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64 | SIGNATURE MONTANA Great Falls resident Aerial Loewen, a U.S. Air Force 1st lieutenant who le the military in 2018, first reached out to the DTB program in March of 2020. Since then, she has trained her two-year-old Doberman partner, Echo, to help her with medication retrieval and medical alerts. In addition to carrying out these life-altering tasks, Echo has also helped reintroduce his partner to the world around them. "Echo opens up all these interactions," Aerial laughs. "Having that connection with him and him being that buffer to the outside helps me to enjoy the outside world more. And it helps knowing I have him to trust over and over again. I didn't rescue him. He rescued me." Consistency and commitment are key to having a successful team. Just because a service animal learns a task doesn't mean the training can stop. It requires daily maintenance. "It is a lot of work," Aerial says. "It has to be more than just, 'I want a dog.'" Team Echo has even mastered riding Aerial's motorcycle together. "He has a special platform," she says proudly. "Working on a bunch of those lile tasks is what gets you to the big task." DTB has worked with over 80 veterans and has rescued more than 60 dogs since its inception. Eighteen of those rescues are now fully-trained service dogs, and another 30 teams are currently in training for that end goal. Dee De is also working her way through another 16 program applications from interested veterans. "We're dealing with veterans who struggle daily with suicidal ideation, Dee De says. "ese dogs are saving people's lives." "It's all about the journey to healing," she adds. "e service dog is the end result. What we do is holistic, and if we can help them have a beer day every day, they become beer parents and spouses and more active members of their communities. We want to give them back their lives." Photo by Crystal Gillen Aerial is passionate about the DTB program and the impact it is making in the lives of veterans like her. MONTANA EXPO PARK Great Falls, MT www.hbagf.org MARCH 25-27, 2022 1980-2022 Celebrating 42 Years Kick off the holiday season with our famous Tom & Jerry's TACO TUESDAY® PRICING ON ANYDAY enjoy your tacos like it's Taco Tuesday® any day of the week. Limit one coupon per customer, per visit. Not valid with any other coupon, discount or oer. Valid only at the following Taco John's locations: ©2020 Taco John's International, Inc. All Rights Resetved. Northside Taco John's - 1001 14th Street North Great Falls, MT 10th Avenue South Taco John's - 1301 10th Avenue South Great Falls, MT