Before Homer, mornings looked different.
Brian Johnson remembers getting out of bed reluctantly. He remembers medication. Anxiety. Hypervigilance.
Now mornings begin with a soft jingle from a collar.
Homer, Johnson’s service dog, wakes him up every day at seven.
For most people, that probably does not sound remarkable. For Johnson, it changed everything.
“Mornings before Homer… kind of grudgingly get out of bed,” he said. “Had to take a bunch of medications… medicate myself to the gills because of the anxiety and the hypervigilance that I suffered from.”
Johnson still takes some medication, but said he no longer relies on medication for anxiety.
Homer came into his life through K9s For Warriors, a nonprofit that pairs military veterans living with PTSD and other invisible wounds of war with trained service dogs at no cost to the veteran.
Today, Homer does not just go home with him. He comes to work.
Johnson is a Marine veteran who deployed to Iraq during the 2003 invasion. Now 46, he said some parts of that experience never left.
“My PTSD is combat-based,” he said. “We had to do and see a lot of things that your normal run-of-the-mill people don’t see. I have seen the worst of what humans can do to each other. For years, that terrified me, and I still have nightmares about it.”
Coming home did not mean leaving those experiences behind.
“When we came back, there were no supports,” he said. “PTSD was still highly stigmatized.”
Years later, Johnson said everything caught up with him.
“I went into a PTSD episode,” he said. “Called my therapist because I had no idea what was going on. I was scared out of my mind.”
After another crisis at home, he called 988. That was when something shifted.
“Living with PTSD and surviving PTSD are two different things,” he said. “I was just barely surviving.”
Treatment helped stabilize things. Eventually, Johnson and his therapist talked about another layer of support. A service dog. Johnson had one request.
“I told them I did not want a poodle.”
That request did not work out.
“They opened the gate, and I just saw this big poofy head. My first reaction was… that’s a poodle,” he said.
Homer turned out to be a giant schnoodle. Part giant schnauzer. Part giant poodle.
“It was a very emotional day. I cried my eyes out.”
Before Homer, Johnson said crowds felt impossible. He noticed a shift during training at a busy airport.
“We’re moving through a crowd… and I looked down at Homer, and Homer was just relaxed,” he said.
Johnson realized he was walking through a crowd without scanning every person around him.
“I looked over at the trainer, and I was like… I’ve never done this before.”
Today, Johnson works at Lakeview Center as a certified recovery peer specialist and is often one of the first people someone meets when seeking care.
“I explain to them who I am… my diagnosis… and how long I’ve been in sustained recovery.”
He believes that it changes things.
“They’re talking to somebody who’s already been in their shoes,” Johnson said.
Shannon Spann, director of Lakeview’s Central Access program, said peer specialists offer something different from traditional treatment.
“Clinicians bring the clinical knowledge, the diagnosis and treatment skills,” Spann said. “Peer specialists have lived experience. They’ve gone through services and are in recovery.”
Sometimes Homer becomes part of that work too.
Johnson recalled one child who barely spoke during an assessment. Then she met Homer.
“She sat down on the floor with him… and she answered every single question without pause,” he said.
Not because a dog erased trauma. But because, for a moment, she felt safe enough to talk.
And for anyone who believes help will not matter, Johnson has this:
“Nobody is above help, and nobody is below help,” he said. “PTSD is not a death sentence. You just have to want the help. And it shows amazing courage to ask for it.”
NEED SUPPORT?
- Lakeview Center New Patient Services
Call 850-469-3500 to begin services or ask about intake options. - K9s For Warriors
Provides trained service dogs to eligible veterans living with PTSD, traumatic brain injury and military sexual trauma. - Pensacola Vet Center
Outpatient mental health counseling for PTSD, trauma, and readjustment support. Can also refer veterans to higher levels of VA care when needed. - Panhandle Warrior Partnership
Connects veterans to mental health care, housing help, benefits, employment resources, and crisis support. - 211 Northwest Florida
Access to PTSD counseling referrals, crisis support, and veteran-specific programs. Also connects to the Florida Veterans Support Line: 1-844-MyFLVet. - Veterans Crisis Line
Call 988 and press 1 or text 838255. - 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988. - If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.
