Page 814 - Total War on PTSD

Bessie is always smiling about something. Even when she is practicing a sit/stay she will just smile at you to get you to laugh at her. Bessie does get bored and has not perfected the art of doing nothing. She knows she is not allowed to bark so she will start making these cooing noises and 'sing' to let me know she is bored. I used to feel guilty that I have two Service Dogs, but Bessie likes the busier venues, whereas Truman likes the quieter ones. Bessie will start 'singing' because she gets so bored without enough stimulation. She is also such a lifesaver at home, helping me pick up things, opening and closing doors, etc. It's also nice to use each of them for the right purposes and give the other one a break every so often. She's also our comedy relief.
I can honestly say there is surviving life before Truman and then living life after Truman came to me. He has taught me how my emotions affect the environment around me and how to be more patient. Our relationship is based on unconditional love and trust. When we are out in public he will watch my back, alert me when my anxiety gets too high, and even gets people to engage with us in a positive way. Truman is trained to put pressure on me to calm me down, among other things. He will also nudge me, sit on my feet and lick my hand. I have had Truman since 2015. He was one year old when he was placed with me. Truman was a Missouri Prison Dog that was placed with me from Missouri Patriot Paws. When we moved to Virginia two years ago, we completed maintenance training with Semper K9. Truman draws people in with those little eyes of his. I have conversations with people that I wouldn't have otherwise. Sometimes it's like he will pick people when we are out, he'll kind of like pull as if to say "sit over here", and usually the person we sit next to has just lost a dog or has something going on. He just knows...it's really strange how dogs can read people like that. It's nice to have something that is positive to talk about...because without Truman what am I really going to talk about?
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