Did you ever seen a dog after a long time and it happened for him to recognize you, making you wonder how is that even possible? Well, these creatures are pretty impressive. Dogs have long and short term memory. Their memory is associative, meaning that they will pull up events or pictures in their heads, using them later on for similar circumstances.
Bill Campbell, a veteran that served in the Iraq War took his Yellow Labrador named Pax to the facility where he was trained and he had a pretty nice surprise over there.
Pax is his service dog, helping him cope with life after suffering a traumatic brain injury while serving in the war. At some point, he returned home and got a normal job as a biologist at the Department of Fish and Wildlife. In 2004, he wanted to reenlist and go overseas.
Upon some medical checking, he was declared 100% disabled due to multiple concussions shrapnel on his brain.
At 47 years old he returned to Washington and realized that the scars of war were deeply affecting him after he developed PTSD and anxiety. At that point, he received Pax, a wonderful 17 months old doggo donated to Bill by an organization named Puppies Behind Bars.
The organization mentioned previously trains prisoners in raising service dogs for law enforcement, and also for wounded war veterans.
Pax helped Bill reintegrate with society and move on with his life. People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder have thoughts with moments when enemies were hiding and waiting for the perfect moment to attack them, and that’s when Pax would come in and cover his back, warning him about potential malevolent persons.
Having a big desire to show his gratitude to the prison inmates that trained his support dog, Campbell, his wife, and Pax made a 3000-mile trip to New York’s Bedford Hills Correctional Facility to meet them and thank them personally.
As soon as they arrived and the women’s maximum-security penitentiary, they noticed that Pax was looking so happy to be there. The woman that trained Pax appeared and the lab ran immediately to her, giving her lots of kisses and hugs.
Laurie Kellogg then spoke to Campbell and shared some stories, ending with a long hug. According to her, she and Pax created a strong bond after the three weeks they’ve spent together. She also suffers from PTSD and convicted for murder.
“I never thought I’d see him again. If they opened the doors and let me out of prison, I wouldn’t feel this good.”, Laurie said.
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