‘Let the dogs do the work’: How SLO man and his dogs helped survivors of trauma around U.S.

When Dan Sievert moved to San Luis Obispo with his two golden retrievers in 2012, it was supposed to be the beginning of some much needed relaxation, not the start of a 165,000-mile journey.

An empty-nester after his twin sons reached adulthood, Sievert was ready for a change of pace following a long career as owner of a retail store in Big Bear Lake.

“It was the most beautiful, boring life you’ve ever lived,” Sievert told The Tribune. “I used to go out at night time and look at the beautiful stars and stand on my porch on the cool nights and go, ‘Can anyone possibly die from boredom?’”

It wasn’t until Sievert was sitting in a coffee shop, watching the news on the morning of April 17, 2013, that he felt a new calling in life.

Two days removed from the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people, Sievert saw a clip from “Good Morning America” featuring five golden retriever service dogs and their handlers who were visiting survivors of the bombings.

Then, he said, he heard a whisper from God, telling him simply to “go.”

He stood up, got in his car with Jake and Emerson, his two golden retrievers, and immediately started preparing for a trip.

The ensuing 3,200-mile journey turned out to be just the first of 55 “missions” to help people deal with trauma in the wake of tragedies across the United States through the power of a dog’s unconditional love, Sievert said.

“I was walking the streets by where the bombings occurred, and people were walking, downtrodden,” Sievert said. “God put me in a place where a lot of the traumatized victims who were emotionally affected, holding that stress, were allowed a cathartic moment.”

Now, Sievert is looking back on a decade on the road with his canine companions, and sharing what makes connecting with dogs such an effective piece of therapy.

Journey started with a series of unexpected trips

Sievert said when he first set out for Boston in 2013, he thought it was going to be a “one-time event,” but fate had other plans.

The return trip to San Luis Obispo was already delayed due to some complications with the rental car he was using, but “God had a better plan” for Sievert and the dogs, he said.

Just days after wrapping up in Boston, a tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma, leaving 24 people dead, including seven children in Plaza Towers Elementary School.

Running low on money, Sievert said he didn’t think he could keep the trip going much longer to get to Moore, until he received some unexpected help.

“I sat there in the lobby, and when church broke, every fifth or sixth person started handing me money,” Sievert said. “I never heard (the pastor) say, ‘Please donate,’ but the people were so kind and gracious.”

That became the model for many of Sievert’s trips, relying on donations from churches, friends, family and supporters of his cause to keep his gas tank full and his dogs fed, he said.

Sievert returned to San Luis Obispo County periodically between his missions, usually staying between 30 and 60 days at rentals or hotels before setting out again

Not long after visiting Moore, Sievert made a trip to Prescott, Arizona, where Jake and Emerson comforted firefighters and families after 19 firefighters died in an 8,400-acre wildfire.

After that trip, Sievert realized working with people through dogs was his calling, and started Golden Missions of America to spread the word about his mission.

Golden Missions has been there for survivors of some of the most notable tragedies of the past decade, including the 2014 Carlton Complex fire in northern central Washington, the Isla Vista killings in 2014 and the 2015 San Bernardino mass shooting, Sievert said.

Past experience with trauma and recovery guide missions

Though Sievert’s dogs have always been the star of the show during his missions, Sievert’s own experience with trauma and recovery have guided the way he approaches victims of tragedy.

When he was 20, Sievert climbed a high-voltage power tower near his San Diego apartment while trying to get a view of the sunset, he said.

Sievert was electrocuted repeatedly by part of the tower, sustaining severe burns to much of his body that would require 17 surgeries in total.

Sievert recalled the months of painful recovery in a hospital, not knowing if he would survive and feeling isolated in his pain.

But he also recalled “people walking in and sitting quietly next to me and saying, ‘There’s hope. You’re gonna get through this.’”

“They didn’t tell me how, when or where, and that is what these dogs do,” Sievert said. “They bring hope by their presence.”

With their heightened senses, dogs are uniquely attuned to the physical and emotional responses of people and make calming listeners, he said.

Though Sievert’s dogs are not trained service animals beyond the help they give their owner, and he is not a licensed counselor, it is in their nature to be there for others, Sievert said.

In his experience, people who are suffering mostly want to be heard and comforted, Sievert said, but don’t want to hear people just say they understand. We may understand the depth of an individual’s pain, but everyone processes suffering uniquely, he said.

“My mission was and always is thereafter to be the quiet one, to be the listener,” Sievert said. “Let the dogs do the work.”

What’s next for Golden Missions?

After a decade of travel, missions have become more sporadic in recent years, Sievert said.

Sievert’s original dogs, Jake and Emerson, passed away in 2018 and 2021, respectively, leaving him with Cooper, who was adopted a few months after Jake was put down, he said.

In recent years, Sievert said he turned his attention closer to home, working with firefighters up and down the Central Coast in 2019.

“The agenda for ‘19 was just to go knock on firefighters’ doors on the Central Coast and say, ‘Hi, you don’t know us. We’re here bringing some joy,’” Sievert said. ”We went everywhere from Santa Barbara County all the way up to Cambria and knocked on doors, and almost unanimously, everywhere we went, whether it was Goleta or Cambria or San Luis Obispo, stories came forth about PTSD and about how they were struggling, and my dogs just sat with them while they talked.”

Most recently, Sievert and Cooper spent the end of 2022 and early 2023 visiting nine states in six months, continuing their mission wherever it was needed, Sievert said.

Now, Sievert said he still hopes to work with people through dogs, and said he’s started working on a book about his experiences, which he hopes to publish next year.

“The biggest impact of my mission is still to keep people secret’s safe with me to establish trust, and to bring the next level of healing to each person,” Sievert said.