By Wendy Grossman Kantor
Christy Gardner trains service dogs. PHOTO:
COURTESY OF EILEEN DOYON
Army veteran Christy Gardner lost both her legs while on duty, and struggled with feeling "useless" once she was no longer able to serve. She found inspiration at home, with the service dog she says "saved her life," and who inspired her to match other veterans in need with service dogs of their own.
"I wanted to serve in the Army for forever," Gardner, 41, tells PEOPLE. "When that got cut short, I felt useless. I needed a purpose, and this feels like a great way to continue to serve."
Gardner was a sergeant in the military police. She was stationed "overseas in hazard zones" on a peacekeeping mission in July 2006 [in a location she says she can't name] when "we were on foot patrol and got attacked by locals," she says.
"I had a spinal cord injury, some organ damage, some trauma to my legs, trauma to my arms, face, head, all of that," she recalls. "I ended up with two skull fractures and some facial fractures, a broken jaw. I ended up losing two fingers and both legs."
Gardner spent about a year and a half in the hospital, where the polytrauma team told her she was 100 percent disabled and would never live independently again.
"They said I would never live alone, or walk, or ride a bike, or swim. I wasn't allowed to cook, because I could catch the house on fire because of my disabilities. I wasn't allowed to bathe alone," she says. "It was extremely defeating meeting with them, saying that I would be dependent on my parents or a caregiver for the rest of my life, and that I would never be active again. I know they try not to give you false hope, but holy s---, was that a blow."
Christy Gardner with a Mission Working Dog.
COURTESY OF CHRISTY GARDNER, MISSION WORKING DOGS
Staff at Walter Reed Hospital suggested Gardner get a service dog. Moxie, a golden retriever helped with her mobility assistance and was a seizure alert dog, because Gardner has epilepsy after her brain injury.
The dog saved her life, she says. So she started raising puppies, then became a certified dog trainer to help other veterans get their lives back too.
"I saw what Moxie did for me," she says. "She was absolutely incredible."
The dog gave her back her independence and helped her become active and hopeful again.
"She got me back into life and wanting to live," Christy says. "She motivated me to get up and move – her needing her walk and needing to exercise forced me to become active. But she was also a great ice breaker when talking to people about what was going on with me. I didn't want to give up, because I didn't want to fail her – I didn't want her to feel like she couldn't do her job. I didn't want to worry about what happened to her after I was gone. She really kept me going."
Service Dog Program Dedicated to Helping Veterans with PTSD Gives Hope: 'He Saved My Life Many Times Over'
COURTESY OF CHRISTIE GARDNER, MISSION WORKING DOGS
She opened her non-profit in July 2020. She started with four dogs, and now has 58 dogs in the program. Next month, Mission Working Dogs is opening a new 10-building, 12-acre campus near her home in Oxford, Maine.
Thirteen service dogs have graduated from her program, and about 75 percent of the dogs work with veterans. She trains PTSD service dogs and mobility assistance service dogs.
"With our first graduating class, two of the veterans said that if it wasn't for their dogs, they wouldn't have made it through the pandemic," Gardner says. "I don't need a thank you. Just knowing that we made a difference and basically saved their lives is enough."
Gardner works with golden retrievers, Labradors, standard poodles, doodles, shepherds and a few mixed breeds, taking about two years to teach the dogs the skills they need to assist their owners. (Therapy dogs, which do not need special skills beyond behavioral training to be safe and controlled, take about one year to be trained.)
Skills mastered by these highly-trained dogs can include opening and closing doors, turning on and off lights, and even carrying a reusable shopping bag in from the car, bringing it in the house, putting it on the counter, unpacking it and putting away groceries.
Veteran Shares How Canine Related to George H.W. Bush's Service Dog Changed His Life in 8 Weeks
"It's really fun to see the dogs learn," Gardner says. "We have one dog that's currently living with me, and he has gone on a couple of overnights with his veteran. Seeing the way the dog looks at him already, and that bond is there, it's just so incredible. The dog is motivating the guy to make all the right steps for his life, and for his family. Just seeing that in the two of them, seeing the dog so in love with his person, and seeing the person just absolutely in love and trusting the dog, that bond is such a beautiful thing, and knowing that it could potentially save that man's life."
Christy Gardner trains service dogs.
COURTESY OF EILEEN DOYON
Gardner's first service dog, Moxie, died last year. But she has another service dog, Doug, who she adopted in March 2020.
After years of physical, occupational and speech therapy, Gardner is once again an active, athletic woman. She snowboards, water-skis, surfs and has played para-ice hockey on the para Olympics team for 13 years. She has set records for wheelchair shot put and does track and field too.
"I used to run a 5K every weekend, just because they said I couldn't," she says. "Not that I particularly enjoy running, but just because I could."
Gardner's story has now been committed to print, as well; Eileen Doyon wrote two children's books based on a puppy born with an unusual front leg in whom Gardner saw potential and trained as a working dog. Lucky, Little Guy, Big Mission was published in 2021, and the sequel, Lucky, Little Guy, Big Mission 2, was published last summer. Half the book's proceeds go to supporting Mission Working Dog and the two have just finished the third installation and are looking for a sponsor to publish it.
COURTESY OF EILEEN DOYON
"Christy is so inspirational," says Doyon, 65, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. "She takes no excuses. She always is there willing to help. Even though she has no legs, she'll outwork and she'll outdo a lot of other people. She does for other disabled people to help them and to show them what they can do and what they can be. She's always helping out other disabled vets to let them know that life can be better, life can be good — and for them not to give up on their dreams."
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people.com
Christy Gardner trains service dogs. PHOTO:
COURTESY OF EILEEN DOYON
Army veteran Christy Gardner lost both her legs while on duty, and struggled with feeling "useless" once she was no longer able to serve. She found inspiration at home, with the service dog she says "saved her life," and who inspired her to match other veterans in need with service dogs of their own.
"I wanted to serve in the Army for forever," Gardner, 41, tells PEOPLE. "When that got cut short, I felt useless. I needed a purpose, and this feels like a great way to continue to serve."
Gardner was a sergeant in the military police. She was stationed "overseas in hazard zones" on a peacekeeping mission in July 2006 [in a location she says she can't name] when "we were on foot patrol and got attacked by locals," she says.
"I had a spinal cord injury, some organ damage, some trauma to my legs, trauma to my arms, face, head, all of that," she recalls. "I ended up with two skull fractures and some facial fractures, a broken jaw. I ended up losing two fingers and both legs."
Gardner spent about a year and a half in the hospital, where the polytrauma team told her she was 100 percent disabled and would never live independently again.
"They said I would never live alone, or walk, or ride a bike, or swim. I wasn't allowed to cook, because I could catch the house on fire because of my disabilities. I wasn't allowed to bathe alone," she says. "It was extremely defeating meeting with them, saying that I would be dependent on my parents or a caregiver for the rest of my life, and that I would never be active again. I know they try not to give you false hope, but holy s---, was that a blow."
Christy Gardner with a Mission Working Dog.
COURTESY OF CHRISTY GARDNER, MISSION WORKING DOGS
Staff at Walter Reed Hospital suggested Gardner get a service dog. Moxie, a golden retriever helped with her mobility assistance and was a seizure alert dog, because Gardner has epilepsy after her brain injury.
The dog saved her life, she says. So she started raising puppies, then became a certified dog trainer to help other veterans get their lives back too.
"I saw what Moxie did for me," she says. "She was absolutely incredible."
The dog gave her back her independence and helped her become active and hopeful again.
"She got me back into life and wanting to live," Christy says. "She motivated me to get up and move – her needing her walk and needing to exercise forced me to become active. But she was also a great ice breaker when talking to people about what was going on with me. I didn't want to give up, because I didn't want to fail her – I didn't want her to feel like she couldn't do her job. I didn't want to worry about what happened to her after I was gone. She really kept me going."
Service Dog Program Dedicated to Helping Veterans with PTSD Gives Hope: 'He Saved My Life Many Times Over'
COURTESY OF CHRISTIE GARDNER, MISSION WORKING DOGS
She opened her non-profit in July 2020. She started with four dogs, and now has 58 dogs in the program. Next month, Mission Working Dogs is opening a new 10-building, 12-acre campus near her home in Oxford, Maine.
Thirteen service dogs have graduated from her program, and about 75 percent of the dogs work with veterans. She trains PTSD service dogs and mobility assistance service dogs.
"With our first graduating class, two of the veterans said that if it wasn't for their dogs, they wouldn't have made it through the pandemic," Gardner says. "I don't need a thank you. Just knowing that we made a difference and basically saved their lives is enough."
Gardner works with golden retrievers, Labradors, standard poodles, doodles, shepherds and a few mixed breeds, taking about two years to teach the dogs the skills they need to assist their owners. (Therapy dogs, which do not need special skills beyond behavioral training to be safe and controlled, take about one year to be trained.)
Skills mastered by these highly-trained dogs can include opening and closing doors, turning on and off lights, and even carrying a reusable shopping bag in from the car, bringing it in the house, putting it on the counter, unpacking it and putting away groceries.
Veteran Shares How Canine Related to George H.W. Bush's Service Dog Changed His Life in 8 Weeks
"It's really fun to see the dogs learn," Gardner says. "We have one dog that's currently living with me, and he has gone on a couple of overnights with his veteran. Seeing the way the dog looks at him already, and that bond is there, it's just so incredible. The dog is motivating the guy to make all the right steps for his life, and for his family. Just seeing that in the two of them, seeing the dog so in love with his person, and seeing the person just absolutely in love and trusting the dog, that bond is such a beautiful thing, and knowing that it could potentially save that man's life."
Christy Gardner trains service dogs.
COURTESY OF EILEEN DOYON
Gardner's first service dog, Moxie, died last year. But she has another service dog, Doug, who she adopted in March 2020.
After years of physical, occupational and speech therapy, Gardner is once again an active, athletic woman. She snowboards, water-skis, surfs and has played para-ice hockey on the para Olympics team for 13 years. She has set records for wheelchair shot put and does track and field too.
"I used to run a 5K every weekend, just because they said I couldn't," she says. "Not that I particularly enjoy running, but just because I could."
Gardner's story has now been committed to print, as well; Eileen Doyon wrote two children's books based on a puppy born with an unusual front leg in whom Gardner saw potential and trained as a working dog. Lucky, Little Guy, Big Mission was published in 2021, and the sequel, Lucky, Little Guy, Big Mission 2, was published last summer. Half the book's proceeds go to supporting Mission Working Dog and the two have just finished the third installation and are looking for a sponsor to publish it.
COURTESY OF EILEEN DOYON
"Christy is so inspirational," says Doyon, 65, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. "She takes no excuses. She always is there willing to help. Even though she has no legs, she'll outwork and she'll outdo a lot of other people. She does for other disabled people to help them and to show them what they can do and what they can be. She's always helping out other disabled vets to let them know that life can be better, life can be good — and for them not to give up on their dreams."
Army Veteran Christy Gardner Trains Service Dogs for Other Vets Through Mission Working Dogs
After losing both her legs while on duty, veteran Christy Gardner relied heavily on her service dog to help her get readjusted to life without her limbs — something she says changed her life. She now runs Mission Working Dogs to help train service dogs for other veterans in need
