When Iraq War veteran Phil Bauer of Canandaigua takes his dog Champ for a walk, people are eager to greet the friendly Labrador retriever/Great Dane mix.
"When they come up to me, they tend to be very smiley, very happy, very open, which allows me to put my guard down," he said. "Because if I get standoffish, it's not the best form of me."
Bauer, a Purple Heart recipient and father of three, has been living with post-traumatic stress disorder for 20 years.
The symptoms began in 2003 after the U.S. Army helicopter that was transporting Bauer and over 30 of his comrades was shot down over Fallujah, Iraq.
Bauer survived the fiery crash, but his severely burned right leg had to be amputated below the knee. It wasn't long before he began experiencing emotional trauma.
Feeling like "a menace" to himself, Bauer said he lost his sense of purpose.
"And what was a broken soldier going to be able to do to function in life?" he asked.
For Bauer and other former servicemembers, at least part of the answer is a highly trained service dog.
"In the simplest basic terms, she allows me to be able to go out in public and feel a sense of humanity," Bauer said of Champ, which is short for Champagne.
The dog is skilled in retrieving items for Bauer, including his prosthetic leg. But perhaps more importantly, she senses his emotions and picks up on subtle cues in the environment that may trigger Bauer's trauma.
He feels more secure in her presence.
"If I'm in a diner or restaurant or someplace like that, I never have to worry about having my back to a door and be paying attention to what's going on around me," said Bauer. "Instead, I can calm down and I can focus on why I'm there."
The bond between Bauer and Champ is one of the stories featured in the documentary "To Be of Service," produced by Academy Award-nominated director Josh Aronson.
The film explores the life-changing results that trained service dogs bring to military veterans suffering from PTSD. The documentary airs on WXXI-TV at 10 p.m. Friday.
