Told to stay, a service dog comforts a veteran

Name: Told to stay, a service dog comforts a veteran
Uploaded: 2014-09-16T22:28:55Z
Duration: 2 min 42 s
Description: Erick Scott is a husband, a dad and a veteran. All told, he spent 16 years in the Army and the Army National Guard.

Erick Scott is a husband, a dad and a veteran. All told, he spent 16 years in the Army and the Army National Guard. more

His tattoos tell more. There's a skull and a pair of empty boots for his time in Iraq, and a soldier's cross. Before he went, his father gave him one job. "Son, you've got 11 guys," he said. "Make sure you bring them all back."

They did not all come back. "I feel guilty 'cause I'm here," Erick says. Then came survivor guilt and nightmares. He would wake up in a cold sweat with the sheets soaked. Doctors told him he had PTSD and tried tons of medicine on him. Nothing helped.

Then he heard about K9s For Warriors, a nonprofit that matches custom-trained service dogs with veterans who have PTSD. That's where Gumbo comes in.

Now Erick sits outside for an interview about the hard stuff, and Gumbo is with him. The dog is under a strict command to stay. He always obeys, and his feet look glued to the ground.

Then Erick goes back to the day a doctor told him he had PTSD and needed help. "Oh, I'd get mad," he says. Ugly words would come out of his mouth, and he didn't want the stigma. He gets a little agitated as he talks, and Gumbo senses it before Erick does.

Gumbo breaks his stay. He goes to Erick and comforts him, and the panic passes almost as soon as it starts.