Bob Briggs, who was injured in Iraq in 2005, is learning to use his Rottweiler Pock to help with stability and balance. Pock was trained by Midwest Assistance Dogs of South Bend. (WSBT photo)
Story Created:
Jun 23, 2009 at 4:02 PM EST
Story Updated:
Jun 28, 2009 at 10:36 PM EST
SOUTH BEND — This is a story about man and best friend, and the kind of bond for wounds that no medicine can heal.
“He’s been my dog, definitely,” said Bob Briggs, of his 100-lb. Rottweiler named Pock. “Since the day we got him he’s been following me around.”
It was April 16, 2005, deep in the desert of Iraq.
"We were in Ramadi,” Briggs recalled. “We had just finished a mission. We had just moved in.”
Bob Briggs and his fellow soldiers with the National Guard were attacked by insurgents.
“I took a severe penetrating head wound,” Briggs said.
Briggs lost his right eye, nearly half of his skull, and received a brain injury that left him partially paralyzed.
“And I still haven’t fully recovered from that, as you can tell!” he said.
The road to recovery would be a long one. In the months that followed, Briggs and his wife Michelle adopted Pock, and Michelle got an idea.
“I was looking for organizations to help train a dog that we have already had,” she explained.
What if Pock could help Bob? And if so, how?
She searched online and found Midwest Assistance Dogs — a non-profit group in South Bend.
“We train dogs to help people with a variety of disabilities,” explained Director Mark Halasz.
Halasz knew exactly what to do.
“I thought who better to train Pock for Bob than Sherry?” he said.
Sherry Shank, a trainer, knows a little about how Bob feels.
“I have muscular dystrophy — I have MD — poor balance,” she said.
So for the last six months, Sherry taught Pock everything Bob would need: help with stability, balance, picking things up.
Tuesday, the Briggs came to South Bend from their home in Iowa to pick Pock up.
“We’ve missed him!” Michelle laughed.
They’ll continue down the road to healing, thanks to some very special trainers.
“I thank them very much from the bottom of my heart,” Bob said.
And thanks to a bond between man and his dog.
“I’ve been around animals a lot in my life, and when you see a special bond it’s hard to ignore it,” Michelle added.
The Briggs are spending the week in South Bend with the trainers to learn how to handle Pock as a service dog. They're heading home to Iowa on Saturday.
