Al Brittain » Spinal Cord Injury

Four Videos For July Fourth

Al — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:08:58 +0000

Four videos in honor of the holiday and those who’ve paid the price so we can all enjoy it. Three I’ve posted before, the last is a new one from Thursday.

All four are Canine Companions for Independence veteran graduates, I’m proud to say I know all of these men personally, and, in each case, their injuries were sustained in the line of duty.

In addition, today is Sam Cila’s Alive Day – he was injured in an IED attack on July 4, 2005.

“Calvin Smith and Chesney”

“Sam Cila and Gillian”

“Jason Morgan and Napal”

“Jay Huston and Timo”

“The Super Dog Is… Caleb!”

Al — Wed, 18 May 2011 18:00:18 +0000

“And the super dog is… Caleb!”

Great post from one of the newest CCI graduates that gives you an inside look at his truly life-changing Team Training experience in the last few weeks.

Yet another classic example of why my short version answer to a question I get asked all the time – “Where do I look for a service dog?” – is always “Start with CCI, then look at the rest of the organizations on the ADI-accredited list.”

“Initially I Didn’t Want A Service Dog, I Didn’t Think I Needed One. Today, I Can’t Imagine My Life Without Her.”

Al — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 15:52:37 +0000

Excellent post yesterday from Canine Companions for Independence graduate Jim Sinocchi on his site that describes what his life is like since being paired with his service dog Veronique a little over two years ago.

If you’ve ever been to a CCI graduation, you know how emotional they are, and the speeches from graduates may well be the most emotional part. Jim includes the text of his from the February 2009 Northeast Region graduation, in which he describes the experiences of his classmates. It gives you some real insights you don’t always get to see.

This quote, though, is one that any of us who’ve been around this world long enough have heard many times, reflects the feelings of many graduates that we know, and tells you everything you need to know:

“Veronique has changed my life in ways I never imagined. Initially I didn’t want a service dog, I didn’t think I needed one. Today, I can’t imagine my life without her.”

Read the whole thing here: “Veronique: More Than a A Service Dog for the Disabled”

Combat Burst Fracture – New Type Of Spinal Injury On The Rise In Afghanistan

Al — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:32:57 +0000

Here’s a Stars and Stripes story that kinda “snuck in under the radar” in the last few days – it’s gotten a little attention, but not much.

Understandable, I suppose, given everything going on in the world right now, but not acceptable, and the very thing I’m concerned about, i.e., seems like we’re forgetting that we still have troops coming home with very serious physical injuries from Afghanistan:

“More powerful roadside bombs lead to increase in spinal injuries among troops”

First I saw this discussed was in a similar article in USA Today back in Dec 09, which was followed later by another article in Jan of this year describing how casualties from IEDs in Afghanistan had almost quadrupled since Jan 09:

“Spinal injuries up among troops”

“Afghan insurgents match surge with more IEDs”

Those articles track with what I’ve heard personally in the last week from someone who just visited WRAMC and was told by the medical staff that they’re seeing polytrauma injuries coming back at the same rate as when OEF first started.

Strong reminder to me that, not only do we have an already existing large population of veterans from all eras with both service-related and non-service-related physical injuries and illnesses who are potential service dog candidates that we haven’t reached, we are continuing to add to that population daily. Something we absolutely cannot lose sight of and have to remain focused on constantly.

“When I Was Shot That Day And I Didn’t Die, I Looked At Myself And Said, ‘I’m Not Done On This Earth’”

Al — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:31:42 +0000

I’ve written about my friends wounded warrior and Canine Companions for Independence graduate Matt Keil and his wife Tracy here a number of times before (“I’m So Proud Of That American Flag…That’s Why I Was Serving My Country.” “OIF Veteran And Canine Companions For Independence Graduate Matt Keil Talks About ‘Homes For Our Troops”).

How can you not?? Theirs is truly one of the most amazing stories that I know, I’m lucky to have met them, and it’s great that they are right out here “in the neighborhood” in Colorado.

Well, the saga continues and gets more amazing all the time.

I followed along from a distance as this was happening, and there’s even more to the story than this very touching Denver 9NEWS video from yesterday tells you, but just watch it. You can even catch a coupla glimpses of Matt’s CCI service dog Gus (including one funny part goofing around at their house). Oh, yeah – standard Kleenex alert applies. (Did I really have to tell you that?)

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“A Little Faith – A paralyzed Iraq veteran’s journey to fatherhood”

Service Dog #1 On List Of Five Essentials Helping Someone Return To An Active Life After Spinal Cord Injury

Al — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:37:06 +0000

Nice story to start off the year with from Working Like Dogs (“Service Dog Tops List of Things that Make Life Easier”). I didn’t see the original (“5 Things to Make Life Easier”) because I don’t subscribe to New Mobility magazine and it’s not available online otherwise.

Here’s the key paragraph:

“He based the list on the five essentials that helped him to get back to living an active life after his spinal cord injury. Would you believe that a service dog was the number one essential on his list? I sure would!”

Doesn’t say it there, but Justin Moninger, the guy who wrote the original article and is in that great cover photo with his dog Rocky, is a Canine Partners of The Rockies graduate, a small ADI-accredited place in the Denver area that I definitely know of, but have no personal experience with.

Might seem like a very obvious statement, especially to those with SCI and service dogs, but, trust me, it’s not – there are many with physical disabilities who haven’t made that connection for one reason or another. (And it’s even more interesting because Justin is a serious technogeek with a Master’s in Computer Science/Software Engineering and a big interest in adaptive technology.)

That’s one of the big reasons I bristle at all the stuff I see constantly that takes the predictable “everybody knows that service dogs are great for those with physical disabilities” line and then goes on to make the inevitable jump to them being great for those with mental health issues. (Not to mention some of the thinking that floats around, most notably at the VA, that assistive technology is the primary answer for everything where those with severe physical disabilities including hearing loss are concerned.)

No – everybody DOESN’T know that, and I remain convinced we are not effectively reaching that population, particularly among military veterans.

Thanks, Justin, for saying this, and Marcie for pointing it out.

“I’m So Proud Of That American Flag… That’s Why I Was Serving My Country.”

Al — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 00:06:55 +0000

CBS broadcast a PGA special called “Playing With A Purpose” last month about the charity efforts some of the top professional golfers are involved in.

The first segment featured Phil Mickelson and his involvement with Homes For Our Troops and was all about my friends Matt and Tracy Keil who live out here in Parker, Colorado. I’ve written about Matt before – he was shot in the neck by a sniper in Ramadi in 2007, is paralyzed from the chest down other than a little movement in his left arm, and has a Canine Companions for Independence service dog, Gus (who, coincidentally, was raised in the Kit Carson Correctional Facility in Burlington, Colorado).

Video of that segment is now on YouTube. CCI isn’t mentioned in it, but Gus is very visible. Pretty emotional, too – Matt and Tracy have done a lot of very public things like this, but this is the best one I’ve seen. Just tremendous.

Canine Companions for Independence Veteran Graduate In Airman Magazine

Al — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:27:42 +0000

How about something great and a lot more fun after all that stuff I’ve been writing about lately? (Still haven’t seen any word on Cesar Millan’s disability, BTW.)

The new September/October Airman Magazine, the official magazine of the US Air Force, went online a couple days ago, and Canine Companions for Independence graduate (and my friend) Jason Morgan is on the cover.

The Airman article was put together when Jason and his service dog Napal were here in Colorado Springs competing at the first-ever Warrior Games in May.

Some of the usual fantastic Airman pictures, and talks about how Jason was injured when he was an Air Force combat weatherman on a Spec Ops mission in South America, something I’ve mentioned here before as well.

Definitely worth downloading the magazine and reading the article:

http://www.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100908-051.pdf

Outstanding to see this not only because Jason’s a friend, I know his story, and I witnessed most of this in person at the Warrior Games, but because of the increased exposure top-notch service dogs for seriously injured veterans will receive. That’s really a carryover from the Games – Napal is a wonderful dog and classic example of a CCI graduate dog who was very, very visible here in front of hundreds of wounded veterans, senior military staff, those veterans’ families and friends, and the general public.

Be Smarter About Service Dogs Than 99% Of The Population In Only 2 1/2 Minutes

Al — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:19:24 +0000

Excellent new CBS News video today with Canine Companions for Independence graduate teams of Frank Sciaretta with Service Dog Bastien, and Linda and Mark Cummins with Skilled Companion Dog Meesha, as well as CCI Northeast Region Executive Director Debbie Dougherty.

If you wanna be smarter about service dogs than 99% of the population (including a number of celebrities and politicians – big surprise there, huh?), gimme 2 1/2 minutes and watch it.

Watch the images, but pay close attention to the words, too, because they hit all the high points and very quickly. Bottom line: whenever you hear or read anything about service dogs, rack it up against what you see here.

Tons more I could say, but I’ll just add that the video will also give you a very good feel for why I have the attitude I do and what’s behind a lot of what you see me say here.

“Canine Companions Give Help, Hope to the Disabled”

I Can’t Guarantee You’ll Get A Service Dog If You Apply, But…

Al — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 18:00:31 +0000

…I CAN guarantee if you don’t, you won’t.

Simple as that – CCI isn’t just gonna give you a dog, and I’d like to believe no other reputable organization will, either.

OIF Veteran Andrew Pike and his CCI Service Dog Yazmin

And, while it might not seem that way at first, that’s exactly how you want it. You don’t want someone to just give you a dog, or tell you they already have a specific one picked out for you and all you need to do is fill out the application.

If you’re gonna do this right, and make a lifelong match of a dog and human into a team, you have to know both ends of the leash exceptionally well. On the human end, that means a fairly thorough application process – CCI, for example, has a written application followed by phone and in-person interviews, and will tell you the process takes several months. It’s not accidental that the resulting matches they make are legendary.

I wanted to bring this up again now because with everything I’ve been saying here lately about options other than service dogs, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’m still VERY concerned that not nearly enough veterans apply for them, especially those with severe injuries like SCI.

I’ve heard the usual reasons for not applying for several years now and I’ve addressed those here (see “I Don’t Want To Take Someone Else’s Dog” among others). On top of that, I’m even more concerned now because, if I went by what I see online, in the news, and on TV, I wouldn’t even know that service dogs have a role helping veterans with serious physical injuries – I’d think the only thing they do now is help with post-traumatic stress, which is very much NOT the case.

Now, I don’t want to waste your or an organization’s time, either. For example, if you’re 100% certain that you need a seizure alert dog, there’s not much point in applying to CCI because they are very upfront that they don’t train those type of dogs. So you do need to research the places where you’re gonna apply

Lemme let you in on a little secret. Well, maybe not a secret, but something I don’t remember ever seeing advertised, and that I know for a fact is true. Part of the process in an organization determining if someone is a good candidate for a dog is whether they show enough initiative to ask for one in the first place. So take a hint.

Look, there’s no way you’re gonna get “voluntold” for this one. If you’re seriously thinking about a dog and have done the research, apply – don’t think it to death, just do it.