Mark and K9 Dakota

Dakota is a 3 1/2-year-old English Springer Spaniel who has been a huge help to me with my pain from many surgeries and mild PTSD, but I know there's still more we can learn together.
I spent 22+ plus years in the Army Reserves with many trips to Germany for REFORGER, "REturn of FORces to GERmany") a annual military exercise conducted by NATO. The exercise was intended to ensure that NATO had the ability to quickly deploy forces to West Germany in the event of a conflict with the Warsaw PAC.
A deployment Bosnia for Operation Joint Endeavor. The purpose of Joint Endeavor was purpose of Joint Endeavor was to provide peacekeeping forces to supervise the ceasefire that was organized by NATO in the Balkan civil war.
In my civilian capacity I worked for Minnegasco/ CenterPoint Energy for 35 years as a emergency response person and service man.
I’ve trained Dakota as a Psychiatric Service Dog to respond to me with positive calming pressure to help my range of emotions and pain levels.
My goal is to enhance Dakota training and help her be ready to go on plane trips an be a well round service animal now that I'm retired.
In my free time, I’m the gambling manager at the Rosemount VFW. I enjoy hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting, and I'm passionate about Veteran’s causes and helping out her that have served this great country of ours.