Austin man, his service dog steal Keith Urban show in Colorado

AUSTIN, Texas – An Austinite and PTSD service dog advocate stole the show with his handsome pup in Colorado.

Bobby Kissner, of Austin, and his service dog, Maverick, took center stage at country western artist Keith Urban’s High and Alive Tour in Denver on July 17.

“I get a little emotional, kind of thinking about it, that someone like that was willing to kind of spotlight what we do and kind of shine a light on that for a second,” said Bobby Kissner. 

Keith Urban is known for reading out signs from the audience during his shows, and Kissner’s sign caught his eye. 

“It was very unexpected,” said Kissner. “We were not expecting him to do that and to show that sort of kindness and generosity to bring him up on stage.” 

Kissner travels for work as a pharmaceutical rep. 

“We travel a lot,” said Kissner. “I would say that Maverick probably flies around the country with me 75 times a year.” 

In their free time, the duo enjoys attending concerts or sporting events. 

“For someone like myself going to a concert like that, you know it’s very loud,” said Kissner. “There’s a lot of people. He kind of helps me to be able to navigate an area like that.” 

Kissner was in a serious accident a few years ago, and Maverick is trained to help him navigate certain situations. Now, he tries to spread awareness about the benefits of having a service dog. 

“They’ll lean, they’ll put pressure if they think someone’s getting anxious, it’s just that physical touch that helps, and then also you know the dogs are trained to bark if someone gets too close,” said Kissner. 

The four-year-old pup was born for the spotlight. Maverick jumped up on stage with excited tail wags and gave Keith Urban lots of kisses. 

Kissner said his advocacy work is a passion project, but he hopes to make it a full-time gig.