U.S. Navy veteran Lawrence “Otter” Obst and his service dog, Kimber, at his retirement ceremony in March. Obst says that the dog has changed his life. (Northshore Humane Society/Facebook)
(Tribune News Service) — The last thing that Lawrence "Otter" Obst thought that he wanted — or needed — was a dog.
Obst, 48, was nearing the end of his career in the Navy. The chief warrant officer had been deployed 14 times, six times in hazardous duty combat zones, and as a result, he was battling numerous health issues, including PTSD, traumatic brain injury and vestibular balance dysfunction.
"So you can imagine, I'm suffering from chronic pain, depression, PTSD, anxiety, frustration," he said.
But what worried his wife, Maria, most wasn't his physical maladies. It was the fact that Obst had begun withdrawing from everything, he said. She began looking for volunteer opportunities and thought being around animals would be helpful to him.
That's what brought the Picayune, Miss., couple to the Northshore Humane Society in Covington, La., a little over a year ago and brought Kimber, a 1 1/2-year-old shelter dog, into their lives.
Obst says that the dog, likely a Dutch shepherd mix, has changed his life. He's down from 12 medications to four, he said. And when he's hit by a migraine linked to his traumatic brain injury or starts to wobble because of his vestibular condition, Kimber is there and knows what to do.
Inspiring a new program
Their story, which began in February 2022, has inspired the launch of Shelter to Service Dogs, a new program that Scott Bernier, CEO of the Northshore Humane Society, hopes will improve the lives of both the dogs and the people they're trained to help.
The program didn't exist when Obst first met Kimber, a shelter dog who was then called Teddy. Obst was sitting in on his wife's volunteer orientation and watching as Evan Stewart of K-Pro K9, was demonstrating how to handle the dogs.
He learned that Stewart, a Marine veteran, provided a dog-training discount for people who adopt shelter dogs and also to veterans. "But I'm still, I don't want a dog, don't need a dog."
When he returned to the shelter a week later, his resolve began to melt. "There were a few dogs that were adorable, that just — they need good homes, and they were still here. Teddy was still here," he recalled.
So while his wife was going through training to work with shelter cats, he asked if he could take Teddy out for a run. "He was very spastic in his cage, but when I got him out, I just remember I sat on the bench, I started getting one of my TBI-related migraines. He sat down near my feet, and he looks at me and licks me," Obst said.
That's when a volunteer noticed that they were bonding and told him he could take Teddy home for a weekend sleepover. "I said, 'No, no, I'm good,' and the lady said, 'Your wife has already signed him out.'"
The couple took the brindle-coated dog to a pet store to gauge his disposition, and he didn't lunge, bark or snarl at the cats in the store. "He just sat there and looked at me. … He wasn't aggressive. He was very docile," Obst said.
Obst began to think that his shelter dog could be turned into a service dog to help him with mobility issues. They contacted Stewart, whose business includes service dog training, to see if Teddy, now Kimber, had the right stuff.
"I remember Evan sitting here, and he says, 'Dude, not all dogs can be service dogs.' And I said, 'Let's try.'"
As it turned out, Kimber readily took to his new role. "We started taking his behavior of working with me, some of the natural stuff, and so he'll go between my legs to brace me, he'll lean into my knees and brace me if I'm wobbly," Obst said.
Three months into his training, Obst brought Kimber to a volunteer appreciation party for the Humane Society. Bernier was amazed at how well-trained Kimber was, and at their story.
"At that point, I knew we were going to do this, that we've got to do this with shelter dogs," Bernier said.
Setting up the program took about a year, Bernier said, and was officially launched in February. The initial goal is to train and pair four dogs with recipients per year.
Trained service dogs start at a cost of around $20,000 and go as high as $40,000 to $60,000, but K-Pro K9 charges the shelter $10,000 for the training. Recipients will pay $1,000, and the shelter will cover the rest.
"It's a modest goal, to make sure we have the backing of businesses and the community, and we want the recipient to have some involvement," Bernier said.
First pairing
Steel Mimosas, a nonprofit, is sponsoring the program's first pairing. Ms. B, a 1 1/2-year-old Rottweiler mix, recently went home with Aimee Wiser, a 30-year-old Navy veteran from Gulfport, Miss., who has PTSD, Humane Society spokesperson Megan Haggerty said.
The two are just wrapping up a monthlong bonding period, and then they'll head to K-Pro K9 to work on specific skills that Wiser needs Ms. B to perform, Haggerty said. That will likely include things like alerting her when someone is approaching, she said.
Ms. B has already been through basic obedience training because she was selected before the program was opened up to applicants. So far, about 50 people have applied, but Bernier said applicants will need to meet requirements and have a medical condition that's been signed off by a doctor.
The program is just getting a pool of approved applicants in the pipeline, he said. A committee that includes a cross-section of staff and the training company reviews all applicants and makes the match. "Not every animal fits every recipient," Bernier said.
Right now, the committee is considering a child as a possible recipient, he said.
Stewart's role includes sizing up the shelter's dogs for suitability. When Ms. B was selected, he had been considering a 40-pound Catahoula mix that ended up needing knee surgery, ruling him out.
When Ms. B arrived at the Humane Society, she was heartworm positive, 20 pounds lighter, missing a third of her fur and suffering from a systemic yeast infection.
"Once we got her cleaned up, she's a gorgeous dog," Stewart said. "The dogs that are qualified for this work are not always purebred golden retrievers. They can come in all shapes and sizes."
Not throwaways
What he looks for is intelligence, a solid disposition and what he calls an "affiliative nature."
For Stewart, the program is an opportunity to help dogs live better with people. "I'm really excited about it, because these dogs are not throwaway dogs. They are very, very valuable animals," he said.
Obst certainly sees it that way. He had to stop volunteering at the shelter because he doesn't go anywhere without Kimber — including to his retirement ceremony from the Navy, which was held in mid-March. But he'll readily speak out as an advocate.
"I'm forever grateful for the pairing, and I'm excited for the program and the next recipients of these dogs, because I know how he's transformed my life," Obst said.
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