In a lot of ways, Brian Flack’s 1-year-old black lab mix Jethro is just what you’d expect of a young dog: full of energy, eager to please, and ready to chew anything.
But Jethro is currently being trained as a service dog for Brian, a Signal 88 Security franchise owner in Texas and a 26-year Army veteran who has heart issues. Jethro and Brian went through training this summer through Healing4Heroes, an organization that trains and matches wounded service veterans with service dogs.
“He’s very friendly and likes everybody,” Brian says. “I’m still working on getting him to focus and ignore others. It’s an ongoing process to get him to understand when he’s working and not working.”
Jethro, like the majority of dogs trained through H4H, is a rescue dog. After hearing about H4H at the 2019 Signal 88 Security Convention (Signal 88 is a partner of H4H), Brian approached founder Piper Hill about possibly getting a service dog for himself. He says Hill encouraged him to apply for the program and get the necessary qualifying documents, and, in August 2020, he flew to Georgia to select and train his new companion.
Brian explained that the week-long training begins on Sunday, when H4H volunteers introduce the dogs in training class and the new owners can interact with the dogs to select the one they’d like to train. He was surprised that most of the trainees ended up with the first dog they picked instead of getting to know several.
“Two-thirds of the dogs were already chosen,” he says. “At that point, it was really just the small puppies left, which are not ideal dogs for training.”
But, “sometimes the dog chooses the person,” Brian says, and Jethro was soon led his way. “I walked Jethro around a bit and he was friendly and good on the leash.”
After some encouragement from Jethro’s H4H handler, Brian reluctantly took the pup. “It turned out to be a really good choice.”
Brian and Jethro trained in Georgia from Sunday until Friday, learning basic tasks like block, post, brace, and others. After a week, the class of dogs and owners graduated and headed home, where the training continued.
“It doesn’t end after five days, it continues,” he says. “The more the dog is allowed to go out and spend time with me, the more it will reinforce and sharpen his skills. I need to spend as much time as I can every day reinforcing his basic skills.”
As a franchise owner for Signal 88, Brian often performs mobile patrols for his clients. He says he’s taken Jethro on some night patrols with him, but not every night, as it would mean a lot of time for the dog in his patrol car. Most days, Jethro spends 8-10 hours at home.
Eventually, when Jethro is fully trained and ready, he will be able to help Brian with some of his physical issues, namely if he collapses that his service dog will be able to get help. But for now, Jethro is enjoying being a puppy, chewing through everything, including rubber, wood and metal, as he learns his new responsibilities.
“He’ll do well, he’s a pleaser; he likes to do the right thing,” Brian says, adding with a laugh, “and he likes to play a lot, too!”
Although Jethro is still training and hasn’t fully assumed his duties, Brian highly recommends H4H to any veteran: “Piper really cares about veterans and she loves dogs. It’s a really good niche.”