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“I met her, and she was like this crazy dog. She was running all over the place, on her back wanting her belly rubbed and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to have this dog the rest of my life?’” says Louie Belluomini when speaking about the first time he met his service dog, Star.
Captain Belluomini served in the Army for 10 years where he worked as a psychological operations specialist and military police officer. Now veteran, Belluomini was wounded during his time in Afghanistan and Iraq, and suffers from PTSD, traumatic brain injury and damage to his hip. Louie also worked as a flight medic and was deployed to Hurricane Katrina, as an essential paramedic.
He tried therapy and medicine but can find nothing that helps — that was until he met Star.
Star is the 5-year-old golden retriever, who was paired with Captain Belluomini by K-9s for Warriors, the largest K9/Veteran pairing organization in the United States.
According to recent press, “Belluomini’s fears were calmed as soon as he saw Star put her service vest on and get to work. She turned into a completely different dog, and he immediately saw just how capable and intelligent she could be.”