Editor & Publisher
One of the heroes of Madison County received an early Christmaspresent last week.
He got part of his life back.
North Zulch resident Mike Cowden, a Vietnam Veteran, suffers fromimpaired hearing and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as aresult of his service to our country. These impairments had made itdifficult for Cowden to lead a normal life, but on December 16, hecame home with a new friend.
With the help of his new service dog – Janie – Cowden can now getout and enjoy many things that had been nearly impossiblebefore.
Cowden arrived in town with the dog just days before his 63rdbirthday, helping make this birthday and Christmas season one toremember.
“I tell you it works,” Mike’s wife, Brenda, said. “A lot of peopledown at our restaurant didn’t even know my husband before. It’sbeen a great help to my husband, and the program is really great aswell. Hopefully, if there are any other Veterans in the area withsimilar experiences, this program could aid them as well.”
Janie’s arrival in Mike’s life came at the end of a nearly two-yearprocess. He had learned about the possibility of enlisting the helpof a service dog in a PTSD program in Waco, and the family beganresearching available programs.
They located the America’s VetDogs program, and began a processthey described as both intricate and wonderfully personal.
“They really guided us through the process,” Brenda said. “We did avideo of Mike and the dog was matched to his personality. Theyreally worked with us through the whole process and did it in avery personal way.”
The majority of the dogs in the America’s VetDogs program arespecially bred for the program. The dogs are predominantly labradoror golden retrievers, and the program is an equal-opportunityemployer when it comes to sexes – it believes both are equallysuitable for service.
The program began in 2003, and since has provided approximately 180animals to disabled Veterans of our Armed Services. There arecurrently four VetDogs serving overseas with combat stress controlteams, and two physical and occupational therapy VetDogs arecurrently stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Mike and Janie trained together in New York for two weeks beforereturning home to North Zulch. Among the tasks Janie has beentrained to assist with are hearing alert response, perimeterblocking, and retrieval.
Service dogs are allowed admittance into all facilities grantedaccessibility through the Americans with Disabilities Act, whichincludes restaurants, hotel, motels, nearly any place open to thegeneral public.
While Janie is friendly, whenever she is out in public she isworking and needs to be treated as an individual performing work,not as a pet to be touched or played with.
“Some of the things she can do is help Mike know when the telephoneis ringing or if there is someone at the door,” Brenda said. “Healso blocks people from contact, and helps relieve stress. Theimportant thing for people to understand out in public is that thisis not a regular animal. This is a service dog, not a pet, so we’dask people to treat it as such.”
While Janie continues to help Mike lead his life, the Cowdens alsohope that any other Veterans in the area that might benefit from aservice dog look into the program for themselves. Brenda believesthat Janie is the first service dog acquired through America’sVetDogs in the area.
She praised the program for its intimacy in learning about Mike andhelping them through the process, and had an extra special thanksfor Clinton Pohl, who has visited the Cowden family at home to aidthem with medical services on the dog.
While Janie arrived just a few weeks before Christmas, by the timeSanta flew past the Cowden home, she had already become a blessingto the family.
“She definitely calms me down and helps me be more friendly out inpublic,” Mike said. “It’s surely a wonderful program.”