Our troops face so much stress in combat, but for some, they may face stress within their own units. Soldier Tracy Cooper-Harris had to endure both. After serving honorably, and transitioning back to the civilian world, a lot of the stress and tough memories carried on with her. Thanks to her rescue dog turned service dog, Blaze, life has become less stressful and more joyful, for the both of them.
US Army Iraqi War veteran Tracey Cooper-Harris takes a break with Blaze during his training at the Sam Simon Foundation in Malibu, Ca. Blaze began his training with Assistance Dog Program Instructor Lori Ramey several months earlier before Harris began working with Ramey and Blaze. (Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer)
By Dennis McCarthy of the Daily News, Los Angeles
They’re a team now, best friends – the tall, good-looking rescued dog and the Iraq War veteran battling post-traumatic stress disorder.
Wherever Tracey Cooper-Harris goes these days she knows Blaze has her back.
He’s the eyes in the back of her head. Her 24-hour protector and comfort blanket, all rolled into one. He’s her hero.
Lori Ramey, a trainer for the Sam Simon Foundation, which provides rescued dogs for the deaf, found Blaze sitting alone in a kennel at the Ventura County Animal Shelter in Camarillo early last year.
He was a stray found wandering the streets. Shelter workers told her he was probably a backyard dog with little or no human contact. They put his age at around a year and named him Blaze for his bright red coat.
“He was so calm and composed just sitting there, exactly the kind of dog I was looking for,” Ramey said.
Her job for the Simon Foundation was to find the perfect dog to train as a psychiatric service dog for an Army veteran suffering from PTSD.
Ramey wanted Blaze, but there was one problem. So did a lot of other people. The shelter held a lottery.
“Every once in awhile, fate intervenes,” Ramey said. “I won.”
It didn’t take Blaze long to show his real colors once she sprung him from the shelter. He wasn’t the mellow dog Ramey thought he was.
“He began jumping on everything in sight, grabbing anything he could get in his mouth, and wildly running around chasing
squirrels and birds,” she said.
“He had conned me. All that calm demeanor was a lie.”
It took Ramey almost a year to calm Blaze down and teach him the tasks Cooper-Harris would need done.
To stand behind her at the ATM and make sure nobody got too close to her on the streets. To turn on the lights in her apartment so she wouldn’t be walking into a dark room at night, the worst time for her.
To find her cellphone and keys and bring them to her in case there was an emergency and she couldn’t get them.
To become her Man Friday.
While Ramey trained Blaze, Cooper-Harris spent her days going to classes at California State University, Northridge, before heading over to the Sepulveda VA for her PTSD counseling sessions with doctors.
By December of 2010, it was finally time for Blaze and Cooper-Harris to meet. It was love at first sight. Blaze jumped all over her, licking her face, his tail frantically wagging, knocking over everything in sight.
“It was like fate decided these two should be together,” Ramey said.
In April, after three months of hard work at the foundation in Malibu bonding with Blaze, Cooper-Harris brought him home to her apartment in Pasadena.
“He’s my de-stresser, my constant physical reminder that I’m here in the present, and not to let my mind wander back to the past,” she said last week.
“When I wake up in the middle of the night the first thing I look for is Blaze. He’s usually knocked out in the corner snoring. But just seeing him there makes me feel safe and stay in the present, not the past.”
read the rest of the article by clicking here…Daily News
June 28th, 2011 at 6:48 am
[...] Tracey is now enjoying life as a civilian and has a therapy dog named Blaze. The two were featured in this article…With dog at her side, Iraq war vet Tracey L. Cooper-Harris moves forward [...]