MP Steve Barclay visits the dogs saving veterans lives near Petworth

During a visit by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, MP Steve Barclay today (Thursday, June 16), the service users and volunteer team at Service Dogs UK in Northchapel, near Petworth, showed off the ‘fantastic’ skills of their dogs, each rescued before being paired with a loving veteran in need of support.

The visit came following a £35,000 grant from Afghanistan Veterans' Fund which allows the charity to allocate more days of dog training and will fund social days out.

Dog trainer Ian Spencer described how the charity worked and said: “They are all rescue dogs and our strapline is changing life, two at a time. So in a sense we are saving both the veterans and the dogs.”

Asked how the dogs can help the veterans, Ian said there is a ‘long, long list’ of ways, adding: “The most important thing is it gets them out. Some of them are people who experience PTSD who have all sorts of experiences and a lot of them don’t want to mix with anyone else because they are uncertain. Even the dog with provide them with the support they need.

"The dog is able to give them a sense of purpose — they have to get up, they have to get out of bed, the dogs needs them and they now have somebody who is dependent on them.”

Emotional support aside, these incredible canines are trained to open cabinets, bring medication, wake up a veteran who might be having an extended nightmare and can even bring find a mobile phone in the case of a medical emergency.

“The most important thing is when a PTSD veteran is experiencing a meltdown the dog intervenes so we teach the dog to do what’s called an intervention,” Ian added, “When somebody is exhibiting anxiety, the dog intervenes with it and pulls them out of it.”

Glen Ryder, from Ringmer, near Lewes, was paired with his three-year-old black Labrador Beau a year-and-a-half ago.

"The PTSD thing is not like one size fits all. Everyone’s journey is really different because how you get PTSD is different for everyone here. Everyone’s diagnoses is different and everyone struggles in different ways.

"Pre-diagnoses I did the whole ‘I’m fine, man-up’ kind of thing. All those stereotypes so I threw myself into work and if they said ‘anyone for overtime’ I’d do it just to keep my mind busy and then when I’d get home that’s when the PTSD kicks in. I’d get nightmares, I’m on medication, all the other stuff and it’s by chance that I found this.

"I spoke to my psychiatrist and I spoke to my GP and they said it was the best thing ever to get on and apply and I was really fortunate enough to get a course after a few months.”

He added: “I know it’s a cliché but it is life-changing. He gets me out of the house. I’d stagnate at home and rot, I wouldn’t want to go out, I didn’t want to do anything, I didn’t want to meet people, I’d rather stay in bed than do anything so now you’re driven by what Beau needs.”

Glen said he had not met anyone with PTSD before he started at Service Dogs UK and now relishes the communal support offered to him by new friends — furry or otherwise.

Service Dogs UK was founded seven years ago by Naval veteran Garry Botterill who now spends his time as a volunteer and as service director.

The idea came about after seeing a ‘comrade’ suffer from PTSD. “He wasn’t the same in many ways,” Garry said, but after seeing him taking care of a dog he noticed the effects of the trauma wane.

After some hard research and an appeal for funding, Service Dogs UK was born.

Speaking to this newspaper today, Steve Barclay MP said: “Service Dogs UK is a fantastic organisation supporting veterans with PTSD. It’s great in terms of having that connection [and] getting people out of the house and having that connection with the dogs and you saw the response and the support whether that’s being trained to go and get medicines, to respond if someone is suffering a particular incident sand so it’s prevention, it's support and it’s all part of the government’s commitment to make the UK the best place in the world to be a veteran and this is a great exemplar of the sort of schemes we want to see more of.”

Mr Barclay described the demonstrations as ‘fantastic’ and said: "I have two dogs myself so I’m a dog lover myself so obviously to be able to come in and see the dogs to see just the connection and what that relationship means and the support it offers.

"It’s also about the wider group and sharing experiences with other veterans that have also suffered from PTSD and having that support network and also dogs are a great connection to the wider community — it gets you out and about, people respond to the dogs as well so I think its part of the community supporting our veterans and that is something, as a government, we are absolutely committed to doing.”