WORCESTER — Walter Warner sits in a seat at Worcester Regional Airport with his new service dog, Barron II (the elder Barron having graduated and served as a service dog before him). A cane Warner uses to help move around the terminal lies several feet outside of his reach.
At the urging of Warner, Barron goes over and retrieves the cane, and brings it back to Warner. The moment is a basic lesson for both Warner and Barron, who have gotten to know each other over the last 11 days.
“He will provide help for me on stairs, he can retrieve my canes for me, or my prosthetic foot. He provides what is called rest, where he can come over and put pressure on your legs if you are having high anxiety, there is a list of stuff that he knows and I’m just trying to learn how to use them all,” Warner said.
The two were introduced to each other through a nonprofit group, America’s VetDogs, which breeds and trains service dogs to be paired with veterans who are in need of assistance. The group is based on Long Island but has been expanding its operations into New England. For the past two weeks, the group has been hosting veterans from all over New England and training them with canine companions.
“These are veterans who have gone through the application process, veterans with disabilities, who have gone through a two-week course to work with their instructors to learn everything about it,” Sarah Blomstedt, a coordinator with America’s VetDogs, said. “We provide dogs that can be customized to the individual they serve. They can support people with PTSD, people with traumatic brain injuries, people with mobility concerns, people with hearing difficulties, and we have guide dogs as well, for veterans and first responders that might have vision loss.”
Warner, an Air Force veteran who lives in Georgia, Vermont, a small town approximately 15 miles from the Canadian border, has been working with Barron at a hotel in Devens, with practice in a busy public setting like the Worcester airport being one of the final steps before Warner and Barron head back to Vermont, where he will meet Warner’s wife and two children.
“He’s been training since he was 8 weeks old, I’ve only been here 11 days, so it’s been more training for me than it is for him. It has been some long days, but it is so, so worth it,” Warner said. “Over the 11 days, just the amount that we have connected and the other dogs that have connected with the handlers, it is just amazing.”
Barron and his canine contemporaries, all fellow yellow Labrador retrievers, are joined during the exercise by a legend of the game. Sully, 8, is a veteran service dog who previously belonged to former President George H.W. Bush, before Bush died in 2018, and became a viral celebrity after a photo was shown of Sully lying down next to the former president’s coffin.
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“He works with veterans at Walter Reed Medical Center, and when he isn’t there, he is being taken care of by Valerie (a trainer with America’s VetDogs),” Blomstedt said. “So it just happens he is here today with us.”
Visible by his service vest that bears the U.S. presidential seal, Sully sets an example for the fellow dogs, who are all around 2 years old. As he looks to bring his new companion home, Warner is confident that Barron can handle any challenge thrown at him.
“He could handle going to Logan Airport right now, no problem,” Warner said.
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