Page 879 - Total War on PTSD

the canine and Veteran interact with each other. After about the fifth day, the four Veterans are assigned a canine to be a forever team. The next 10 or so days are to bond the canine with the Veteran and to teach the Veteran what the canine already knows. We are taught how to interact with our Service Dog appropriately.
In 2011, I was given Henry. Oh, the sun has finally started to shine. My first night with Henry, I was having a nightmare. Usually, I would wake up in a sweat not knowing where I was and ready to fight. This time, I was greeted with a licking to my hand and a snap back to reality. I am home. I am in my bed. I am safe. Henry provides me with a grounding that cannot, in my opinion, be given in any other way. The purpose of this is a minor interruption that has to be dealt with. Meaning, hey something is licking me what is this? Hey, you’re not supposed to be here. Hey, wait, I’m home. This interaction allows me to ease back to reality. I trust him whole- heartedly. I feed him, nurture him and play with him. And, in return, he gives me hope. He can sense when I am getting “worked up” and he provides me with a feeling of “it’s going to be okay”. Henry allows me to enter society again in my own time. Over the next three to four years, Henry and I would spend hours just looking into each other’s eyes. It was a command (among over 100 commands that he knows) that he learned in his training to assist him in a situation that might be distracting to him while we are out and about in public called, “Watch Me”. Over time, this has become our thing. Now, while in the privacy of our home, I don’t have to give him this command to look into my eyes. We just do it whenever we feel the need. It is very comforting to me. I can’t read Henry’s mind, but I feel that he enjoys these times as well.
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