This story is about green beans, a veteran and his family, and a dog, or dogs, to be more precise.
The story starts in the desert warzone of Iraq with soldier Sean Brown. Sean joined the U.S. Army in 2006 and served in the Intelligence and Quartermaster Corps. Sean followed in his parents’ footsteps, both of whom had served: his dad for 28 years and his mom for 14 years.
The U.S. Army eventually sent Sean to Iraq three times, where some bad things happened, causing Sean’s medical retirement in 2013.
Like many service members, Sean had a story about the bad thing, but he kept that story inside, leading to recklessness and indulgence. Life seemed to take some dark turns after service.
Sean was living in Savannah, where “everyone loves their troops,” Sean says, “but where no one would hire me because I would wake up in the morning with no feeling in my legs.”
Sean worked four or five part-time jobs to keep the lights on and the bills paid. “At the end of the day,” Sean says, “I was struggling just to find life, to find success.”
Sean had a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), a dead spot on the left side of his brain. He had been through more than nine surgeries on his left knee, including total knee replacement, and he suffered from a degeneration of the spine. Waking up and starting the day was physically difficult; in addition to that, loss of purpose and hope can be dangerous.
An adrenaline rush is addictive, and sometimes, Sean finds himself on a motorcycle he can ride fast and recklessly to feel alive again.
Sean found a camaraderie he had been missing with a motorcycle group in Savannah. “We rode a lot, partied a lot, and mostly all suffered from PTSD,” he explains.
Sean’s Harley Davidson had become his outlet and tool for escape, but it was only a matter of time.
“With the injuries I have, I knew it was a ticking time bomb,” Sean says. “I knew my leg would ultimately give out. I just waited each day for it to happen.”
One day, Sean stopped at a stoplight while on his Harley, and his left knee gave out. The bike was falling, and he couldn’t stop it. “I had to decide to put away the bike before I hurt myself or somebody else,” he laments.
Sean had met the woman he would marry after his medical discharge from the service. With many military spouses, she rode the waves of emotion alongside her husband with every challenge, disappointment, and loss.
His attempts to feel better, both physically and emotionally, depended on a massive number of pills prescribed by his doctors. He was filled with hostility and anger, most of which he kept from his wife until the green beans.
It was a day like any other, and Sean had prepared dinner for his wife, who was pregnant then. The meal he prepared included green beans; his wife liked green beans. However, she had read that green beans were unhealthy while pregnant, so she chose not to eat them.
Something at that moment, in that simple event, triggered Sean, who flew into a rage, pounding a hole into a wall of their home. He loved his wife and would never hurt her, but the bottled-up emotions were just too much to hold back.
“My wife turned to me and said, ‘Sean, you need help.’” Sean admits with a grin, “Happy Spouse, Happy House – Happy Wife, Happy Life.”
The two began researching available programs for veterans. It wasn’t long before they realized that a service dog was the answer.
The first few organizations they approached required thousands of dollars to get a dog.
Then they found Southeastern Guide Dogs where, if Sean qualified, he could get a dog for zero dollars, yes, zero!
Sean put in his application. “I was coming out of a pretty bad appointment at the VA when I received the call that there was a dog for me, and my life changed forever.”
Pella, the angel with four legs and a tail.
On the Southeastern Guide Dogs Campus, there are many buildings. Each has a specific purpose, and we will get into that. For now, I want to share the rooms guests stay in and the chairs they sit in when they first meet their dog.
During our visit to the SGD Campus, we took a tour of the entire facility. Sean shared each and every aspect of the Campus, as well as exciting future plans for the organization to grow its service dog footprint. When we reached the guest rooms, he smiles a big smile and points to the chair where he met Pella.
The joy in his memory spread to all of us in the room, and we learned about the incredible, happy, and life-changing moments in these comfy chairs.
“Pella knew when I was upset or anxious,” Sean said. “She would immediately come to me and calm me down. I had spent so many years behind a mask, pretending to be okay, but I didn’t have to lie or hide from Pella; she just knew.”
Sean, and his family alongside him, had been struggling with his avoiding public places.
“I didn’t like to be in crowded places and would avoid going to restaurants and stores,” Sean says. “Now, with Pella, I know she has my back.”
Sean and Pella’s relationship grew to where they knew what each other was thinking.
“Pella had a command that she would do without me having to say a word,” Sean says. “It was ‘find the door.’ She could sense a large crowd. If it was too compacted and too much for me, she would pull on the leash and drag me to the nearest door.”
After several years, Pella let Sean know that she was done working.
“There is a way to tell when a service dog needs to retire. Pella had developed an adverse reaction to noise, which was a clear sign she was tired and ready to enjoy retirement,” he explained.
Service dogs must retire before age 11, but SGD performs annual follow-ups with the dog and its person to ensure everything is good. Sean didn’t waste any time and quickly applied for his successor dog and was happily paired with Nick.
“We all live happily together,” Sean says. “We now have Pella, Nick, and another small puppy we are raising.”
Campus History
Everything started in a small farmhouse with three dogs and a station wagon in 1982.
Within the last six years, the Campus has been built with completely paid-for buildings that are all category four hurricane-rated. The entire Campus sits on 33 acres of land in Palmetto, Florida. Recently, SGD acquired 30-plus neighboring acres that will be used for growth expansion.
Sean credits SGD CEO Titus Herman, who ensures all programs and infrastructure are paid for before construction or implementation. “We don’t start a project unless it is completely funded. This allows us to put 100% of our proceeds towards the mission,” Sean explains.
Southeastern Guide Dogs began as a guide dog center for the visually impaired.
Sean recalls Michael Jernigan, one of the first veterans to get a dog from Southeastern Guide Dogs. He was the first post-9/11 injured Marine with visual impairment who had come through the program. “We realized that our dog was helping him to mitigate PTSD, thus becoming the cornerstone of our service dog program,” Sean says.
Puppy Academy
The Puppy Academy building has 12 wings. The mom dogs come here for labor and delivery and are treated to aroma therapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, music therapy, and more.
The building is one of the cleanest places we have ever seen—you could eat off the floor!
Sean points us to a wall of thick windows where we can peak in on newborns, just like in a human hospital nursery, minus the little cribs. Sean explains that many puppies are born at night, so someone is always there to care for them.
Rewind – Before the Puppy
There is care and incredible science that goes into the breeding of these exceptional dogs. SGD uses a breeding cooperative, a natural program where two dogs are paired and given the opportunity to mate.
“There is a honeymoon suite in the back,” says Sean. “We match up two dogs, play a little music, and Wala.” (In my mind, I am imagining the scene from Lady and the Tramp with the spaghetti.)
SGD has relationships with other guide dog schools nationwide to remain biodiverse and genetically diverse. The key is to have the healthiest dogs with the right temperament. The science behind SGD has managed to breed hip dysplasia down to 3% of its Labrador Retrievers, when 30% of all Labs typically suffer from the disease.
Puppy Kindergarten, Pre-K Enrichment and Education
The newborn pups will stay with their moms for the first six to eight weeks of life. During that time, Mom gets breaks, including spa days.
Pre-K starts at just two days old in a room full of novel objects and training tools.
As they grow, the puppies have a daily training plan. They practice “dress up” with their harnesses, work on becoming desensitized to loud noises such as vacuums, and they are taught to look up and see things above their heads.
If there is a dog with special educational needs, they implement protocols for them to learn and excel. Service dogs and guide dogs must have confidence, thus becoming a highly targeted trait.
The Campus
The Puppy Academy includes an operating clinic for X-ray machines, estrogen machines, and cryo chambers for stored semen, called “sperm vision.” There is a canine ophthalmologist on site and just about any other medical service you can imagine.
A canine fitness center is complete with a splash park for pool parties. The fitness center has essential training tools, such as a room with airline seats so dogs can be trained to operate on an airline, on buses, and in other tight places.
The Canine University is an X-Wing building that houses the class-ready dogs. Each wing of the building is for the freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior class dogs. They have roommates and even dorm parties.
“They have a blast!” Sean says.
He points out the silence around the building and lets us know that the dogs inside the university have been trained not to bark. “It is called the quiet protocol. They know they won’t get a treat if they are barking.”
The Veterans Courtyard is an outdoor area that had a Grand Reopening in 2023 hosted by the Armed Forces Family Foundation. It is a place where attending veterans can come out and relax, have fun, and connect with each other.
In addition to the significant buildings and amenities for the guide and service dogs, the campus has a fully functional student center and dormitory, including a gym, lounge areas, laundry facilities, and computer rooms for its guests.
Sean’s Journey
When Sean received his dog, his family also decided to move to Florida after Sean was offered a position at Southeastern Guide Dogs. He is currently the acting Associate Director of Philanthropy for the organization. Sean spends three to four days a week on Campus, and he has the flexibility to work remotely when he needs to.
“One of the things we talk about in the military is taking care of the troops. We take care of each other,” Sean says. “I get to do that again, working here at Southeastern Guide Dogs.”
He has found a place and a purpose at SGD in his five years with the organization.
He remembers where he was before Pella. “It’s rare as a veteran that lives with what I’ve lived through, the pain that I live with daily, to be able to sit down on most days and say, I’m okay. I’m home. I’m making progress.”
There is so much more to this story. We encourage you to watch for an expanded feature in an upcoming edition of FireWatch Magazine. As for Sean, he continues to witness the changing of lives with Nick by his side, and for him, that is a very good thing.