The Veterans; Terran Frye (Marine), Mike “Skully” Hopp (Army), Ben Wickler (Marine) and Dan Chappel (Army).

Ben drove the farthest, Indiana, and since Terran, Mike and Ben already knew each together, the weekend started on Friday, not Saturday, as I had planned. I was excited for all of them to be here and was stressed that I wasn’t properly prepared for their arrival. I was equally not prepared when Mike showed up with (maybe) his new dog, who found him, Bella.  It wasn’t about me, this was about them….

Things work out a way for a reason, everyone got to spend an extra day with their dog, which was perfect. Watching each of these guys grow with their dog over the 72 hours….was amazing. I am so glad we have it on video, and it will be great to show them the difference each week, and month, and so on that they are with their dog. But it was more than just the time spent with the dogs. There was some great time where we talked, each shared stories, some funny, some hard to hear. They helped each other  with VA Benefits,  and they watched and supported each other though training with their dogs. It was great to have Dan here, cause he got to meet these guys, and they had a change to spend time together too. The camaraderie…. It was great watching this aspect of what we are creating, a place where Veterans have for each other.  At one point there were two snoring Veterans, passed out on the couch for a few hours, resting for the next training session….

Donna and I learned a lot just observing, this giving us more insight into ‘their world’ and creating the perfect Psychiatric Service Dog for them. The missing piece of this weekend was clear to all of us, and now I am really on my mission!!!   Our permanent place:   Stiggy’s Sanctuary;  land that will house our training facility, but also have cabins or yurts, to house the Veterans. That way they can leave and go home separately, away from us and the other dogs, to spend some quiet time together, Stay overnight together……One day that will be. For now, thank you guys for your patience and working through this with us!

Individually, here is a recap:

Ben Wickler. He has been in love with Stella for over a month, seeing her pictures and videos.  Ben walked through the door, waiting to have Stella run and jump in his arms as they run around laughing together……Nope. Stella, being her normal Stella self, was very cautious of Ben. Ben was greeted with barks, not one or two, but repeatedly throughout the afternoon. Disappointment and stress was easily read on Ben’s face.  Stella was stressed, more than meeting a stranger, but also from the cries of the strange new dog that was coming from the other room. Stella spent a good few hours circling Ben. Stella was very aware of Ben, and even from across the room, she spent a lot of time watching him, looking at him, trying to get a read on him. Stella felt his stress, and everyone’s in the room, and wasn’t sure what she should do. With a lot of treats, (and Chicken), some training sessions and alone time, Ben and Stella learned a lot about each other. They are perfect for each other, they both just need some time together, work together, train, eat and play together.  We have our next training step all planned…..

Terran, who already met and trained once before with Hershey, walked in a little more confident and excited to see his friends, and his dog. Hershey and Terran were together all weekend. When Terran was around, Hershey was by his side, or in his arms, or lying on his chest……Watching them train together was great too, it was a struggle with a few commands, but the more they worked together, the more Hershey understood what Terran wanted. The best was watching Terran, and even his posture and walking change throughout the weekend. In fact, when we had Dan and Foxy in the training, Terran was comfortable enough with Hershey to use her as a neutral dog. He boldly walked right next to Dan, and had Hershey sit. Terran stood there so tall, with a smile widely spread over his face, he even nodded his head proudly, gave the command and they both walked side by side away. BEST moment ever!

Mike, Skully, came with his truck all packed and ready to go to work as well! Being a handy tool man, he was ready to help. Thank you for the time that you did get to help with building the potty patch! Things didn’t go as planned with that, but it went as planned for Mike. The bond that is already formed with him and Bella is clear. She is extremely stressed when he is not by her, she listens to his commands and did very well in the training they got together. They weren’t allowed to join the group yet, but they did get to work together. Mike will be following the training program that we have for Dan and Foxy. We were unable to take in another dog, as I know Mike wanted, but I truly believe this will work for them. You can see the change in Mike as he will easily admit. He made statements like: “It felt so good walking her. I walked right through the Hotel doors and through the lobby feeling like I was someone. I haven’t done that in 18 years…” or  “I felt calm on the elevator this morning, I even invited the stranger in.. We stood in it next to each other, and the guy didn’t even look at me, he was just looking at Bella.” It is statements like that,  that is what we are all about! Go Skully, we are really proud of you already. One funny story. ….So we all nick named his dog ‘Tinkerbell’, we think it is really cute and funny. Mike said, “I cant walk around with a dog named TinkerBell!” If any of you know him you would reply what we did, “Sure you can!” If anyone can call their dog that, he can!

Dan and Foxy showed up right on time. This was Dan’s first training class with us, and it was the first group class. It was a drive for Dan, over an hour to get here, all the while with Foxy by his side. Making that drive a little easier for him. This was the beginning of his training day, even if Dan knew it or not, but the drive in the car,  the anticipation of the class, all added to Dans anxiety, feelings and smells we want Foxy to know. Donna took Foxy when they arrived, to show her around the Barracks, being it was her first time, Donna could set the expectations. Plus, this was the first time Foxy would be meeting and training with our existing pack.  Donna had Dan and Foxy join our class when they were ready. Dan walked right in and we all continued the large circle we were walking in. The stress on a new dog and person in the room didn’t go unnoticed. It was the perfect distraction needed for the others to work on their walking, and keeping their dogs focused on them. I was the most impressed with Dan and Foxy, I am not sure who I am more proud of. For Foxy, that was a tough situation to walk into. There were a few stressful moments, but she looked to Dan, she listened to his corrections. Even when it was clear she didn’t want to, she put her ears back and tentatively sat as told. I know that Dan was nervous at first, but within 10 minutes all the dogs and Veterans were paced together perfectly. Donna, Rachel and I were in awe. It was so cool to witness this (again on tape!) Dan’s confidence grew leaps and bounds in this afternoon and so did the bond of trust for Foxy. Foxy worked hard for the Gooooood Girl loving she was getting for praise! Which she got a lot of, from Dan and us!

We also had a time to run through a mock Canine Good Citizen Test with Terran and Ben. We are excited to see that they almost are ready to pass!!! We are proud of all the guys and the work they are doing with their dogs. We are excited and motivated, more than them, I think…..