Kathy & Service K9 Akula
Kathy, a disabled U.S. Air Force veteran, shares her thoughts on life before her service dog, and how it’s going now. She and Akula graduated from K9 Partners for Patriots Service Dog Academy in April, 2023.
How Did I Get Here?
In the military I was an x-ray technician. I’ve seen things and been exposed to things that no human being should ever see. These memories never go away. I also developed a disease, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), and they medically retired me. I could no longer work. I broke my foot. And when you break a bone it sends a signal up to your brain… The brain sends a signal back down to start healing. With RSD your body thinks you still have broken bones. The bad thing is it spreads through the sympathetic nerves. I have it from the waist down. The entire lower portion of my body is broken. It thinks it’s broken. I’ve been on a morphine pump, a stimulator, and I’ve had high doses of oxycodone. It’s excruciating pain. So when I got that I felt like my life had just stopped.
At one time I had a 20-acre ranch in Texas. I had 10 dogs, 5 cats, 3 horses, and my life was very full. Well it went ‘Bam!’ I just gave up. Sat in my house and cried; felt sorry for myself and got up to almost 300 pounds. I just stopped living. It was bad because I had time to reflect on some things in the military. I had PTSD and my depression got even worse and I gave up. Finally after I went through counseling my 24-year relationship fell apart. We were done. So I was single now and going through all of this. I had hit rock bottom.
I didn’t care whether I lived or not. Because I didn’t have anything to live for. When I’d go to the beach I thought about just getting into the water and walking. And not stopping.
At Bay Pines I asked ‘How can I get a service dog?’ and they said ‘We don’t have anything to help you.’ So once again, I was depressed. A gentleman at the front desk said, ‘I know a place, ‘K9 Partners for Patriots.’
I rescued Akula (3 months old) from the Humane Society and brought him out here and we met Jeanne. He tested perfectly but he wasn’t old enough. He started when he was 7 months. He was a little guy and he did great! When we graduated I knew then what was missing from my life. I didn’t need a person… I tell him everything and he loves me unconditionally. He is there for me 100%. If I’m stressed he comes straight to me.
I also have sleep apnea and asthma, so if I have problems breathing he’s right up on top of me. He knows when I’m depressed, he will not leave my sight. If I get up and go in another room he gets up and goes with me. He can tell me if something’s coming and if I need my inhaler he doesn’t give me space, he is there for me!
He Was Working for Me All Along
At first I didn’t see that he’s picking up on my stress, and he would come and sit right in front of me. And I’m like ‘What do you want?’ He listens to everything I say and he’s telling me something. So we kind of have our own language. He talks to me and he’ll tell me what’s going on. He has ways of communicating with me… If I’m sleeping or if he knows something’s wrong, he’ll come up and lay right beside me. He’ll touch me or gently rub my arm to tell me ‘there’s something going on Mom, and we need to talk about this.’ He’ll stare at me and if I’m not paying attention he’ll start crying.
K9P4P trained him so well, it was the best thing. It’s a blessing. I recently visited a friend in a hospital, and while Akula was by my side working for me, you can’t imagine how many faces lit up when they saw him! I carry K9P4P cards in my wallet and when people come up and talk about him and how well he’s trained I give them a card and tell them, ‘If you’re a veteran and you need assistance, this is where you need to go.’
I’m also a teacher, I have a degree in elementary education. So when kids want to run up and pet him, I’ll ask mom’s permission ‘Can I talk to your kids for a second?’ And then I’ll ask the kids ‘What does this vest mean?’ It means that he’s a service dog. He’s working for me. I tell the kids you should never go up to any dog and try and pet them without asking Mom or Dad, and asking the owner because that dog could bite you. So I always take it as a teaching opportunity. Later on I’ll ask them, ‘Should you just run up and pet him?’ And they’ll say ‘No ma’am’ and their parents are very thankful. They’ll say ‘Thank you for teaching that!’
And now, we go to the beach and he gets so excited because he loves to swim. He’ll run and play in the water, dive down to get shells. And when I get in the water he’ll grab his lead in his mouth and he’s pulling me out, ‘Come on mom! C’mon, let’s get out. ’ There are little drop-offs in the water; he’s right there and I grab a hold of him. He helps me get out of the water so I don’t fall down.
He uses so many of the skills that he learned here. It’s fantastic. We have a great day at the beach now and I just can’t imagine life without him.”
