This pit bull was used for dog fighting. Now it’s helping this SC teen heal

An unlikely Hilton Head Island pair is helping to heal one another’s wounds.

Naomi Gosdin, an 11th-grade student at Hilton Head High, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, the result of a number of factors, her parents say, including bullying at school.

Her dog, Twinkie, was found wandering the streets after Tropical Storm Irma. Before they met, Twinkie, a pit bull, had been forced into dog fights. Bite marks covered her head and body.

Both their lives got better once they connected.

“It was a total change,” said the 17-year-old Naomi. “It was like my life finally had a meaning again, and Twinkie was just a little savior.”

A journey from darkness

Naomi had been suffering with PTSD for about a year, according to her mother Patty.

Desperate to find help, Patty and her husband struck on the idea of getting Naomi a service animal. But when they did the research, they came up against a hard truth.

“I found out that a service dog can be $20,000 to $40,000, and there can be a two-year waiting period,” said Patty.

The Gosdins reached out to a friend. Gudrun Kaiser is one of the co-owners of Leader of the Pack HHI, which provides service training and general obedience training for dogs.

Gudrun approached them with a unique solution to their problem.

An unconventional solution

“They said to me they were devastated because they didn’t have the money, and they couldn’t wait. They felt they had to do something now for her. They thought a dog could help her to get out of the place she was in,” said Gudrun. “I told them, ‘With shelter dogs, you don’t need to pay anything besides an adoption fee, and I’ll work with you, and since you’re a part of my extended family, you won’t have to pay anything for that.”

All Gudrun asked was that Naomi take full responsibility for the dog, including feeding and walking it, and that she participate in training, something Naomi enthusiastically agreed to.

“We had a talk with Naomi and presented the idea, and you could see immediately, just the idea of having a dog of her own, her whole demeanor changed,” said Gudrun.

The search for a best friend

The next step was to find the right dog. Naomi told Gudrun that she wanted a pit bull, which gave the trainer pause due to the stigma attached to the breed. If Naomi was already harassed, Gudrun thought, having a pit bull as a service animal might make her even more of a target.

She told Naomi that the type of dog would depend on the temperament of the shelter dogs available. She also told Naomi’s parents that finding the right dog could take a while.

After putting a message out on Facebook, Gudrun got an answer from a Beaufort County shelter saying it had two dogs that might make good candidates. Ultimately, Kaiser and her business partner both felt those dogs would be a bad fit. On their way out the door, though, someone mentioned a pit bull they just had to see.

“When we evaluated her, she immediately put her head in my lap. She was nothing but sweet. Immediately it was like, ‘You’re it, girl,’ ” said Gudrun. “Without even asking the Gosdins if it would be OK, I just took her, and I called from the car and said, ‘Listen, I just picked up your service dog.’ ”

The whole process took less than two weeks.

Love at first sight

Gudrun took Twinkie, then named Penny, to the Gosdins’ home, where Naomi was waiting. She opened the car door, and the two ran towards each other.

“Naomi and Twinkie saw each other, and it was love at first site,” said Naomi’s mother, Patty. “From the time Gudrun first brought Twinkie into our house, Naomi has taken care of every responsibility.”

That meant getting up early to take Twinkie on walks, which has meant socializing, which has helped Naomi immensely.

“I need to walk her, and I have so much fun doing that,” she said. “I used to not really go out and walk that much, but now I do because I have Twinkie, and I know that if I’m having a really bad day, I know that when I come home Twinkie will be there.”

Training begins

Naomi and Kaiser taught Twinkie basic obedience commands like “sit” and “stay.” They recently started task training, the most important part of her training, where the animal learns the things she needs to do to help Naomi with her PTSD.

Currently, Twinkie is learning what Gudrun calls the “cuddle command.”

“Whenever Naomi is in some kind of distress — in Naomi’s case, she’ll lay down on the bed or the couch into this fetal position and start sobbing — Twinkie automatically runs to her, stretches herself out on her body and starts licking her face until Naomi hugs her,” said Gudrun. “And that helps Naomi to relax and destress.”

Next up will be training for when Naomi and Twinkie are out in public, where panic and anxiety attacks are a possibility. Twinkie will run between Naomi’s legs, providing physical contact, or run out in front of her as a barrier between her and others, letting Naomi know she is there, Kaiser said.

Naomi’s mother is already seeing a difference.

“Twinkie brings a spark into Naomi’s life every time she sees her,” said Patty. “Naomi has just really blossomed with Twinkie being there.”

Never a question of money

All of this wouldn’t be possible without the use of shelter dogs and the work of Gudrun, who wants people who might need a service animal but don’t think they can afford one to know that shelter dogs are always an affordable option.

“I can honestly say that everyone can afford this,” said Kaiser. “... It should never be a question of money, that somebody who is in need of a service dog can have a service dog.”

Kaiser notes a predjudice against using shelter dogs as service animals by many trainers, some of whom believe dogs with bad pasts aren’t up to the task. That is only compounded by widely held negative ideas about pit bulls.

Naomi doesn’t believe that.

“Shelter dogs can be just as good service dogs. They can make a difference in the world. They deserve to be loved.” said Naomi. “I feel like pit bulls are really misconstrued in the fact that people really have the wrong idea about them. They’re really sweet dogs.”

There’s still a lot of work ahead for Naomi, Gudrun and Twinkie, or “Team Twinkie,” as Gudrun calls them, but everyone seems more than up to the challenge.

“It’s actually been quite an amazing journey,” Naomi said. “It feels great because I know she’s always going to be there for me. She’s like my best friend.”

Michael Olinger: 843-706-8107, @mikejolinger

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 9:40 AM with the headline "This pit bull was used for dog fighting. Now it’s helping this SC teen heal."