Page 86 - ShowSight - June 2020

We all know that feeling of having a special bond with one of our dogs, but for me and my service dog, Riley, the relationship was life-changing. I am the Chair of the Graphic Arts program at a Community College and a retired (21 years) multiple tour combat veteran. A serendipitous meeting of my now wife, Sarah Beaird, and her Clumber Spaniels changed my life in more ways than one. I certainly did not expect my life to send me in the directions it did but my deployments in the military have had a substantial impact on who I am now.
My first wartime deployment for the Oregon National Guard began in October 2003 to Iraq as the Quick Reaction Force for the 1st Cavalry Division. During my time there I conducted patrols and combat air assault insertions. On a patrol one night my heavy armored gun truck was hit with an IED and struck by a Rocket Propelled Grenade. I’m thankful to that armored truck for saving multiple lives that day. During this first deployment, four of the 115 men in my Unit lost their lives and many more were wounded.
Typically, it would be at least six years between deployments but hurricane Katrina decided to devastate the gulf coast just six months after we returned home from Iraq. Our unit was deployed to the lower Ninth Ward to monitor water levels, patrol for looters, and locate bodies which had been overcome by the flood waters two weeks earlier. At that point we were the only ones with vehicles that could make it through the deep water and sludge so we coordinated with the Humane Society to take food and water in to animals left behind, many of whom stood on porches waiting for owners who would never return.
In 2009 I was sent back to Iraq. By now I had actually been diagnosed with PTSD and was medicated during the entire year. During this deployment I was a First Sergeant in a Cavalry Troop and we were rocketed and mortared each full moon, but as luck would have it, I did not lose even one of my men.
With all of this, I was not a happy person. Other people at work said that I had come back very different, edgy. I was heavily medicated, had major issues with hyper-vigilance and was generally withdrawn and numb. I was seeing my psychologist two to three times a month and was in group therapy twice a month. Living with PTSD is not simple. There are triggers that you try to avoid but you really do not know when the anxiety will hit.
I grew up in a household that always had two golden retrievers and have many memories of laying against or waking up next to a golden, often with their soft rabbit fur-like ears between my fingers. My psychologist had suggested a service dog as did my private doctor and VA doctor. At the time the VA did not recognize service animals for PTSD. I couldn’t afford the $15,000-to-$35,000 expense to acquire my own.
Enter Riley, GCHS Peppadew N Breakaway’s Talk of the Nation. I met Sarah in late 2014. Riley was nine months old and finished his champi- onship on my 50th birthday. He was one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met. In the beginning, Sarah made it clear that Riley was always a special puppy. The first time on leash he gaited and free-stacked like a seasoned show dog. He was focused, had presence in the ring, was always game to do anything, and he wanted to know what was expected of him. You can see it in his eyes, ‘I’ve got this!’. When we started talking about one of the clumbers being my service dog there was really no question about which one it should be.
Sarah used to run obedience classes so she felt confident that she could train Riley to be a PTSD dog. She researched and asked other people with service dogs for tips, and questioned me about what I do when I feel anxious. A PTSD dog needs a different set of skills than other ser- vice dogs. The dogs have to deal with a lot of emotion and anxiety and yet not take it on themselves. Riley’s unflappable personality and calm demeanor is perfect for the job. We fine-tuned the training so Riley recognized and had a signal for when I was getting anxious, and taught him what to do when he recognizes I am having a nightmare. After that we went out in public and trained Riley how to behave in a restaurant and in the classroom while I teach, as well as all the other places they would go together. For a full year, it was a lot of on-the-job training.
Throughout the process, I have learned to trust Riley’s alerts. I know he will let me know if there’s a problem, so it relieves my pressure to stay hyper-vigilant. Right away I felt a de-escalation of anxiety. Within months after working with him I was seeing my psychologist only once every six months or so and doing Group. I find his fur soothing to the touch and it takes me straight back to my childhood with my head rested on a golden.
It is not very easy for a true service dog to be an active show dog. Riley has a vest on most of the day which rubs and breaks his coat. I have to walk faster so Riley will open up his gait. There was that little weight issue caused by me sharing my lunch with Riley every day. Sarah, and professional handler, Darcie Cantor, campaigned Riley as a Special so we made careful plans about which shows he went to so I didn’t spend too much time away from him. It’s not the most optimal situation, but we’ve made it work. In the past year, as Riley has been ending his show career, I’ve even taken him into the show ring.
Riley is always by my side, unless I am doing an activity that would be too difficult for him. He travels with me to conferences, vacations, jury duty and is right by my side when speaking at the State Capital advocating for Veteran’s services. The most awkward moment was when I was part of a hiring team at LBCC and we were on a conference call and Riley started that wonderful clumber snore.
Riley and my partnership have also had an effect on other PTSD dog-handler teams. A good friend of ours, Steve Olson, is a veteran who used to handle dogs in the military. Olson observed what a difference the partnership between Riley and I made, and signed up to be a part of the VA’s pilot program that partnered with Canine Companion International to see the effects of using dogs to treat PTSD. After Olson spent time at CCI’s training facility learning about service dogs and sharing his own knowledge of Riley’s role in my life, CCI has asked him to become a trainer at their facility to help them train PTSD dogs when he finishes college. The VA now recognizes service dogs for assistance with PTSD.
Each day that we work I find myself looking in his eyes and being so glad that he came into my life. Riley is one of those one in a million dogs that is really special on just about every level. He is certainly an ambassador for the Clumber Spaniel breed. Without Sarah and Riley coming into my life I really do not know where I would have ended up. - 1st Sgt. Ret. US Army Lewis Franklin
84 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2020 SPANIEL (CLUMBER)