SHE has had 34 years in the military, been witness to countless horrors and has had to leave her young son for months on end.
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This was just one of the stories at a ceremony yesterday that marked the Dogs for Diggers second anniversary.
The Australian-first program saves dogs from pounds and shelters and pairs them up with inmates at Bathurst Correctional Centre for training.
And it’s not just the dogs that are saved: the program is credited with saving the lives of a number of ex and current Australian military personnel.
Inmates spend four to six months with the dogs before they are given to diggers to provide new hope.
Royal Australian Air Force Group Captain Margot Forster, who has seen things in the military that can make life at home challenging, was the latest recipient, receiving a dog called Jakie.
“Serving in the military is a wonderful opportunity, but it is a sacrifice,” she said.
Many defence force personnel come home from deployment angry, depressed and confused and this often leads to relationship problems, according to John Jarrett, who founded the Young Diggers group, which provides help to serving and ex-serving personnel and their families.
He said the Dogs for Diggers program provides hope for many of the diggers and gives them something else to focus on.
“The dog brought me home,” he was told by one Australian digger, who said the animal brought him back to reality.
Margot’s 11-year-old son Matthew has attended six schools in six years – a side-effect of his mother’s military life.
“He was not happy at all when mum had to go away for six months to the Middle East,” she said.
“Jakie’s coming into the family to help us manage the defence family life.”
Matthew is excited to have a companion. “I’ve got a new friend that can play with me,” he said.
Bathurst inmate Chris helped train border collie-cross Jakie for his new life.
“I’ve got family that’s been in the defence force and I’ve seen the effect it can have,” he said.
He still has 14 months of his sentence to go but Chris said being involved with the program has also changed his life.
"I do it to give something back,” he said.
Attorney general and minister for Justice Brad Hazzard was at yesterday’s anniversary and handing over of four dogs to diggers.
“I don’t know, and I don’t think that most people will ever know, the trauma you’ve gone through for us,” he said.
