Former U.S. Army Sgt. Greg Shartle and his fiancée, Alana Curtis, who each have service dogs, pose with their dogs Cadence and Bravo.

It’s their way of giving back to those who gave so much.

Greg Shartle and his fiancée, Alana Curtis, want to get the word out about the work they want to do to help veterans who use service dogs.

They want to make vests for service dogs from the veterans’ camouflage Army Combat Uniforms.

Inspiration to make the vests came from a failed search by Curtis when she wanted to get an Army-styled vest for Shartle’s service dog, Cadence. What she found had no pockets for Shartle’s medicine or his dog’s toys. Now both are stored in a vest made from one of Shartle’s old uniforms. It includes his Army patches and the dog’s medical patches.

Shartle, a former U.S. Army sergeant, has had post-traumatic stress disorder since he returned from Iraq in 2005.

While they have not made vests for others just yet, they are more than ready to start. They say as long as ACU material and patches are provided, they will make the vests at no charge for anyone who is a veteran and has a service dog.

Cadence, who is an Irish Setter mix and was adopted from the Central Minnesota Animal Care and Control center in St. Cloud, Minnesota, can sense when Shartle is about to have one of his violent flashbacks. His body posture and the way he acts triggers her to jump into his lap or get close to him and keep others away so they don’t get hurt. A touch from Cadence is non-threatening to Shartle, Curtis says, and helps bring him back to reality faster.

But Cadence isn’t the only service dog who makes Shartle and Curtis’ lives easier.

Curtis, who has had epileptic seizures since she was a little girl, relies on Bravo, an all-black German Shepherd who can sense when Curtis will have a seizure hours before it happens.

What’s truly amazing however, is that Shartle and Curtis trained both Cadence and Bravo themselves.

“Every dog can do it, not every dog knows how to,” Curtis said.

Curtis is now working towards receiving certification to train service dogs, specifically for seizure alert. She wants to give people with invisible disorders, such as seizures and flashbacks, a chance to get the help that Bravo and Cadence have given them.

By Elaine Furst For Dog Files