In NW Minnesota, she rescues dogs, then trains them to rescue veterans
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In every corner of Minnesota, there are good stories waiting to be told of places that make our state great and people who in Walt Whitman’s words “contribute a verse” each day. MPR News sent longtime reporter Dan Gunderson on a mission to capture those stories as part of a series called “Wander & Wonder: Exploring Minnesota’s unexpected places.”
It's quiet at the Patriot Assistance Dogs training facility on the edge of Detroit Lakes. The dogs are curious and eager to politely greet a visitor — but there's no barking.
The former residential juvenile treatment center now houses offices, training space and bedrooms for veterans who come here for training classes.
In a large basement room, trainer Amanda Wadena works with Jasper, a brown and white mixed breed. Obedience skills are the foundation for training a service dog, but there's another really important part of this training.
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Wadena suddenly slides down the wall, crumbling to the floor sobbing as she feigns a panic attack. Jasper is instantly in her lap, nuzzling and licking her face. She rewards him with lavish praise.
Watching from across the room, Linda Wiedewitsch nods approval. “Very nice, very nice,” she says, pleased that Jasper understands his job.
"Dogs naturally monitor our breathing, our heart rate,” she explained. “Anytime we dump adrenaline, whether we're angry or frightened, there's a chemical odor that they cue in on.”
Wiedewitsch and her small crew train dogs to help military veterans deal with the psychological effects of war. Most of the dogs were rescued from pounds around Detroit Lakes and trained to be caregivers. It’s a cycle of grace that’s saved dogs and veterans.
"We decided we could take those dogs, train them and give them to the military veterans,” she said of her rescues. “We make a promise to the dogs that you're going to have a better life, but you have to work for it.”
‘If it weren’t for this dog …’
Wiedewitsch, 71, retired from the Detroit Lakes Police Department after more than three decades in law enforcement and then went looking for her next project. She always loved dogs so starting a kennel made sense.
Coincidentally, her daughters were raising a couple of puppies to be guide dogs for blind people. It didn’t take much convincing for Wiedewitsch to embrace the work. “Mom was hopelessly hooked,” Wiedewitsch recalled. She and her kids raised 24 puppies for the group Leader Dogs for the Blind.
People eventually started asking Wiedewitsch where to get service dogs to help veterans, an uncle or a sister struggling with the trauma of war.
At the time she couldn’t find an option anywhere in Minnesota, so she started researching how to train psychiatric assistance dogs. She had lots of unclaimed dogs in her kennel, and veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan needed service dogs. Trying to connect them only made sense.
In 2011, she launched Patriot Assistance Dogs. The operation has since trained 304 dog-human teams.
Animals and veterans are paired according to need. Some veterans simply need contact to help them stay in the present. Some veterans report being able to sleep through the night for the first time in years after getting a dog. One veteran trained a dog to stand on his foot when he felt a panic attack starting.
The dogs can interrupt a panic attack, night terrors, road rage.
Trainer Beth Somerville said she sometimes gets anxious driving because of a previous accident, and the dogs riding with her react. “And they'll be on my shoulder or they'll come and sniff if they're in the back, and I reward them by saying ‘I'm OK, thank you.’”
"There are veterans that would tell you how the dogs have changed their lives,” Wiedewitsch said. “And there are veterans that would tell you, if it weren't for this dog I would not be here today.”
‘That’s my payment’
It’s often easy for trainers to measure success daily. When Wadena feigned a panic attack, for instance, Jasper knew instantly that his job was to comfort her.
“As soon as he shows concern I mark that with a reward,” said Wadena, who spends about an hour a day working with Jasper. The reward started with treats, but as Jasper advanced the reward is mostly praise for a job well done.
Wiedewitsch said rescues make up about 75 to 80 percent of the dogs she and her team train. It costs about $25,000 to get a dog ready to support a veteran, and training adult dogs saves money because it takes longer if they start with puppies.
The operation runs with three paid staffers and part-time trainers with an annual budget of about $380,000, all funded through donations. Wiedewitsch doesn’t take a salary and said they receive no federal funding. Veterans who get a dog can make a donation but only after the training is completed.
The dogs must be physically fit and have the proper temperament. Dogs that don’t make the cut find homes as pets.
“Our initial goal is to rescue the dogs, then train them and place them with the veterans and let the dog work the magic to rescue the veteran,” she said.
The program serves military veterans in Minnesota and surrounding states. Wiedewitsch is currently raising funds to build a new kennel and training facility which could help connect more dogs with veterans.
The work is sometimes very specific.
One veteran asked for help managing his angry outbursts. Wiedewitsch asked him what he shouted when emotion got the best of him. His response, she said: “Now I’m pissed. You've pissed me off now!”
So she began working with a big laid-back black lab named Mac.
"I would say, ‘Mac, I'm pissed,’ and I'd hold out a treat. Well, he's food-motivated. He comes running over, he gets a treat,” said Wiedewitsch. “It didn't matter where Mac was in the house, if he heard, ‘I'm pissed now,’ he'd come for his treat."
Then she added raised voices and slamming doors. Mac was trained to do a check-in that involves putting his paws on a person's shoulders and getting in their face. She said the training “worked like a champ” to help control the angry outbursts.
"That's my payment,” Wiedewitsch said. “I don't draw a wage. I love working with dogs, and my reward is in seeing the difference."