Reader\'s Digest Canada - 05.2020

SUSANA RAAB/INSTITUTE

human service members do, says Matt

Hatala, a former Marine handler who

deployed to Afghanistan. “That has

been their identity—that is it—for

years and years. And when you get out,

you kinda go, ‘What the heck do I do

now?’ And you can never really find

that replacement.

“That dog’s been through situations

you’re not going to be able to under-

stand and might not be able to handle,”

Hatala continues. He acknowledges

that things weren’t always easy after

he brought home Chaney, his former

canine partner. The black Lab was still

ready to work, but there wasn’t any work

to do. Chaney developed a fear of thun-

derstorms—which was strange, Hatala

says, because he had never before been

scared of thunder, or even of gunfire.

Among the former han-

dlers who’d worked with

Dyngo was Staff Sgt. Jessie

Keller, who had arranged

the adoption. As Dyngo

and I struggled to adapt to

our new life, Keller offered

thoughtful suggestions. But

something changed for me

when Keller sent a text

shortly after I’d adopted

Dyngo—“If u don’t feel u can

keep him please let me know

and I will take him back.”

In some ways, this was the

thing I most wanted to hear.

But a resolve took hold: I was

not going to give up this dog.

During our early months together,

Dyngo admirably maintained his mil-

itary duties. As we made our way down

the hall from my apartment, he would

drop his nose down to the seam of

each door we passed and give it a swift

but thorough sniff. He was still hunting

for bombs. Every time I clipped on his

leash, he was ready to do his job, even

if, in his mind, I wasn’t ready to do

mine. He’d turn up his face, expectant

and chiding. And when I didn’t give a

command, he would carry on, picking

up my slack.

I tried to navigate him away from

the line of cars parked along the leafy

streets, where he tried to set his nose

toward the curves of the tires. How

could I convey to him that there were

no bombs here? How could I make

After months of adjustment, Dyngo now walks in

his neighbourhood without feeling that he’s on duty.

reader’s digest

44 may 2020