daniel – just like his wonderful wife and other children. Daniel held Ivan until his final breaths. Daniel, as to be expected, is not doing well. And one of the saddest parts of it is that Daniel had taken Ivan to a different veterinarian about two months ago, because Ivan was losing weight drastically, not eating, lethargic, and was having constant nosebleeds. That veterinarian apparently did not even listen to Ivan’s heart carefully. A grade 5 heart murmur can be detected just by FEELING the dog’s chest or one of his pulses in the leg arteries, as Dr. Muisquiz showed us. Of course, I will be giving this “veterinarian” a call, because I truly believe this was a case of malpractice. Ivan’s congenital heart murmur would have eventually caught up with him, but had he been diagnosed properly earlier, the process could have been slowed and Ivan would not have had to suffer so much.

Please “friend” Daniel Stroud on Facebook to express your condolences.

Thank you for bringing Daniel out of his shell and helping him to regain some normalcy to your beloved Wounded Warrior father, Ivan. You will be missed beyond belief. Luckily, you had 3 years of the best care and the deepest love a dog could feel

Military, San Antonio, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Yolanda and SDiT Dante

A write-up from our trainer, Beverly, who is working with Wounded Warrior, Yolanda.

“While Yolanda was having and recovering from major surgery she sent Dante to a local trainer to stay for 2 weeks. Dante was PERFECT in the store and his handsome good looks got a lot of attention. We reviewed all aspects of the PAT and discussed restaurant behaviors. Although she practices at home, Yolanda didn’t want to take Dante out to a restaurant as she did not want the hassle of people giving her a hard time. I gave her several of the ADA law cards and SDE business cards and discussed with her what to say to defuse difficult situations and what to do if a business refused her service.

Next session will be the PAT as Dante is a very well-behaved, stately SD who is highly bonded to Yolanda. She also states he already wakes her from nightmares, detects her migraines when they are coming on and appropriately responds to her anxiety by nudging and distracting her. Dante is AWESOME!

WONDERFUL JOB, YOLANDA, DANTE, AND BEVERLY!

Military, San Antonio, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Prayers for SD Ivan

PLEASE say prayers – many prayers – for one of our dearest clients, Wounded Warrior Daniel, and his SD, pit Ivan. Ivan had stopped eating and was acting lethargic, and obviously losing weight. The first veterinarian Daniel took Ivan to just gave him some medicine and said he’d be fine. Well, that was about a month ago. Today, I talked to Daniel and told him to go to St. Francis of Assisi Veterinary Medical Center on Potranco where I advise all of our clients to go if they can get there. Ivan had lost 9 pounds, and they detected a heart murmur and an enlarged heart. Ivan goes back on Monday for an EKG and more testing. This is very, very hard on Daniel, whose stress exacerbates his symptoms very much, and he has difficulty comprehending certain things do to his TBI. Ivan and Daniel are literally inseparable – they do EVERYTHING together. I am going to call the doctor tomorrow to hear the report from him, as Daniel was too upset to comprehend all that was going on. We need to pray because Daniel needs and loves Ivan with all his heart. I will let you all know as things progress. I DO know that Ivan is in the best hands as far as veterinary care.

Austin, Military, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Vietnam Veteran Travis and SDiT Sergeant

From our trainer, Andrew, who is working with Vietnam Veteran Travis, and his SDIT, Sergeant:

“On Sept 23rd, I had my first initial session with Travis and his SDIT, Sergeant. Sergeant is a tri-colored collie and is very smart. He has lots of food drive, but also likes to play with a tug. I worked some with a sit/down and sit/stay and the dog did as expected for being so raw and only just over two years old.

At our second training session, Sergeant proved to still be a very exuberant dog and is a very quick learner. We worked on basic obedience – mainly sit/down stays. I had an extended talk with Travis about training his dog: that sit means sit and down means down. I instructed Travis about leading the dog up to being able to stay in whatever position Travis commands even if he leaves the room. We talked a little about rewards as well and the pros and con’s of using praise rewards and food rewards… I only took one picture and here is the beautiful dog below in a down stay!”

Military, San Antonio, Texas, Veteran, Wounded Warrior

Amber and SDIT Brinn

From our trainer, Andrew, who is working with Wounded Warrior, Amber, and her SDIT, Brinn!

“On Monday, September 22nd, I had my first session with Amber where we mainly talked about the capabilities of her SDIT, what she has already worked on, and what she would like to see from her Service Dog. Brinn already knows a plethora of commands as Amber has been working with her daily for the month that she has had her. She knows basic obedience, come, wait, leave it, load, unload, cover…etc. What she needs is reinforcement. So we went over that.

Brinn does have a problem pulling on the leash when she has a normal nylon collar on so I showed Amber a technique for loose leash walking. Amber has begun working with Brinn on it already. They are also fostering a dog originally named Wendy and together they both are not good at focusing on the commands as, they want to play instead of listen. Wendy is more trained than Brinn is and responds better than Brinn to the commands when she is alone with a handler. We discussed working with them and scheduling times to teach the stricter commands.

All in all we had a good session! I was only needed to instruct them on reinforcement of the commands that Amber has already been working hard to teach Brinn, and we will continue to do so in future sessions… I did not take pics this the my phone died so my camera was not available…”

GREAT WORK AMBER AND BRINN!! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK, ANDREW!