Bella, a handsome mixed-breed dog with short brown and white hair, sits quietly at Andy Smith\u2019s feet. In soft and reverent tones, he speaks about the service dog\u2019s role as a companion and an emotional guardian. Occasionally, he\u2019ll join her on the floor for a little extra contact.<\/p>\n
Smith is an Army veteran of two military tours in Iraq, and the post-combat adjustment back to civilian life was difficult. Bella not only helped it along, but Smith will tell you his dog literally saved his life.<\/p>\n
Their story inspired\u00a0an inaugural animal therapy event at UWM, \u201cDe-stress with Dogs.\u201d It\u2019s\u00a0open to all UWM students and will be held 3-4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, in the Golda Meir Library\u2019s Daniel N. Soref Learning Commons. The event is co-sponsored by the Accessibility Resource Center, the Military and Veterans Resource Center, and the UWM Libraries. The dogs are provided by Health Heelers.<\/p>\n
Smith has become a strong advocate for service dogs and encourages fellow veterans to take advantage of their therapeutic value. \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to spread the word,\u201d the Muskego native says. \u201cI want to show people how good<\/em> an influence dogs can be on veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n Ann Kowaliczko, a senior counselor at the Accessibility Resource Center, was part of an informal group that had advocated bringing therapy dogs to campus as a stress reliever for students, but had been stymied by insurance technicalities. Smith gave her the nudge she needed to give it another try.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I met Andy, he mentioned his service dog and asked about therapy dogs at UWM,\u201d Kowaliczko recalled. He told her how he\u2019d initiated an informal pet therapy program while attending Colorado Technical University. And though he was reluctant to bring Bella to the UWM campus, he said he\u2019d enthusiastically participate in a therapy dog program.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of that conversation,\u201d Kowaliczko said, \u201cI thought, \u2018We have to get this started again.\u2019\u201d Insurance and other logistical hurdles were cleared this time, paving the way for \u201cDe-stress with Dogs\u201d and hopes that the inaugural event leads to future ones.<\/p>\n That would suit Smith just fine. He mustered out of the Army as a sergeant in 2010 and settled in Colorado Springs, Colorado. There, he earned an associate degree in business at Colorado Technical University and received dog trainer certification from Animal Behavior College. He returned to Muskego in 2014, and enrolled in UWM\u2019s Lubar School of Business in the fall of 2015.<\/p>\n All the while, Bella was there to help Smith. \u201cMy girlfriend, Monique, fell in love with Bella, too,\u201d Smith said. Occasionally, the dog acts as a bridge between Smith and Monique: In times of stress or conflict, their affection for Bella is something they always have in common. And Bella defuses tensions in other ways, too.<\/p>\n \u201cA trained dog knows to alert you when you\u2019re starting to get stressed out,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThe dogs know that they\u2019re there to make sure you\u2019re OK.\u201d That\u2019s why he emphasizes how important it is that veterans \u2013 or anyone dealing with depression or anxiety \u2013 get their dogs certified.<\/p>\n Smith also feels that the public needs to be more aware of how service dogs can help veterans, while simultaneously noting that people need to respect a veteran\u2019s privacy. Sometimes, strangers will see Bella and learn that Smith is a military veteran, then start asking unwelcome questions about the nature of his combat experiences. \u201cIt\u2019s one reason I haven\u2019t wanted to bring Bella to campus with me,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n But Smith definitely sees the benefits of allowing trained animals on campus, and he\u2019s certain the animal therapy session will give students a feeling of comfort and happiness.<\/p>\n \u201cI guarantee they\u2019ll go out with a smile their faces,\u201d he said, and did\u00a0so with a smile of his own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The story of Army vet Andy Smith and his service dog, Bella, inspired UWM\u2019s inaugural \u201cDe-stress with Dogs\u201d animal therapy event, set for Tuesday, April 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":31652,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[250],"section":[122,124],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[178],"uwmnews-feed":[162],"class_list":["post-31651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-student-success","section-campus-community","section-students","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","related-coverage-veterans","uwmnews-feed-business"],"yoast_head":"\n