‘Magical things happen’ with Paws 4 Valour

A retired Manitoba RCMP sergeant living with post-traumatic stress disorder says his mental health has significantly improved since getting his black Labrador retriever and taking part in a dog-training and peer-support program.

Richard Marshall’s career with the RCMP spanned about 24 years and involved responding to crime scenes, motor-vehicle collisions, life-threatening incidents and helping victims sort through the aftermath of traumatic situations.

“I had to retire due to PTSD, so I have my dog to help calm me,” said Marshall, who left the workforce five years ago and was looking for ways to connect with his canine companion and others.

He recently registered his three-year-old dog, Bella, with the Paws 4 Valour program, which supports members of the Canadian Armed Forces, veterans and emergency first responders struggling with mental-health issues.

On Tuesday evening, Marshall guided Bella through a series of tricks and basic skill training during the program’s second session that took place at The Paw Resort and Wellness Centre, located west of Brandon.

“This helps me out quite a bit and gets my mind off of things,” Marshall said. “She’s a little rambunctious for a Lab, so I thought this training would help (me) be able to work with her, calm her down and calm me down.”

Marshall, who lives in Oakburn, said the 90-minute drive to attend the weekly hour-long sessions is “worth it” because he’s able to bond with Bella.

It’s also an opportunity to socialize with people who have a shared understanding of the emotional, mental and physical difficulties in stressful occupations.

Paws 4 Valour is a non-profit co-founded by veteran Joel Langley and his wife, Shauna, in May 2025. It offers six-week sessions in the fall and spring to help people cope with PTSD, anxiety and depression through purpose-driven community gatherings.

The program can take on six dog handlers at a time, who will attend a final session at The Paw Resort and Wellness Centre with professional trainers before going to the Brandon legion for the remaining three sessions.

The trainers are already noticing a difference in the dogs’ listening skills by the second session, said Ngaire Abernethy, trick dog trainer with Paws 4 Valour and the co-founder of Brandon-based therapy dog group PATDogs.

“We’ve seen magical things happen already with the program,” she said.

Teaching the dogs to settle is a good starting point because the dog will settle when its owner is calm, and vice versa.

“Their stress, we say, goes down the leash,” Abernethy said.

Brandon resident Aaron Legg said during the session the goal for his three-year-old border collie and Australian shepherd mix is to have him become calmer.

“He’s generally a pretty wonderful dog at home, but he can be tough in crowds, and he certainly has some things to learn when it comes to dealing with people that are not in his house,” Legg told the Sun.

Legg is enrolled at the Manitoba Emergency Services College to become a firefighter and paramedic. He formerly worked for almost 10 years as a construction technician for the Canadian Armed Forces at the Shilo base.

He was deployed in Poland for Operation Reassurance in 2017 and in Kuwait for Operation Impact in 2023, Legg said, adding that he left the air force in 2024.

While he said his military background hasn’t directly affected his mental health, he has dealt with other personal struggles that his dog, Maverick, has helped him heal through.

“When I have had days where maybe I’m a little bit more emotional, or I’m kind of at my wit’s end … he is just a very calming presence,” he said.

Legg described a moment when he was emotional, sitting on the couch with his head in his hands, and Maverick nudged his face and hopped into his lap.

Dario Antonissen, who has worked as a materials technician in the military for about eight years, said he understands how it can be difficult for some people to speak about the struggles they experience.

“We use the dogs as an icebreaker and then from there, it’s like, we talk about our stuff,” he said.

Antonissen graduated from the fall session with his six-year-old border collie mix Zoe, who went on to become certified as a therapy dog in January, he said.

Now he attends sessions with her to model skills and show dog handlers what they can strive for.

Antonissen recalled days when he didn’t feel like attending the dog-training sessions, but he knew it was good for Zoe and he “always felt better” mentally after socializing with folks in the program.

People within the group have become family to him, he said, adding that he used to feel isolated when he moved to Shilo two years ago.

Antonissen said it has been incredible to see the impact Zoe has as a therapy dog, visiting seniors and children.

Next week’s session will focus on having positive interactions between people and their dogs, especially when the canines first meet, said Gabrielle Pelletier, who’s training to become a certified dog trainer at The Paw Resort and Wellness Centre.

“You want to teach the parents confidence because your confidence is going to wear off on your dog,” she said.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com