Daily Times

Michael Kidd, now 84 years old, fought in the Korean War. His young German shepherd Millie helps calm him down when things start to swirl, usually at night.

Harry Stolberg — a 42-year-old former Marine who served in Bosnia, Liberia and Nigeria — has a chocolate Labrador named Rocky who wakes him up from his troubled dreams.

And 31-year-old Phil Davanzo — who carried the bodies of fallen comrades during a hostage rescue operation that went wrong off Somalia in 2011 — hopes his Rottweiler puppy will soon be trained to support him during his panic attacks.

The three US veterans, who all live on New York’s Long Island, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and have sought solace through pet therapy — namely, a loyal dog to keep them company.

The shelter animals are either trained or being trained to help them through difficult times by Paws of War, an association funded entirely by private donations that then provides the service dogs free of charge.

The group will also train a veteran’s dog if he or she already has one.

“The biggest thing is he wakes me up from nightmares,” Stolberg says of three-year-old Rocky.

“He can open the door, come in my room, turn on the lights, take my blinders off me… and lick my hands so I wake up.”

Rocky, whose 18 months of training were completed six months ago, also helps Stolberg navigate large crowds, which can be triggering.

“If I can’t move, he will get me out of that crowd — he will pick up on that. He will walk around me and look at it and if I don’t respond, he will walk away from the crowd with me hooked up to him,” he says.

Paws of War — their acronym is a play on POW, used to signify prisoners of war — has been active since 2014.

More than 100 dogs have been trained so far, and the therapeutic results for their masters have been significant.

Off the meds

Kidd, who suffers from severe PTSD, has been able to reduce his intake of medication thanks to Millie.

At night when things are tough, “she will come over to me, she will put her paw on my shoulder, on my chest, and just give me a big slobber,” says Kidd, whose father was in Normandy on D-Day.

“That’s just saying, ‘I am here for you.'”

Stolberg used to need sleeping pills to get through the night, but not anymore, thanks to Rocky.