When a robbery was in progress in Jacksonville, Florida, Brett Parks tried to stop it.  He was shot for his trouble, and lost his lower right leg as a result. While the leg heeled, the trauma for the retired U.S. Navy aircrewman lingered.  It was a therapist who suggested that Brett get a service dog to help deal with his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Open minds never stop learning, and Brett, who’d thought that service dogs were only for combat veterans, learned that service dogs can help anyone who has experienced a traumatic event.  Still, Brett wasn’t sold, and after a period of convincing, Brett put his name on a two-year waiting list to get a dog. After six months, he got a phone call about his application. How did this ‘manly man” react upon learning that his new service dog was a Poodle?  Find out here, the article from which the photo by Bill Frakes for ESPN comes.