Editor’s note: The original version of this story stated that Daniel Lowery was injured in Iraq. Lowery’s injuries, instead, were sustained during military training. He served with the 113th Engineer Battalion, part of the 81st Troop Command.
Several years after Daniel Lowery was injured during military training, he found a four-legged companion to help in the healing.
The Army veteran tells bits of his story, sitting in the gymnasium lobby at Palmer Home for Children in Columbus. Lowery, 30, is a native of Birmingham, Alabama, and lives in Milledgeville, Georgia, where he serves as youth pastor at Lakeside Baptist Church. For a second consecutive summer, a mission team from Lakeside has come to Palmer Home to lend a hand for a week.
A black Lab mix sprawls on the cool tile floor at Lowery’s feet. This is Nellie. She wears the vest of a certified service dog. Lowery and Nellie have been together for only a few months. The new human/canine partnership represents a second chance for both. If even for a week, it seems fitting that they have wound up at Palmer Home for Children — a place that makes lives whole through healing and restoring.
Healing4Heroes
Lowery and Nellie were brought together by Healing4Heroes in Atlanta. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to providing service dogs to wounded service members, as well as those with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury. As the group helps military personnel and veterans, it also provides a lifeline at Atlanta-area animal shelters, where it rescues suitable dogs and trains them. Unwanted dogs, like Nellie, are saved and often go on to become lifelines themselves.
“I look at it like we’re helping each other heal,” says Lowery, ruffling the fur of his four-legged companion. “She gave me a second chance, and she got a second chance, too.”
Nellie is making a difference in Lowery’s life. She frequently helps with balance issues.
“Before I got her, I was using a cane at times; I’ve been able to stop that,” says the youth minister who holds a master’s degree in theology. “This week my back’s been hurting a lot, and she’s really helped me with getting out of bed. She actually can brace herself and I can put my weight on her to stand up, or I can hold onto a leash and she will pull to help me get up.”
Nellie can also bring items to Lowery, retrieve something that falls to the floor and even open doors outfitted with a special attachment. But perhaps her most important mission is to bring comfort.
“The biggest thing, especially when I came back, was flashbacks and nightmares,” the U.S. Army veteran begins. “You constantly live it over and over again. It can be a downward spiral. … I didn’t want to go out, I avoided large groups.”
Nellie has added a new calming factor to Lowery’s days and nights. She’s an effective stress reducer, able to redirect his focus when needed.
The making of a special dog
Nellie was trained at TAO Canines Unleashed, official trainers for Healing4Heroes. Lowery worked with her at the TAO facility in Georgia. During an intense 24/7 week together, they learned commands and tasks through repetitive treat-based exercises. To condition Nellie to recognize signs of a nightmare, for example, Lowery had to repeatedly re-enact movements that could indicate the onset of distress.
“If I was to have a nightmare, she would be able to safely wake me,” he says. “She’ll pick up signals. I’ll have her lick my hand or pull on my shorts.”
To date, Nellie has had about 760 hours of training. The cost to Healing4Heroes is about $6,000 per dog, according to organization’s website, but vets are never charged for their service companion or the training. Donations and grants support the program.
Lowery and Nellie reinforce training with daily exercises and return to the training facility once or twice a month for additional sessions.
“Lots of times it may look like we’re playing, but these are exercises to keep her attention on me,” he explains.
Tom Green is director of facilities and operations at Palmer Home. He has observed the pastor and his service dog daily during their stay in Columbus.
“She is totally focused on Daniel, every movement he makes. You can tell that her reaction is total dedication to his needs, just as his job is to fulfill the needs of the mission team and his vocation,” Green says. They help each other do their respective jobs. This week, some of those for Lakeside’s team of 11 middle school and high school students and 11 adults have included everything from harvesting corn and cleaning cottages to grounds maintenance and helping at the Palmer Home Thrift Store.
Like Lowery’s family, which includes his children ages 2 and 5, team members know that when Nellie is in a service dog vest, she’s working. All her attention should be focused on her partner. When the vest is off, “she can be a normal dog.”
“We’ve been able to heal together,” the veteran says. “It’s been a great experience.”
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Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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