SAN ANTONIO - By the end of the year, all troops serving in Iraq will be home, but life isn't always easy once they return. No matter what war they served in, the emotional scars can take decades to heal. Now the group "Train a Dog - Save a Warrior" is helping its first Vietnam veteran with a service dog.
Veteran Perry David suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette's and he's rarely left his Montana home in the last decade.
"I haven't had a relationship with my wife since I was diagnosed. We haven't gotten along," he said through tears. "I think Nina will help."
Nina is a German Shepherd service dog from the Train A Dog - Save a Warrior group. She's Perry's battle buddy, helping him navigate a different type of battlefield, filled with every day land mines like a crowded store.
"She just came right around and laid in my lap. She knew that soon that I needed her," Perry explained about a recent trip to Costco.
"She recognized that all he needed to do was get out of the traffic flow and down an aisle they went and she just protected him," explained dog trainer Michelle Pelletier.
Nina is helping Perry cope with crowds, which can be overwhelming. Pelletier accompanies Perry as he takes Nina to restaurants, grocery stores and other public places so Perry can become acclimated to going out in public. Perry flew into San Antonio about two weeks ago and will return to his Montana home with Nina Wednesday. Pelletier is working with Perry to extensively train both him and Nina in the three weeks that he is in town. The organization rescued Nina from a shelter and has trained her to be responsive to Perry's needs.
"All of our PTSD dogs help with nightmares, night terrors and flashbacks. They have tactile stimulation so if the warrior is in a nightmare or flashback they (the dogs) lick them until they wake up," Pelletier explained.
The Train a Dog - Save a Warrior group is part of the Penny's From Heaven Foundation and 385 wounded warriors are currently on the waiting list. The organization desperately needs donations and
you can click here to find out how to help.
