\u201cJP brings me peace,\u201d says Bill Austin, a retired warrior whose memories have tended to be less than peaceful.<\/p>\n
After three decades of serving as a medic and\/or a radio operator in places like Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan (twice), this retired master sergeant remembers things like loading a guy who\u2019d been blown up twice in five minutes onto a stretcher and not recognizing one of his best friends until the body on the stretcher suddenly said, \u201cHey mate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I said, \u2018Mark, is that you?\u2019 Later that day I went back to see him, and the bed was empty; I was afraid he\u2019d died,\u201d says Austin. \u201cLater, I found out they medivacced him out, but I remember going back to see a lot of other guys that I\u2019d helped, only to be told they died of their wounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
After retiring from the National Guard with a 100 percent diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Austin found it hard to turn off the mindset that had kept him alive as he dealt with the carnage from the killing fields: the burns, broken bodies, shattered limbs and multiple amputations that regularly confront medics.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s hyper-vigilant,\u201d says his wife, Janet Austin. \u201cHe has to sit with his back to the wall, and he doesn\u2019t like to be in crowded spaces. If someone comes up behind him, he turns in a protective posture to see what you\u2019re up to.\u201d<\/p>\n
But peace came in the form of a 2-year-old Great Dane named JP, a 150-pound service dog with a harness that says \u201cPTSD \u2013 not all disabilities are visible.\u201d<\/p>\n
JP pulls Austin out of their house near the Mission Mountains of Montana for regular walks, and people generally stop to talk about the unusual-looking dog.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s a natural ice-breaker,\u201d Janet says. \u201cWhen someone\u2019s coming toward Bill, he steps between them to provide a safety zone. And when someone\u2019s coming up behind him, he provides advanced warning that someone\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n
JP even knows when Austin is having nightmares, says Janet, and he\u2019ll wake Austin out of a troubled sleep by licking his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of road rage because there\u2019s too much stimulus and my brain can\u2019t handle it fast enough. It\u2019s sensory overload. But now when I drive, JP puts his head in my lap and I pet him and I hear his gentle breathing and it\u2019s very peaceful,\u201d says Austin.<\/p>\n
JP was provided by a breeder in North Carolina, and the Austins trained him themselves as a service dog. They estimate they\u2019ve spent close to $5,000 on him over the first two years. CHAPS (Canines Helping Autism and PTSD Survivors) estimates that a 75-pound service dog will cost at least $4,000 for the first year and more than $2,000 a year thereafter.<\/p>\n
Many civic organizations recognize the importance of dogs in stabilizing vets\u2019 mental health. Companions 4 Heroes (C4H) has provided vets with about 150 shelters dogs that would otherwise have been euthanized, says its executive director, Lynne Gartenhaus. \u201cThe care and nurturing of an animal brings a veteran to a different place,\u201d she adds. \u201cThe animal gives the vet something to think about other than what\u2019s always going through his head.\u201d<\/p>\n
But C4H doesn\u2019t train many service dogs. That training can be expensive and difficult, both for the dog and for the vet. \u201cYou\u2019re dealing with two very fragile and vulnerable entities,\u201d says Gartenhaus. \u201cIt\u2019s really complicated, both for the dog and for the veteran.\u201d<\/p>\n
The VA doesn\u2019t provide service dogs either, although it will pay for veterinary care and equipment for some service dogs owned by vets who are blind or who can\u2019t walk. A VA regulation printed last September in the Federal Register does not provide for service dogs to vets suffering from PTSD.<\/p>\n
\u201cVA does not cover psychiatric service dogs,\u201d says Janet. \u201cThey\u2019ve done studies, but there\u2019s not enough evidence to justify it. They\u2019ll cover seeing-eye dogs and mobility dogs, but not psychiatric service dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n
To Janet, however, that evidence was clear on the second day that JP bounded into their lives.\u00a0 \u201cJanet said, \u2018Don\u2019t you get it? This is the first time in two years that you\u2019ve smiled and laughed,\u2019 \u201d Austin says.<\/p>\n
\u201cJP was still a puppy then, and I said, \u2018He brings me peace.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
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