BYÂ ELIZABETH MCLAUGHLIN
As Cole Lyle testified before Congress today, his service dog, Kaya, was at his feet.
Lyle, a Marine veteran who served in Afghanistan, suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
After several years taking prescribed sleep aids and antidepressants and even contemplating suicide, he said he decided to try a different kind of therapy: trained service dogs.
Service dogs are not provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, so Lyle tried to get a dog through local nonprofit groups.
But the wait times were over a year, and Lyle said he didn’t feel like he had time to wait.
He purchased Kaya and had her trained for PTSD symptoms by an Assistance Dogs 
International-accredited trainer. After spending $10,000 of his own money, he had the help he needed.
“The bad days are less frequent than they have ever been,” Lyle told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
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