Professional dog trainer Shannon Walker had trained thousands of dogs over two decades when an Army veteran named Kevin walked into her training facility, Man's Best Friend, in Battle Ground, Washington.
Kevin told Shannon that he suffered from PTSD. He'd survived an intense firefight on his last deployment, then, once home, six of the men and women who'd fought alongside him died by suicide. Kevin felt so anxious in public that he couldn't go many places other than the local VA to be with other vets. That's where someone suggested he get a service dog.
"I thought maybe my Lab, Sammy, could be trained to help me," he said.
Shannon had never trained a service dog for a veteran with PTSD, but her heart went out to Kevin. Her father had served in the Air Force during the Korean War, and it pained her to meet a veteran struggling.
Even though he's no longer wearing a military uniform, he's still paying a price every day for my freedom, she thought, and agreed to train Sammy to be his service dog.
Amazing transformation
Over the next few months, Shannon trained Sammy to "task" for symptoms of PTSD, like interrupting panic attacks and blocking out space for her handler in crowded areas. Then Shannon spent several weeks teaching Kevin how to partner with Sammy as his service dog in public.
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