VAN BUREN, Ark. — The Dye family of Van Buren is fundraising to train their puppy to help their Veteran father cope with trauma.
Tony Dye recently retired after spending 31 years in the armed forces. According to his daughter Rhyker, his time in the military included participation in Operation Joint Decisive Endeavor, Operation Provide Promise, Noble Eagle I and II, Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as humanitarian missions for Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Harvey.
"My dad has been in the military for my entire life, I don't really remember a time when he wasn't," she said. "It was hard. He was gone for a lot of my childhood. We spoke through web cameras and IMing before there were speakers on our webcams. And I just remember thinking, 'I wish he could be home more.'"
Now back at home, the family has their dad back but Rhyker claims soldiers can hang up their uniform but they can't ever really hang up the trauma they carry.
"The first thing he does when he walks into a room is he looks for the exits. And he likes to sit on the side where he can see the doors and kind of see the other people," Rhyker said.
Before retiring, Rhyker explained she spent years trying to destigmatize the issues he faced. She said that it wasn't until he retired that he opened up to it. She is now proud of him as he started going to therapy. Even then, much was needed for the retired vet but one furry friend came by to help.
"We had been talking about getting a puppy for a while. And he saw some German Shepherd puppies on Facebook, he went to go visit them," Rhyker said. "He didn't really plan on getting one. But when he saw her, he just fell in love with her. And he took her home that night, their water pipes actually broke like the same day, and they wound up having to live in a hotel for a couple of months with this new puppy."
Their months in the hotel with their new German Shepherd puppy Bella helped them learn the benefits of their companionship. Bella quickly trained despite being in a new environment and has also helped the Veteran open up.
"He's always been super sweet and kind, but he's always had kind of a guard up between him and other people. And when Bella is around that guard seems to drop a little bit more, he seems calmer, more vulnerable. He'll talk about things with you when she's there with him, or he'll even admit when he's uncomfortable," Rhyker said.
The family is now fundraising through GoFundMe to pay for Bella's Canine Good Citizen certification and therapy dog training. While the VA offers service dogs, Rhyker explained that they have a long waitlist and offer new fully trained dogs.
"I think it would just be better for him and more important to him that it's her," Rhyker said. "Maybe getting her certified in some sort of therapy or service animal training will allow him to fully enjoy being out in public spaces, and going on adventures with my mom."
Click here to visit the Dye's family GoFundMe to raise money to train Bella.