With dreams of becoming a firefighter, Matt joined the Iowa National Guard in 1998, where he could get some of the best training possible. After times of peace turned to times of terror, he was deployed to Iraq in 2003. Every day posed new dangers, and the threat of injury or death became more and more real as Matt watched fellow comrades fall. In just a year of service, he experienced so much that civilians back home couldn’t even imagine. But when Matt did step back onto American soil, he couldn’t have anticipated how much those experiences would change his life entirely.
Once a big partier in his youth, Matt became more reclusive after his deployment, his anxiety causing him to withdraw into his home, his safe space. Eventually, this isolation became bad enough that he knew he had to do something about it–and that’s where Puppy Jake comes in.
In 2014, Matt applied for a service dog with Puppy Jake and was paired with Park, a new companion he could only dream of. People and crowded spaces were no challenge for this fluffy German Shepherd, carving Matt a path out of anxiety into independence. From being confined in his home to making outings to the grocery store and his son’s special events, Park led Matt out of the fire and back into his life. Standing by his side for over 8 years, Park retired in 2023 and passed the torch to Matt’s new service dog, Jax.
While Park was always mission-minded, Jax took over with a different M.O. As a lab, Jax does his job a little differently. He stays in tune with Matt, and sometimes that means lots of affection, cuddles, and puppy love. Together, Park and Jax have given Matt his life back.
“When you start working with (Puppy Jake), you become part of a family…there’s always somebody right there to help you…and I want other veterans to know what it can do for them and how it can change their lives for the better.”
