Shilo Schluterman of Arkansas Tech will share her story in A New Leash on Life: The K9s for Warriors Story, scheduled for release in November.
The documentary, directed by five-time Emmy-Award winner Nick Nanton, provides an in-depth look at how the K9s for Warriors organization pairs veterans with service dogs to help treat those with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Schluterman was paired with her Labrador, Javelin, about three years ago after returning from two overseas deployments with the U.S. Air Force Air National Guard, according to a news release. She said in a statement that having Javelin helped mitigate symptoms of PTSD that had made previously routine tasks impossible.
“He has an incredible ability to know before I am aware that my stress and anxiety level has reached a dangerous point,” Schluterman said. “He will do whatever he has to to get my attention — leaning against me, pawing me, licking me, even a short quick bark to get my attention — before I am in a full-fledged anxiety attack."
Almost immediately after she was paired with Javelin, Schluterman said, she was able to venture into public parks, restaurants, stores and shopping malls — places she rarely visited before having a service dog.
“All my fears and worries disappeared the moment I bent down and Javie licked my face," she said. “It was as if he had been waiting just as long for me as I had been for him. He already knew his job. He was waiting to work with me. It was amazing.”
With Javelin's help keeping her PTSD under control, Schluterman is on pace to graduate this year with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a minor in sociology, a news release from the university states. She hopes to work in an international relations field assisting refugees and orphans.
Although Schluterman was hesitant to participate in the documentary, she said, she wanted to help other veterans by sharing her story. A film crew visited the university in February to capture footage of Schluterman performing her daily tasks with Javie by her side.
“It is my hope that people who see this film will understand PTSD a little better and will see how incredible service dogs are for treatment of this,” she said in a statement. “The most important reason to be involved was to share hope to other veterans that if the medications and therapy are still leaving a hole that cannot be overcome, there is still hope."
A public showing of the film can be seen at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 1. at the Doc Bryan Student Services Center Lecture Hall at Arkansas Tech University.