Part of the reason why I got him is after the show happened, life changed drastically. Going outside was a little bit different than it was prior to the shows kind of coming out. And he’s a full-service dog, so he can detect my anxiety, my triggers and that was really what I got him trained for because I was having like very, very serious panic attacks.
So, for me it was sort of like having a a friend that also understood when I was going through it. So, he’s he saved me in more ways than I can imagine. I mean, he truly is my my soul dog. He can actually sense my temperament change and what he’ll do is he’ll come and he’ll jump and he’ll put his body weight on my chest and um help me calm down.
— Chase Stokes on his dog, Milo
Stokes told the “Who’s A Good Guest?” podcast that he got Milo during the pandemic, off a Craigslist ad posted by a neighbor whose dog had puppies with theirs. “It was a photo of like six of them and he looked like the most calm one. He was asleep on his back in a chair,” Stokes said. That did not hold up for long.
He was told the German Shepherd Golden Retriever mix would top out at 50 pounds. Milo is now 98 pounds, walks off-leash right on Stokes’ hip, and grew up on the set of “Outer Banks,” where crew members and cast brought their dogs too. “Sometimes in the middle of a scene you would hear dogs barking behind you,” Stokes said.
Stokes had him service-trained young, specifically for the panic attacks that started once the show hit. When Milo senses his temperament shift, he jumps up and presses his full body weight onto Chase’s chest until he calms down. “Sometimes it’s very calming, but as you can see, he’s a lot,” Stokes said. “Intent versus impact with him is a thing.”
“He saved me in more ways than I can imagine,” Stokes said. “He truly is my soul dog.”
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