Ryan and Luke: A Veteran and His ACE Service Companion

“It brings tears to my eyes how Luke has changed Ryan’s life,” says puppy raiser Laurie Higuera of Napa, CA.

In December 2020, the American Kennel Club bestowed its prestigious Award for Canine Excellence (ACE) on seven-year-old Luke for his work as a service dog for veteran U.S. Staff Sergeant E5 Ryan Garrison.

Last year, more than 800 canines competed for the annual coveted ACE award in Service, Uniformed Service K-9, Therapy, Search and Rescue, and Exemplary Companion dog categories.

Higuera raised and trained this handsome, well-bred black Labrador Retriever for nearly two years. Luke joined her family after he flew to northern California from the east coast at just three months of age. After his stay with the Higueras, Luke returned to the Warrior Canine Connection (WCC) farm in Boyds, MD for advanced service dog training.

Since its founding in 2011, the nonprofit WCC has placed, free of charge, forty-five service dogs with veterans, according to Molly Morelli, director of dog programs.  All of the service dogs are Labradors except for a few Golden Retrievers.

Less than a year after returning to the WCC complex, Luke became Garrison’s lifesaving mobility service dog.

Garrison, who enlisted in the U.S. Air Force just after 9/11, was severely injured while deployed to Iraq in 2006. He suffered fractured and torn discs in his back which resulted in numerous surgeries, chronic pain, and anxiety, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He credits Higuera’s training and nurturing for the reason why Luke is his life-altering service dog.

This forty-three-year-old veteran says Luke changed his perspective on life by bringing him out of a dark place and giving him a new sense of positivity and happiness. For years he’d struggled with PTSD and tried a variety of medications and “talk therapies.”

Puppy Parent

And during part of that time, puppy parent Higuera was working with Luke.

She’d grown up in a family that had Labradors and decided to apply to become a puppy parent because it was “a way to give back.”

WCC is part of a breeding cooperative with other service and guide dog organizations that, together, produce acquired quality Labradors and Goldens that are placed free of charge to veterans, Morelli explains.

Luke arrived in California on September 11, 2013, when he was just three months old to join the Higuera family. He was the first of five puppies that Higuera would train for WCC.

She quickly noticed Luke’s super calm temperament and intelligence. He’d been born at the WCC headquarters- a product of Rogue (MBISS GCHB Laurglen Ardent Rogue at Hyspire JH CD RA CGC TKN) owned by veterinarian and Labrador breeder Julie Oghigian, formerly of California and now of Bozeman, MT; and Olive (Misty Mountain’s Little Miss Sunshine), bred by Toni Leitao and his wife Lorraine Yu of Woodinville, WA. The latter donated Olive and her dam, Misty Mountain Miss Independence, and Oghigian, Rogue’s stud services to WCC.

Luke lived with Higuera, her husband, and their teenage daughter in the eastern hills above Napa, on thirty-one acres of oak-filled meadows, hills, and rocky outcroppings. Luke learned to swim in a seasonal creek on the property and also enjoyed the family’s swimming pool in back of their home. Recently, Higuera fondly recalled that Luke loved to float on a bone-shaped pool lounger!

Higuera, co-owner of Higuera Associates, a construction consulting firm, worked at home much of the time but occasionally went into the small office- and always with Luke. He became accustomed to the family’s goats and cats. The Higuera’s hyper “rescue” adult Labrador taught some puppy manners to Luke, Higuera says.

“Wherever I went, he went. He was exposed to people and dogs, and situations in everyday life.” They regularly walked by the neighbors’ cattle and went to horse stables. He starred in her daughter’s school project and had lots of exposure to children- especially her nieces and nephews.

“He went everywhere with me,” she recalls, including grocery stores, schools where Higuera coached basketball, pet stores, home improvement stores, malls, doctor/dentists visits, wineries, movie theatres, and nail salons. They also sat in box seats (won in an auction) at a San Francisco 49ers football game, courtside seats (also won at an auction) at a Golden State Warriors basketball game, and many Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants baseball games. He even joined the family at the theater for musicals and concerts.

Each week, she drove Luke to Menlo Park, about a two-hour one-way trip to the Menlo Park VA Medical Center. There WCC trainer Catherine Dorr conducted classes for WCC puppy parents and puppies and young adult dogs. Higuera and Luke learned basic obedience commands, including sit, down, and come with lots of treats and plenty of playing time. As time went on, both learned more complicated commands. They only went to Menlo Park once a week because of the long drive.

But they practiced at home. Early on, Luke learned to tug, the command used to open doors, including the refrigerator. He learned how to switch on lights and to retrieve items, such as dropped keys.

Luke accompanied the Higuera family whenever they vacationed and either flew on commercial flights or rode with them in the car. He learned to curl up in a small ball to sleep under Higuera’s feet on planes, and often fellow passengers had no idea he was aboard. He visited southern California, Washington D.C., Arizona, Illinois, and Wisconsin as well as Disney World in Florida.

Advanced Service Training

In July 2015, Luke boarded a plane to fly back to Maryland for his advanced service dog training. While it’s difficult to part with WCC puppies, Higuera says she enjoys training each one “knowing the lives” they will change as service canines.

Thirteen months previous, Garrison had finally applied for a WCC service dog after he admitted he had PTSD. He’d been on the fence about whether a service dog could help him with mobility issues and his PTSD. For years, he’d listened to his wife Julie, a music therapist who worked with veterans at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., talk enthusiastically about the therapy dogs at the center trained by disabled veterans under the tutelage of WCC’s founder and director, Rick Yount. She’d stop by his office after work to pet the dogs. Then Garrison saw how a WCC service Golden was helping a family friend, also a veteran. He attended his friend’s service dog graduation from WCC, and thought “Maybe I should do this.” After that, he applied for a service canine.

Following an interview and assessment process, Garrison learned that WCC would match him with a service dog. However, he needed a large, strong service canine to help with his mobility issues to include assisting him to get out of a chair or off the floor. None were available.

As Garrison waited for his special canine, he joined other veterans once a month as they trained WCC dogs to become full-fledged service dogs. He and WCC trainer Kaitlyn Fudge often took a dog out into the town, and he learned how to train and handle different dogs.

In the summer of 2015, Garrison occasionally worked with Luke as well as other WCC dogs in training. Luke stood about twenty-four inches at the withers and weighed about eighty-eight pounds.

Unbeknownst to Garrison at the time, WCC staff closely watched him interact with all of the dogs. They noticed that he and Luke seemed in tune with one another.

“I was becoming excited to work with Luke because he was so attentive and listened to my commands the first time which made me feel better about my skills as a handler. He was the first dog that I was able to walk around off-leash and stayed close to my side,” Garrison recalls.

The Match

In November 2015, WCC officially paired Luke with Garrison. From that point on, Garrison worked exclusively with Luke. On February 1, 2016, Luke joined Garrison, his wife, and their two small sons, as a member of the family.

For the first two weeks in his new home, Luke accompanied Garrison everywhere, including into the shower! It took weeks to convince Luke that it was okay to wait in the bathroom while Garrison showered instead of taking a shower with him!

Still on active duty at Ft. Meade in Maryland, Garrison received permission for Luke to accompany him to work each day. In June 2016, Garrison retired from the service and attended WCC canine training once a week.

The Garrison family now lives in the Dayton, Ohio area.

Garrison says that he has noticed that he’s been able to decrease the number and dosage of the medications that he needs to control his anxiety and pain. He now works as a senior acquisitions logistician and finds parts for cockpits of military planes for COLSA, an engineering and support services corporation. In 2018, he and his wife founded the nonprofit, Valor Therapeutics, which offers alternative therapies— such as art, music, yoga, and dietetic services— to veterans, active military members, and first responders and their families in the greater Dayton area.

In January 2020, Garrison, his son Maxwell, and Luke were injured in an automobile accident when a truck t-boned their car after running a red light. Garrison flashed back to Iraq. He looked for a bunker and then felt Luke nudging him, bringing him back to the present. Luke nudged and sat by him until paramedics arrived. Garrison suffered shoulder, neck, and back injuries exacerbated by previous injuries. His son was treated for a seat belt burn on his neck. Luke received cuts on his chin and front paws and bruised hips. All recovered from their physical injuries although Garrison struggles to control his heart rate when he drives through the intersection.

Garrison says that Luke senses when he and even house guests are anxious. He’ll approach the person and nudge the person’s leg with his nose. “When I tell them that he is nudging their leg because they are anxious, most of the time they admit that they were.”

Luke’s “nanny gene” makes him know where Garrison is at all times. If Garrison walks out to the mailbox, Luke whines and greets him when he re-enters the house.

Over the years Higuera and Garrison have stayed in touch.  Each year, Higuera sends Luke Christmas presents!

One year, WCC flew Garrison and his wife with Luke back to California to participate in a WCC anniversary celebration at the Menlo Park VA Medical Center. Afterward, Higuera invited the Garrisons to dinner at her home to get to know them better and so that they could see where Luke lived as a puppy and adolescent. She gave them directions and then drove separately to Napa Valley.

When the Garrisons reached the Higuera’s address, they drove up the driveway until it forked. Should he drive left- or right? Garrison recalls thinking.

Luke started whining in the back seat on the left side of the car. Garrison drove left – the driveway that led to the Higuera residence. As soon as he was let out of the car, a very excited Luke galloped to the front door, pushed it open, and ran straight through the house, out the back door, and into the swimming pool. Typical Labrador!

Learn more about Warrior Canine Connection at https://warriorcanineconnection.org/

FEATURED PHOTO: Luke takes a break on a dock of The Dolphin Club in San Francisco. (Lily Wong photo)