Future service dog Gabe naps in front of his honorary promotion certificate from the U.S. Army. Gabe was trained by service members recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and was paired with retired Staff Sgt. Justin Lansford, an amputee, through Warrior Canine Connection. (Photo courtesy of Carol Balmes and Warrior Canine Connection)
The National Intrepid Center of Excellence connects service dogs with veterans suffering from both mental and physical wounds 23 January 2015 - Sometimes the best therapy doesn’t come in a hospital or a doctor’s office. Sometimes it doesn’t come from a pill or an operation or a counseling session. Sometimes it comes with a cold nose, a warm tongue and a wagging tail.
Sometimes it comes in the form of a dog like Gabe. Gabe is a golden retriever that has changed the lives of at least two veterans. He helped save one from the clutches of a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress, and he watches over and assists the other every single day.
The trainer
Retired Staff Sgt. Spencer Milo first met Gabe in 2011, when Gabe was just a puppy and Milo was at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, undergoing treatment for his second traumatic brain injury. A mentally disabled teenager who almost certainly didn’t understand what he was doing – he put the vest on inside out – had blown himself up in southern Afghanistan that January, throwing Milo backward 15 or 20 feet. read more>>>
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