This Memorial weekend, families gather to enjoy the beginning of the summer vacation. They are lighting up the grill and enjoying yard games with loved ones. For many, this holiday carries a heaviness of remembrance and loss for the servicemen and women who have fallen.
“I lost my brother to (post traumatic stress disorder) in April five years ago,” said Heather Wipf of Watertown. “He was an eight-year Navy veteran who was deployed three times. We didn’t even know he had PTSD.”
Not all wounds are physical, and often it is the invisible damage that ends up taking the lives of loved ones.
The loss of Lane Logan’s life to PTSD caused Wipf to begin searching for ways to keep veterans alive and help them find ways to heal.
“I think it’s hard for vets. They are supposed to be strong and not show any weakness. If they admit they need help, that is seen as a weakness in some part,” she said.
After returning from his last deployment, Logan grew close to his dog Zee Zee. She went everywhere with him and brought him happiness. Wipf identified the significance of Zee Zee’s presence in her brother’s life. She felt that a dog trained to help veterans through their PTSD episodes could help them heal and potentially even save their lives.
Along with her friends and family, Wipf created the Lane Logan Memorial to provide trained PTSD service dogs to veterans.
“The first hurdle we had to jump through was finding a dog trainer somewhere in South Dakota,” she said.
They discovered Katherine Andrews, an animal behaviorist and service dog trainer from Phillip. It was a match meant to be as Wipf is from the Phillip and Andrews was willing to help with the cause.
“She was willing to take on our vets. She donated her time to the first dog. It was very kind of her,” Wipf said.
The second hurdle was finding dogs suited for the task. They already had a veteran ready for a dog but needed to find the right animal for the job.
Paul Sterud is the founder of S&S Kennels in Brookings. He raises Labs for hunting. One of his Labs named Gunner had been returned to him. Although Gunner was not the hunting dog he was bred to be, Sterud saw an excellent service dog in him and donated him to the program.
When Gunner met his veteran, it was clear the two were meant to be.
“It was instantaneous,” said Wipf. “As soon as we let gunner out of the vehicle, he went right to him, and they have been together ever since.”
Labs and Lab mixes have had the most success with the program. According to Wipf, Labs have “people pleasure” personalities and a willingness to learn.
Travis Peterson has served for 20 years in the National Guard. He came with his own dog, Luna, to the program.
“My wife went to the pet store one day, and she saw Luna. She’d been thinking about getting me a service dog,” said Peterson. “After I picked her up, my wife told me what she was for. It took me a while to get a handle on the whole idea.”
Peterson struggled to accept the fact that he needed help with his PTSD and that Luna was there to help him.
“We bonded right away. That was the easy part,” he said. “The hardest part was getting the handle of it for myself. It’s hard to admit that you have a problem. You have to look pretty deep. Life just becomes normal, and you don’t realize that what you’re doing isn’t normal. My wife was telling me and reminding me what normal should look like. When I started to realize that what she was saying was true, that made me realize that I needed more help than I was getting.”
PTSD service dogs are not just companion animals. They can sense oncoming panic attacks, wake their handlers up from nightmares and work as their eyes and ears in public to keep them safe and calm.
“They are their battle buddy,” said Wipf.
The Lane Logan Memorial has helped train eight dogs to date. There are currently four more dogs in training.
Each dog with training costs up to $10,000. To help afford the cost, the Lane Logan Memorial holds a bike run every year in June. June is PTSD awareness month.
This year’s bike run is on June 19. It will start at the Glacial Lakes Harley Davidson,1000 19th St. S.E. in Watertown, and will end at Shooters, 6 N. Maple. Registration starts at 9 a.m. Ride begins at 11 a.m.
For more information about the bike run or the dog training program, contact the Lane Logan Memorial Facebook page or contact Wipf at 605-881-6998.