Editor’s note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

When Rich Earl gives the command, Reagan watches his back.

It’s one of 44 cues the 2-year-old black Labrador retriever learned alongside Earl, who has struggled for years with health problems he attributes to his military service, including post-traumatic stress disorder, back pain and cancer that later led to kidney disease.

Reagan was trained by Reno-based Liberty Dogs, which provides service dogs to veterans at no cost. To Earl, she has already saved his life.

“Now, I have purpose, motivation,” Earl said. “It’s like having a battle buddy for life, someone that’s always going to be there for you, always have your back.”

The two are among the first four pairs to graduate from Liberty Dogs’ pairing program.

Earl joined the military in 1989 at age 18 to provide a stable income for his then-girlfriend and son. After training in Alabama, he was deployed six times to places such as Panama, Kenya and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — sometimes for months at a time.

When Earl returned home in 1991, his son was already age 3 and didn’t recognize his own father.

Earl left the military at 25 but struggled to readjust to civilian life. Finding a job was hard. He went through a divorce, and his health began to suffer.

After several jobs, Earl became a liquor runner at the Venetian in 2000. He retired in 2025 after doctors discovered an aneurysm on his right kidney and a cancerous mass on his left.

Earl was already receiving medical care for back pain, PTSD and breathing issues — likely caused by exposure to toxins and burn pits during his service, he said.

Earl’s wife heard about Liberty Dogs from a colleague at the local Department of Veterans Affairs medical center.

Liberty Dogs was established by the Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation, a philanthropic organization that Dave and Cheryl Duffield co-founded in 2016. Dave Duffield co-founded the software companies PeopleSoft and Workday.

The foundation funds Liberty Dogs, allowing the group to provide everything from wellness classes at its 27-acre campus in Northern Nevada to supplies for veterans’ service dogs after graduation. A dog raised and trained by a professional service dog organization can cost more than $50,000.

It takes about 18 months for a veteran to complete the process and be paired with a service dog, said Ondra Berry, Liberty Dogs CEO and a retired Nevada Air National Guard major general.

Volunteer “puppy raisers” care for the young dogs and bring them in once a week for training on socialization, obedience and temperament. Once the dogs are old enough and meet the basic requirements for a service dog, they begin six months of advanced training in specific skills to help the veterans they’re paired with.

Many veterans start with Liberty Dogs’ three-day Warrior Wellness class, which brings participants to the group’s Reno campus for sessions on mindfulness, confidence, hands-on learning and other tools to support mental health.

Veterans interested in being paired with a service dog also try activities such as leash handling to see whether they want to make the commitment.

After a veteran submits an application, Liberty Dogs conducts a background check and inspects the veteran’s home to ensure it is safe for the dog, Berry said.

Veterans accepted into the pairing program are then invited, at no cost, to a two-week training camp at the Reno campus, where they are paired with their service dog and begin learning action cues, socialization techniques and general expectations for animal care.

After graduating, participants are sent home with everything they may need to care for their dogs, including a vest, kennel, harness, leash, collar and beds.

Berry said Liberty Dogs tries to remove all barriers that could prevent a veteran from accessing this form of mental health care, and he’s seen the way a service animal can improve the lives of a veteran and their family.

“At the end of the day, we want to make the right impact for those who have served this great nation,” Berry said. “Some (veterans) have been exposed to some things that just are hard to be exposed to, and the least we can do as this great nation is make sure they have the support and the resources, and know that there are people out there that are rooting for them; and not just rooting for them, supporting them, giving them the resources, and helping them to get better and back engaged in this life.”

An estimated 23% of military members and veterans who served after Sept. 11, 2001, have PTSD, which is triggered by an extremely stressful event and can include symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety and other changes in behavior.

A report published in September by the VA found there were almost 6,500 suicides among veterans in 2024 — the most recent year for which data is available. That averaged about 18 deaths a day and was higher than the suicide rate for nonveteran men and women. Many of those who died by suicide had some form of contact with the VA within five years of their death, the agency said.

In Nevada, 108 veterans died by suicide in 2024, and the state’s veteran suicide rate “was significantly higher” than the national veteran and general population suicide rates after accounting for age differences.

Various factors can lead to suicidal ideation, including stressful life events or mental health conditions such as PTSD, anxiety and depression. Positive coping skills, community bonding and access to mental health care can help prevent it.

Local VA medical centers offer many evidence-based therapies for veterans living with mental health conditions. For some, a service dog can add to that care.

Marguerite O’Haire of the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine in Tucson, Ariz., led a study published in June 2024 that found service dogs could reduce PTSD symptoms for military members and veterans.

In the largest nationwide study of its kind at the time, 81 of the 156 participants were given service dogs and, after three months, “reported significantly lower PTSD symptom severity, anxiety and depression as well as less social isolation and higher companionship” compared with the 75 people who were “waitlisted.”

Each pair at Liberty Dogs learns cues tailored to the veteran’s needs, Berry said. For example, a veteran who lives with anxiety and copes by using weighted items for grounding could train their service dog to lie on their chest when it senses an incoming anxiety attack.

Earl learned his cues with Reagan during his two weeks in Reno, including having her jump onto benches and other raised surfaces and lie down on command. The two continue to practice them every day.

Reagan also carries Earl’s rescue inhaler in her service vest and alerts him when she senses he’s having trouble breathing.

Members of the Liberty Dogs team occasionally check in with Earl, and he can call them if he needs help.

When Reagan is too old to continue her role, Earl and his family will get the first opportunity to adopt her and will become a priority for the next round of service dog placements, he said.

Earl said Reagan has already brought his family “joy, happiness and I think even closeness” in just the month he’s had her.

He recommended that all veterans living with PTSD not only use their VA benefits to get therapy but also consider getting a service animal through Liberty Dogs.

“Liberty Dogs is now my second family and will forever support Reagan and I. I can’t appreciate, and I can’t thank them enough; it’s a big difference in my quality of life,” Earl said. “I might be from a different generation and I might be older, but we’ve all dealt with the same problems, and I looked, they say the the daily suicide rate from a veteran is 17.7. If I could help four or five people, or one person, you know, I guess that’s my big goal.”

Liberty Dogs is looking for volunteers across Nevada to babysit puppies in training on weekends or raise them full time. Those interested can apply at libertydogs.org.