Chris Cole and his four-legged companion, Lokie Mae, are a familiar sight in Pea Ridge businesses. Because Lokie Mae is a service dog, she is allowed access.
Cole, 39, a native of Oceola, Ark., moved to northwest Arkansas about eight years ago with his wife, Jen, and their three children -- Nathan Boettcher, 20; Nicholas Boettcher, 17; and Nikole Cole, 15.
"After I got out of the military, in between trying to find a job, I came up here to work for the Sheriff's Office. Later I worked at the Walmart Home Office," he said.
Cole and his family live in Pea Ridge where Jen is assistant manager at the Walmart Neighborhood Market.
"I'm 100 percent service-connected disabled veteran. I can't work because I got fired because I had a break down. With that break down, I just couldn't continue to work," Cole said.
"The children love the dog, they see what she can do for me," Cole said. "What they really like is how much she helps me to stay calm and especially going out in the public... I wouldn't have been able to do this six months ago."
Cole, who served in the National Guard beginning in 1994, went straight into active Army upon graduating from high school in 1995.
"I got hurt before I got in combat," he said, adding that he served in Fort Erwin, Calif., Fort Polk, La., and in Korean. He was enlisted from 1995 to 2005. "I made it up to E5 sergeant rank. My job was to transport troops, food, ammunition to whatever location they told me to go."
Cole said he was in Korea when he tore a ligament in a knee, resulting in surgery and nerve damage. His knee is now unstable. He said he had depression problems that led to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
Cole said he applied for a service dog from various organizations, but the two- to three-year wait frustrating. He decided to get a dog and train it himself. His biggest concern: finding a dog that could do service-dog tasks. He found Lokie Mae in Monette, Ark., a small town east of Jonesboro.
"She was 12 weeks old when we got home," he said. He used Petco for basic obedience training.
"Even from a young pup she started picking stuff up really fast," he said. For a period he used another company that charged for services, but didn't like the training. He looked up service dog trainers and found Lola Abernathy, who trains protection dogs, service dogs and obedience. Abernathy, who lives in Bella Vista, has been with Cole and Lokie Mae for three months.
The public access training is what will allow here to go into public areas. When Cole sits, Lokie Mae will go under the chair and ignores distractions. In the four months of training, Cole has so far spent almost $6,000. A full-trained, certified service dog can cost up to $20,000. Some of that cost depends on how fast the dog learns, and not all dogs can be service dogs.
That expense is one reason why he decided to start a nonprofit organization, Paws for Service -- so he can help others afford a service dog. There are service dog organizations around the nation, but one doesn't exist in Northwest Arkansas.
"I feel like there's a way I can help veterans get service dogs, and it's a big need. On average 22 vets a day commit suicide because of disabilities they can't cope with anymore."
Area animal shelters offer a good pool of dogs, he explained.
"My trainer has a good eye on knowing dogs that will work out," he said. "Like me, I want to get them a service dog and have a better quality of life."
Lokie Mae is a psychiatric service dog.
"She keeps me calm. If I start to get really nervous, really agitated, she'll nudge me, gets in my lap, helps me calm down, focus on her, pet her," he said. That allows him to avoids full-blown panic attacks.
When the pair goes into their home Lokie Mae turns on lights, searches to make sure nobody is around, he said. Training is now focused on teaching her, she helps make him get out of bed and get him going.
"She'll jump on me, lick me until I do this task," he said. "But in the public she'll stay close enough to me to avoid people sneaking up behind me, or from coming around corners and startling me."
While he's had dogs his whole life, this is his first trained dog.
Once a doctor signs off on the need for a service dog, federal law requires access in public places. Even if the owner moves to a place that does not allow pets, the location must allow the service dog, he explained.
Cole attributes his PTSD on the emotional stress of seeing several friends get injured or die while he was not able to go because of his knee.
"They were people that I worked with, people who trained me, who died.... That hurt me in a way that ... eventually it just worked into my mind," he said. He became overprotective with his family, paranoid about something happening.
"With all the stress and anxieties... my temper would fly real easily," he said. In 2008 he started going to the VA hospital to get professional help. He was diagnosed with major depression an a number of of minor physical disabilities.
He and Jen, were married in 2001, two years before his disabilities started coming out.
"But she didn't really notice until about 2008... For some reason, that's when everything really came out," he said. "I wanted to stay in the military, but they said I wasn't physically fit."
Cole is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8109 in Pea Ridge; American Legion in Bella Vista; Freemason, Pea Ridge Lodge 119, Avoca.
"My next big task is getting a 5013C, Cole said and he's researching hiring an attorney and accountant. He said there is a cost to apply for the non-profit status and he's working on raising funds to continue.
"Service dogs can do many things, help with mobility, with hearing-impaired persons, alert blind or deaf people to emergencies ... they can open doors, pick up items, get access to places. They can be trained for multiple tasks."
Cole keeps a vest on Lokie Mae in public to identify her as a service dog. It helps with access but also warns others that the dog is on task and should not be distracted.
While Cole was talking, a little boy walked up to pet the dog and his father, Cory Beavers, drew him back.
"I used to work for Walmart," Beavers of Springdale said. "I recognize a service dog and know you shouldn't pet them without permission."
Cole said it helps if people learn service dog etiquette. "When she has this vest on, she can't be petted."
"I've got to keep her focused on me. I need her to always focus on me. There's a difference between a pet and working dog -- she's working," Cole said.
Cole said there are times, like when he takes her to the dog park, when he takes off the vest so Lokie Mae can play. Then, it's OK to approach her.
Cole is working with Lola Abernathy of Bella Vista on Lokie Mae's training.
"A service dog can cost between $15,000 to $20,000 completely trained," he said.
"With public access training, she goes underneath seat when I sit and kind of ignores distractions. She is not yet certified as service dog," Cole said, explaining that he's already spent about $6,000 in four months with the costs of training, veterinary care, food. "That's why I decided to start this business."
Community on 11/19/2014