SHARI DUVAL'S K9S FOR WARRIORS HELPS VETERANS WITH POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER BY GIVING THEM CALMING COMPANIONS: TRAINED DOGS RESCUED FROM SHELTERS
When Shari Duval's son Brett Simon returned home in 2005 after nine months in Iraq, the previously outgoing Army-contracted dog handler was a changed man. "I thought I was going to lose him to suicide, he was that despondent," says Duval, 68, a grandmother of 10 from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. She was researching post-traumatic stress disorder when she hit upon an idea: helping her son and others by together starting a service-dog program for struggling vets. Now 43 and married with a 6-year-old son, Brett says, "It's been a life-changer."
Not just for him. The nonprofit K9s for Warriors (k9sforwarriors.org), aided by 500 volunteers, has paired 96 vets with canine companions—nearly all of them rescue dogs trained by Brett. "Dogs are really good about helping [reduce] anxiety," says psychologist Tracy Stecker of the Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center. She says the dogs' vigilance makes the vets feel protected, and their unconditional love develops trust.
No one knows that better than retired Marine Capt. Jason Haag. After three tours of duty, he shut out his wife and kids, sleeping with a gun under his pillow in a darkened basement. A little more than a year after getting his 2-year-old German shepherd Axel, he has reconnected with his family and has coached baseball for his sons, 11 and 8. "Axel hit the reset button," says Haag, 33, who still gets counseling but has reduced his medication for anxiety and depression. "Thank God for a dog."
ALEX BROWN, 28, & SKIP, LOUISVILLE, KY.
"He was as broken as I was," says the retired Army specialist. "We had to learn together. Every day is a battle for me, but I don't go through it alone anymore."
STEPHANIE GENSICKE, 26, & CHINOOK, JACKSONVILLE, N.C.
A sexual assault survivor, the retired Marine is now a college student studying nursing. "Nothing would have changed without Chinook."
AMY LUTENBACHER, 26, & MACY MAE, NECEDAH, WIS.
"When I start to have an anxiety attack, I'll pet her, and that grounds me," says the retired Air Force airman. "She's given me my life back."
LEROY JOHNSTON, 31, & APACHE, 29 PALMS, CALIF.
"My issues are large open spaces," says the Marine. "He walks me through and basically says, 'Hey, Dad, I'm going to get you there.'"
JOSE GONZALEZ, 28, & SADIE, YORK, S.C.
"The only time I left the house was to go to the doctor," says the retired Marine. With Sadie at his side, "there is hope that things will get better."
DAVID MOORE, 47, & WILCO, NEWNAN, GA.
In providing a dog to soften the stress, Moore's wife, Cara, says Duval and Simon "have saved my husband's life, and they have saved our family."
JAIME LEON, 36, & SHADOW, FT. BENNING, GA.
With every nightmare, says the Army sergeant, "she would nuzzle my hand and wake me. That's when I decided I didn't need medication anymore."
JASON HAAG, 33, & AXEL, FREDERICKSBURG, MD.
"Axel helped me wind down and take my foot off the gas," says the retired Marine. "I can enjoy life again."
TRUESDELL, J. (2013). Canine Comfort Vets' Best Friends. People, 80(25), 98.
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