PLATTSBURGH — Christopher Paiser stood under the sun in front of McSweeney's restaurant and commanded Ike to "Find a seat."
The harnessed Labrador led Paiser, who was blinded during an attack in Iraq, to the left, stopping at an empty picnic table as his master, holding onto the grip, thanked the dog and sat down.
Eric O. Loori, director/founder of Freedom Guide Dogs, sat beside him.
"The dog bonds with him first and not the family," Loori explained. "Everybody got to pet him once the first day, and that's it."
Since his seeing-eye dog arrived, Paiser has noticed significant changes in his life, which was first drastically altered while serving his county in Iraq as an infantry soldier.
"He gives me purpose," said Paiser, 42. "I am his master, and he is one of my children."
EXPERIENCED SOLDIER
Paiser's purpose was nearly shattered at war.
He comes from a family of soldiers that include grandfathers, his father and uncles, some of whom served in World War II and Vietnam.
"I didn't realize I wanted to do it until I did it," Paiser said.
He was deployed to Iraq with the Army National Guard 108th Infantry out of Morrisonville as a fire-team leader. A sergeant with 17 years under his belt, he felt comfortable with his soldiers.
He was "boots down" in February 2004 and was hit four months later.
ROCKET ATTACK
It was June 16, and he had taken his fire team to the post exchange on their day off.
As Paiser spoke with a team member, he heard what sounded like a jet overhead. Instead, 57 mm Hellfire rockets hit the facility.
"The next thing I knew I was on the ground," he said. "Wrong place at the wrong time."
Shrapnel tore through him and ruined his right eye, but Paiser thought he could still see shapes with the other one.
The military airlifted him to Baghdad, where doctors removed the shrapnel. He stayed two days for swelling before being transferred to Germany and then Walter Reed Military Hospital in Bethesda, Md.
Paiser, who also worked as a New York state correction officer, didn't regain vision in either eye.
"I thought, 'The doctors don't know what they are talking about. I'll get better.'"
But his sight didn't return.
DEPRESSED
He returned home and sank into depression.
"I didn't want to get off the couch or out of bed, and my wife (Mary) would say, 'You didn't come home in a box. Move.'"
Paiser couldn't accept the loss of his independence, such as jumping in the car to head to the store for milk and a loaf of bread.
"The hardest is not being able to see the expressions on my wife's and kids' faces."
Paiser has four children, who now range in age from 10 to 16.
'SCARED AS A KID'
But slowly, life began to improve, such as when he went to rehab center for the blind in West Haven, Conn., where he learned to use a mobility cane.
"I rode the train home by myself," Paiser said. "I was as scared as a little kid and was afraid I would get off at the wrong stop."
Still, he was regaining some independence.
Then, Ike, a 2-year-old black Labrador came into his life.
"I had toyed with the idea of getting a guide dog," Paiser said. "Wounded Warrior called me and put me in touch with Eric."
The Army Wounded Warrior program assists severely wounded and ill soldiers, veterans and their families.
SPECIAL TRAINING
Loori is founder/director of Freedom Guide Dogs, a nonprofit organization in upstate New York that breeds, raises, trains and places guide dogs with the blind and visually impaired through a home-based style of training.
Loori has participated in the training for 25 years; he and his wife, Sharon, started Freedom Guide Dog in Cassville in 1992. He travels about four months annually and is currently training Paiser at his home near Chazy Lake.
The Looris rely on donations to provide individuals such as Paiser with guide dogs and training free of charge. He is teaching Paiser to take care of Ike, keep him under control and how to walk with the dog.
MORE INDEPENDENT
Ike sleeps at the side of Paiser's bed and must not interact with anyone besides Paiser while he is in his harness or it interferes with his ability to successfully work as a guide dog.
"It is amazing the things I can do with Ike and how much faster I can move."
Ike, responding to Paiser's commands, led the man from the bench outside McSweeney's to the door and inside the restaurant to pay the bill. He then led Paiser back out again and to the bench.
Paiser is amazed by the independence he has gained with Ike's help. He attends his children's soccer games and can get to the building, inside to the bathroom and then back to his truck without requesting assistance from those around him.
He now navigates Walmart without bumping into people and getting disoriented.
"I fee like I am getting my life back."
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