Testimonials
A few words from our founder:
Posted by Missouri Patriot Paws on Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Brenda and Truman
Brenda and Truman
Truman and I have been a team since April of 2006. I can honestly say there was life before this date and living life after this date. I have PTSD from Military Sexual Trauma and for years I have been in and out of therapy. I even went to school and earned my Masters Degree. I was able to plunge myself into work and avoid my PTSD for years and years. It is was not living, I was avoiding living and was in survival mode most of the time. By 2013 I was brought to my knees with an automobile accident that gave me a brain injury on top of my service connected PTSD. I had to stop working because I lost the will to live and was overwhelmed with the new brain injury.
I can say God works in mysterious ways. One day I met a new friend who had a service dog named Sapper. The moment we met, the dog literally wrapped himself around my legs. I asked her “what is wrong with your dog?” and she immediately replied “What is wrong with you?” I was stunned! How could a dog know I had PTSD? We talked about my PTSD and she started me on the journey to get a service dog.
At first it was very frustrating. Several service dog organizations only placed dogs with veterans who were post 9/11 and/or combat veterans. I was neither of those.
Then one day I saw my friends post on Facebook for a fundraiser for Missouri Patriot Paws. I immediately contacted them and to my surprise MPP was just 30 miles away. The first time I contacted Susan Hinkle she had such a warm and caring voice. I followed her instructions for the application process and was approved. My wait time was really short because a dog became available only because another veteran turned the dog down. When Susan sent me that first picture of Truman I was drawn to his eyes and I felt he looked into my soul.
The day I picked him up I was so nervous and so was Truman. He drooled all over my car on the way home. I was unsure how this was going to work. That night I went to bed I had my usual night mares but this time I felt this gentle presence.. Truman had gently slid his head into my hand to wake me up. I cried and was astonished that he knew what I needed. He has helped me feel safer to fall asleep just for that reason that he will interrupt my nightmares.
Training was a whole new world for me. I had to learn how to communicate with Truman and train him for my tasks that Jessi Queen and I decided on. Training really taught me about being patient and that my feelings ebb outside of me and affect my environment. At first it was awkward going out with a service dog. I did not tell people I served in the Army let alone that I had PTSD. However, the more we went out the more I realized how much he was helping me. The first task that he did was so profound. Before Truman I always showered with one eye open and always watching the bathroom door. The first day he came into the bathroom with me I was able to relax and close my eyes in the shower. We go out in public he now scans the environment for me, I do not have to always be looking for the exits and people who may be dangerous because he took that over for me. When I am in line I can turn my back to a room because he will sit down by me backwards and watch my back for me. On days I am not feeling well he will block people from approaching me. On good days he will actually gaze at people to invite them over to force me to socialize.
Over the last four years I have had so many ups and downs with the public. I realized fast there is a lot of misinformation about what a service dog is and what the laws are. When we moved to Virginia in 2016 I had to adjust to a whole new environment and city life. I had lived in Missouri for 23 years and it was a culture shock for me. If I did not have Truman I would not have had a successful transition. As Truman and I got to know people we started to acclimate pretty good. But still there were times when people or businesses were confused about what a service dog is and the laws for service dogs in public.
That led me to start my own foundation. Since Truman has started all of this, I named it The Truman Foundation. We believe in educating the public about service dogs and helping support veterans that have service dogs. I am so thankful I was able to repurpose my life in such a way. We have traveled to places I never dreamed of and met people of all kinds.
This year I discovered I have an artistic side to me and took my first song writing workshop, something I never dreamed of before. Having Truman has allowed me to try new things like this. I wrote a song about Truman titled He Saved Me From Me. I was blown away with everyone's response and they even had me perform the song. I received a standing ovation and there were plenty of tears to include my own. One day I plan to record this song to celebrate the special bond we have with our service dogs.
I am so thankful and blessed to have Truman. I owe it all to Susan Hinkle, who believed in me and placed him with me. Without her kind act I do not know if I would even be alive today.
Truman and I have been a team since April of 2006. I can honestly say there was life before this date and living life after this date. I have PTSD from Military Sexual Trauma and for years I have been in and out of therapy. I even went to school and earned my Masters Degree. I was able to plunge myself into work and avoid my PTSD for years and years. It is was not living, I was avoiding living and was in survival mode most of the time. By 2013 I was brought to my knees with an automobile accident that gave me a brain injury on top of my service connected PTSD. I had to stop working because I lost the will to live and was overwhelmed with the new brain injury.
I can say God works in mysterious ways. One day I met a new friend who had a service dog named Sapper. The moment we met, the dog literally wrapped himself around my legs. I asked her “what is wrong with your dog?” and she immediately replied “What is wrong with you?” I was stunned! How could a dog know I had PTSD? We talked about my PTSD and she started me on the journey to get a service dog.
At first it was very frustrating. Several service dog organizations only placed dogs with veterans who were post 9/11 and/or combat veterans. I was neither of those.
Then one day I saw my friends post on Facebook for a fundraiser for Missouri Patriot Paws. I immediately contacted them and to my surprise MPP was just 30 miles away. The first time I contacted Susan Hinkle she had such a warm and caring voice. I followed her instructions for the application process and was approved. My wait time was really short because a dog became available only because another veteran turned the dog down. When Susan sent me that first picture of Truman I was drawn to his eyes and I felt he looked into my soul.
The day I picked him up I was so nervous and so was Truman. He drooled all over my car on the way home. I was unsure how this was going to work. That night I went to bed I had my usual night mares but this time I felt this gentle presence.. Truman had gently slid his head into my hand to wake me up. I cried and was astonished that he knew what I needed. He has helped me feel safer to fall asleep just for that reason that he will interrupt my nightmares.
Training was a whole new world for me. I had to learn how to communicate with Truman and train him for my tasks that Jessi Queen and I decided on. Training really taught me about being patient and that my feelings ebb outside of me and affect my environment. At first it was awkward going out with a service dog. I did not tell people I served in the Army let alone that I had PTSD. However, the more we went out the more I realized how much he was helping me. The first task that he did was so profound. Before Truman I always showered with one eye open and always watching the bathroom door. The first day he came into the bathroom with me I was able to relax and close my eyes in the shower. We go out in public he now scans the environment for me, I do not have to always be looking for the exits and people who may be dangerous because he took that over for me. When I am in line I can turn my back to a room because he will sit down by me backwards and watch my back for me. On days I am not feeling well he will block people from approaching me. On good days he will actually gaze at people to invite them over to force me to socialize.
Over the last four years I have had so many ups and downs with the public. I realized fast there is a lot of misinformation about what a service dog is and what the laws are. When we moved to Virginia in 2016 I had to adjust to a whole new environment and city life. I had lived in Missouri for 23 years and it was a culture shock for me. If I did not have Truman I would not have had a successful transition. As Truman and I got to know people we started to acclimate pretty good. But still there were times when people or businesses were confused about what a service dog is and the laws for service dogs in public.
That led me to start my own foundation. Since Truman has started all of this, I named it The Truman Foundation. We believe in educating the public about service dogs and helping support veterans that have service dogs. I am so thankful I was able to repurpose my life in such a way. We have traveled to places I never dreamed of and met people of all kinds.
This year I discovered I have an artistic side to me and took my first song writing workshop, something I never dreamed of before. Having Truman has allowed me to try new things like this. I wrote a song about Truman titled He Saved Me From Me. I was blown away with everyone's response and they even had me perform the song. I received a standing ovation and there were plenty of tears to include my own. One day I plan to record this song to celebrate the special bond we have with our service dogs.
I am so thankful and blessed to have Truman. I owe it all to Susan Hinkle, who believed in me and placed him with me. Without her kind act I do not know if I would even be alive today.
Another letter from one of our friends, Greg Roeder and Hunter
PTSD is a crippling disorder and one I have suffered with since the late 80’s due to my time in the military and in my service as a police officer. Until recently the only things that seemed to help were high risk jobs in high risk environments that kept me “in the zone.” The times when PTSD get the worst are when one has the time to think or when the world around them is calm. In those times when the PTSD side effects such as increased awareness and heightened preparedness could not be put to use the only things that calmed me down were prescription drugs and alcohol. I engaged in very risky behavior when my PTSD was at its worst. I would often take my pain medications in conjunction with heavy drinking to make myself feel calm and hope for maybe a couple hours of sleep once I passed out. At that point though the nightmares would kick in and I would often wake up soaking in sweat and shivering uncontrollably. For years I only got 4-5 hours of sleep at the most with only 2-3 hours happening at least a few nights a week. I would also avoid going out in public as often as possible because public places are too full of negative stimuli that cause sensory overload, anxiety, and stress.
On September 29th, 2016, a few days before my 47th birthday, a miracle happened. I met a small framed black lab mix named Hunter. He was introduced to me by a wonderful person named Susan Hinkle, who is the director of Missouri Patriot Paws. I already owned another black lab named Shooter who, like me, had an October birthday. Turns out Hunter had an October birthday as well. Fate? I definitely thought that was the case. I was at first hesitant to bring Hunter into my life. I had avoided talking about any of my issues with anyone and tried my best to just deal with things on my own. The way Hunter would interact with Shooter was a very serious concern as well. Due to being medically retired from the police department though I thought I would have the extra time to make things work between them so I decided to give it a shot.
Well, to say that was one of the best decisions of my life is an understatement. Hunter has been an amazingly positive improvement to my entire world. He goes practically everywhere with me and has given me the strength to start going out into public places again. When I just had to be in public I was often very brooding and quiet. I would constantly be scanning my environment, assessing threats, and analyzing things from a tactical perspective. Now Hunter forces me to engage with the public and has made me more open and relaxed. It is 100% impossible to be out in public with him and not receive massive amounts of attention. At first this increased my anxiety and stress but has now led to me being more at ease so I can actually just enjoy being out of the house.
At home Hunter is my constant companion. He stays glued to my side 24/7 and is always right there when I need him. He can tell when I start becoming agitated or upset and will force me to give him attention by either bumping my phone out of my hands or climbing up in my lap to interrupt my view of the TV or blocking my laptop. At night I often wake up from horrible nightmares but with Hunter there I can just call him to me and he crawls up on my chest and stays there until I fall back to sleep. Several times he has already crawled onto my chest before the nightmares begin and I end up waking up the next morning with him sleeping curled up on me. A few days ago I was at an appointment with my substance abuse therapist and I began telling her about a recent incident of binge drinking I had been through. I wasn’t aware of what Hunter was doing but he climbed up into my lap and leaned against my chest and shoulders with his full weight. It irritated me at first but after I finished telling her what had happened my therapist pointed out to me what Hunter had done. He physically created a barrier with his body against my bad experience that I was relating to in therapy. Absolutely amazing.
I could continue ad nauseam about all of the things he does for me but will just simply say he provides support for just about every PTSD symptom or situation you can imagine. Between his unconditional love and the support of Missouri Patriot Paws, my life is becoming worth living again. I’m very happy that Hunter isn’t even a year and a half old yet because I want and need him in my life for a very long time.
PTSD is a crippling disorder and one I have suffered with since the late 80’s due to my time in the military and in my service as a police officer. Until recently the only things that seemed to help were high risk jobs in high risk environments that kept me “in the zone.” The times when PTSD get the worst are when one has the time to think or when the world around them is calm. In those times when the PTSD side effects such as increased awareness and heightened preparedness could not be put to use the only things that calmed me down were prescription drugs and alcohol. I engaged in very risky behavior when my PTSD was at its worst. I would often take my pain medications in conjunction with heavy drinking to make myself feel calm and hope for maybe a couple hours of sleep once I passed out. At that point though the nightmares would kick in and I would often wake up soaking in sweat and shivering uncontrollably. For years I only got 4-5 hours of sleep at the most with only 2-3 hours happening at least a few nights a week. I would also avoid going out in public as often as possible because public places are too full of negative stimuli that cause sensory overload, anxiety, and stress.
On September 29th, 2016, a few days before my 47th birthday, a miracle happened. I met a small framed black lab mix named Hunter. He was introduced to me by a wonderful person named Susan Hinkle, who is the director of Missouri Patriot Paws. I already owned another black lab named Shooter who, like me, had an October birthday. Turns out Hunter had an October birthday as well. Fate? I definitely thought that was the case. I was at first hesitant to bring Hunter into my life. I had avoided talking about any of my issues with anyone and tried my best to just deal with things on my own. The way Hunter would interact with Shooter was a very serious concern as well. Due to being medically retired from the police department though I thought I would have the extra time to make things work between them so I decided to give it a shot.
Well, to say that was one of the best decisions of my life is an understatement. Hunter has been an amazingly positive improvement to my entire world. He goes practically everywhere with me and has given me the strength to start going out into public places again. When I just had to be in public I was often very brooding and quiet. I would constantly be scanning my environment, assessing threats, and analyzing things from a tactical perspective. Now Hunter forces me to engage with the public and has made me more open and relaxed. It is 100% impossible to be out in public with him and not receive massive amounts of attention. At first this increased my anxiety and stress but has now led to me being more at ease so I can actually just enjoy being out of the house.
At home Hunter is my constant companion. He stays glued to my side 24/7 and is always right there when I need him. He can tell when I start becoming agitated or upset and will force me to give him attention by either bumping my phone out of my hands or climbing up in my lap to interrupt my view of the TV or blocking my laptop. At night I often wake up from horrible nightmares but with Hunter there I can just call him to me and he crawls up on my chest and stays there until I fall back to sleep. Several times he has already crawled onto my chest before the nightmares begin and I end up waking up the next morning with him sleeping curled up on me. A few days ago I was at an appointment with my substance abuse therapist and I began telling her about a recent incident of binge drinking I had been through. I wasn’t aware of what Hunter was doing but he climbed up into my lap and leaned against my chest and shoulders with his full weight. It irritated me at first but after I finished telling her what had happened my therapist pointed out to me what Hunter had done. He physically created a barrier with his body against my bad experience that I was relating to in therapy. Absolutely amazing.
I could continue ad nauseam about all of the things he does for me but will just simply say he provides support for just about every PTSD symptom or situation you can imagine. Between his unconditional love and the support of Missouri Patriot Paws, my life is becoming worth living again. I’m very happy that Hunter isn’t even a year and a half old yet because I want and need him in my life for a very long time.