NW Battle Buddies gifts specially trained dogs to military vets. #k5evening
BREMERTON, Wash. — Max Teague served on the USS Nimitz as a nuclear mechanic.
“So, I was in the Navy for 10 years. I got medically discharged for PTSD,” he said.
This veteran’s biggest battle was returning to civilian life.
“When I got out, I had, you know, some really good services from the Veterans Administration, but I wasn’t really coping with the symptoms well,” he said.
Help arrived with a wagging tail and big brown eyes. Apollo is an English black lab, and Max’s “Battle Buddy.”
“Northwest Battle Buddies is a non-profit, and we provide professionally trained service dogs to veterans that are battling PTSD. In the last 13 years, we have provided over 270 service dogs for American heroes, totally changing their lives,” said Shannon Walker, founder and CEO of Northwest Battle Buddies.
The organization changes lives like Max Teague’s.
“I had no idea. I didn’t know that a dog could do so much or help in so many ways,” Teague said. “Even when I don’t like notice things about myself, like my heart rate increasing, he knows immediately. He usually taps his nose on my knee, that’s the first way he’ll get my attention.”
Sometimes it’s hard to tell who’s training who.
“If I’m starting to panic or my heart rate goes up, he’ll sit and that, like, tells me to sit,” he said. “It’s pretty funny getting orders from a dog. He’s really good about it. He’s very smart.”
Volunteers raise these service dogs then give them to the veterans they’ll spend their lives with. Apollo’s foster parents even gave Teague a baby book full of puppy pictures.
“I love how cuddly he gets, at all times he is an affectionate bear,” Teague said.
No matter how badly you want to cuddle, resist the urge. There’s a reason service dogs wear a ‘Do Not Pet’ patch.
“If other people pet him, then while he’s working, he’ll try to seek affection from other people, and that will distract him from working with me,” Teague said.
Thanks to the confidence he’s gained with Apollo’s help, Max Teague is enrolled at the University of Washington Tacoma, studying social welfare. He wants to help other veterans, like his battle buddy helps him.
“You’re not responsible for what happened to you, but you are responsible for your healing. Know that there is hope out there on the end of a leash,” said Shannon Walker.
“He is what unconditional love looks like,” Teague said.
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