Founded by Mike Herstik, and Eric Brotman, Argus trains service dogs that are matched with disabled veterans and other disabled populations. The dogs are highly trained to assist the veteran to perform complex tasks of daily living such as retrieving objects, opening doors and navigating in public. Argus is in large part about vets helping vets. To this end it is our plan to establish a vocational
program for veterans, to recruit and teach veterans to become certified service dog trainers. As part of this plan veterans will be taught to train service dogs and work closely with their disabled veteran brethren who receive them. Donations received will be used in order to support our mission and facilitate a program where veterans can become accredited service dog trainers and disabled vets can be matched up with their service dogs. All aspects of Argus from receiving vocational training to being matched with a service dog are provided at no cost to the veteran. It should noted that whenever possible Argus seeks out and utilizes rescued dogs that fit the profile and then pass the evaluation that make them suitable as service dog candidates. The Founders:
Mike Herstik is an internationally recognized military and law enforcement canine trainer/ instructor whose background includes instructing the IDF K9 and Navy Seals. Brandon McMillan is well known as an animal trainer for both film and television. He was born into the animal training profession and currently stars in the new network TV show “Lucky Dog”. Eric Brotman PHD is a psychologist and operates Life Skills, a day program for developmentally disabled individuals with behavior problems. History:
The inception of Argus was the collaboration of Mike and Brandon to train a service dog for a young veteran named Tyler who lost both legs to an IED while serving in Afghanistan. Having been given prosthetic legs at Walter Reed, Tyler was still having trouble functioning in everyday life. Together Mike and Brandon got together to train, “Apollo”, a service dog, to help stabilize Tyler’s balance walking up stars, and picking up and carrying dropped objects for Tyler. After the initial training in Los Angeles, Brandon, Tyler, and Apollo returned to Walter Reed to complete the final phase of transitional training. While at Walter Reed Brandon was swamped with requests from other disabled veterans who wanted to know how they too could have a service dog like Apollo. We realized there was a shortage of highly trained service dogs. Argus was born.
