PAWCATUCK - As she watched the terrifying images of Manhattan 10 years ago, the last thing Jeanne Brummund expected was a phone call asking for her help. In the days following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, however, Brummund and her therapy dogs played an important role in the rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero.
Today, Brummund can look back on those days with a sense of honor, knowing how the business she loves helped so many people.
"When I got the call, my first reaction was fear," Brummund admitted, referring to the invitation from Therapy Dogs International, which provides disaster stress relief. "I was scared to leave my family and worried that there might be more attacks in New York."
Her husband, Dale, a Stonington police officer, encouraged her to go. "Dale felt that I had something to offer the rescue operation. Given my background with the military, I felt drawn to go then."
Certified therapy dogs are used in situations where human counseling may not be enough. The dogs go to nursing homes, hospitals, schools and disaster sites to give comfort and smiles - the same things that most dog owners look for in their companion.
Therapy dogs are trained to absorb grief. They do not lick, jump up or do anything else other than give undivided attention to those who need it. The training is rigorous and can take from one to three years. Dogs must pass a test to earn certification. Brummund is a trainer and test evaluator.
Although Brummund also works in real estate, her main love is dog training, which she has done for more than 30 years. "There have always been dogaholics in my family," she said. "I began training years ago while I was in California in the National Guard. I had a natural knack with animals."
She got started with her sheltie on the West Coast. At first, she only trained her own dogs. Then she began to take on clients. "I used to take dogs that were going to be put down at the shelter," Brummund said. "I trained them completely and found homes for them."
It was not until later that Brummund involved herself in the therapy side of dog training. An injury she suffered while she worked at a hospital forced her to be stuck at home. She saw the power of therapy dogs and wanted to help others in the same way. She became involved with Therapy Dog International.
When the call came in from TDI 10 years ago, Brummund got her dogs ready. Her Doberman, Tara, would be used with first- responders, while her springer spaniel, Baxter, went to the children's center. Her oldest daughter, Jessica, went along for the two-day trip. They were stationed at Liberty State Park in New Jersey, directly across the Hudson River from the site. "We could see the smoke and the destruction from there," Brummund said.
That weekend, Brummund's dogs stayed with the site workers. "My Doberman chose who needed help," she said. Five more times over the next eight weeks, Brummund returned to New York with her therapy dogs. After the first visit, she was permitted to go into Manhattan. It unsettled her.
"It was eerily quiet," Brummund recalled. "The whole scene was surreal. I didn't think. I just went through the motions." Instead of the noisy city everyone is used to, Brummund said there were no honking horns and no one was rude.
Working from Pier 94, Brummund put her dogs to work at the recovery station where the search for bodies was under way. She also was to greet families that had come to identify loved ones. When she first pulled into the area with her friend Sheila Beckwith and her therapy dog, Magnus, a mastiff, Brummund received a shock. "When we pulled up, there were guns pointed at us," she said. "They kept everything secure so they could search the car."
Out on the ground, Brummund said an overwhelming sense of grief hit as they entered the crisis center building. Her dogs absorbed that grief. "When the dogs got home afterward, they were upset," she said. "Then they wanted to go back. The police and firemen would request us by name when we got there. We were there to minister to them."
One incident sticks with Brummund and moves her to tears when she tells the story. "We don't normally let people take our dogs on their own," she noted. "This one woman - a Red Cross worker - took Tara and just hugged her and cried. I knew she had seen a lot."
"The dogs give so much of themselves," Brummund said. "They get exhausted the same way we do."
According to Therapy Dog International, dozens of its volunteers and their dogs served at the Family Assistance Center at Pier 94 over a three-month period ending in December.
When her time in the relief effort was over, Brummund admitted that it took her a year to fully get back to normal. "It changed me," she said. "For that first year after, I was very much aware of everything around me. And I didn't even see as much as some people."
The experience changed her family as well. Jessica, the daughter who went with her, now has a career in occupational therapy because of 9/11. Her younger daughter, Sarah, is also intent on career in occupational therapy with a focus on children's therapy with horses.
Brummund received an email invitation to return to Liberty State Park on Sept. 11 this year to be part of a tribute to therapy dogs and the role they played in the relief effort. The event, "Courage Beyond Measure: 10th Anniversary Tribute to Working Dog Teams," has been organized by a group called Finding One Another. It has identified about 950 working dog teams that were involved in the post-Sept. 11 efforts in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
"I had no idea this would happen," Brummund said. "I'm very humbled and honored. I certainly didn't expect it."
Although she is honored, Brummund had no plans to attend for various reasons. Instead, she is content to run her business - Clever K-9's Dog Training - and spend time readying her current Doberman, Emma, to become a certified therapy dog. Brummund said she would feel no bigger honor than to help other people see the benefits of therapy dogs.
For more information on therapy dogs, visit tdi-dog.org or call Jeanne Brummund at 860-599-2017.
sstandridge@thewesterlysun.com
