Army Veterans “Stoked” To Get Service Dogs To Help Cope With PTSD

Two veterans struggling to deal with life after the military have received some help in the form of service dogs.

Sean Cheker, 32, and Clayton Irons, 60, both Army vets met their German shepherd rescue service dogs on Wednesday at Pawsitively Heaven Pet Resort in Chicago Ridge.

Cheker will team with Rio, Irons with a dog named Major.

“Most individuals will go out say ‘It’s a nice day.’ I would go out and say ‘I hope nobody messes with me today.’ I was expecting things to happen,” Irons said.

Irons said he wasn’t diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder until a few years after he left the Army following leg surgery.

“It wasn’t until I had an operation on my leg that I was diagnosed, because I acted out in the hospital. When they touched me or grabbed me, I reacted and I would wake up sweating and it felt like I wasn’t there. I was someplace else,” he said.

Read More- Chicago CBS Local News

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