From Military.com:
“Dogs Trained to Offer Support to Troubled US Veterans”
Michael Kidd, now 84 years old, fought in the Korean War. His
young German shepherd Millie helps calm him down when things start to swirl,
usually at night. Harry Stolberg -- a 42-year-old former Marine who served in
Bosnia, Liberia and Nigeria -- has a chocolate Labrador named Rocky who wakes
him up from his troubled dreams. And 31-year-old Phil Davanzo -- who carried
the bodies of fallen comrades during a hostage rescue operation that went wrong
off Somalia in 2011 -- hopes his Rottweiler puppy will soon be trained to
support him during his panic attacks. The three U.S. veterans, who all live on
New York's Long Island, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and
have sought solace through pet therapy -- namely, a loyal dog to keep them
company. The shelter animals are either trained or being trained to help them
through difficult times by Paws of War, an association funded entirely by private
donations that then provides the service dogs free of charge. The group will
also train a veteran's dog if he or she already has one. "The biggest
thing is he wakes me up from nightmares," Stolberg says of three-year-old
Rocky. "He can open the door, come in my room, turn on the lights, take my
blinders off me... and lick my hands so I wake up." Rocky, whose 18 months
of training were completed six months ago, also helps Stolberg navigate large
crowds, which can be triggering. "If I can't move, he will get me out of
that crowd -- he will pick up on that. He will walk around me and look at it
and if I don't respond, he will walk away from the crowd with me hooked up to
him," he says. Paws of War -- their acronym is a play on POW, used to
signify prisoners of war -- has been active since 2014. More than 100 dogs have
been trained so far, and the therapeutic results for their masters have been
significant.
Off the Meds
Kidd, who suffers from severe PTSD, has been able to reduce
his intake of medication thanks to Millie. At night when things are tough,
"she will come over to me, she will put her paw on my shoulder, on my
chest, and just give me a big slobber," says Kidd, whose father was in
Normandy on D-Day. "That's just saying, 'I am here for you.'" Stolberg
used to need sleeping pills to get through the night, but not anymore, thanks
to Rocky. "Sleeping was my biggest problem. (...) Now I only have a
nightmare once or twice a month, instead of every day," he explains. "A
lot of that is also because I know that when I go to sleep, he is in the room
-- he is going to wake me up no matter what."
'Quite a Process'
It takes 18 to 24 months to teach dogs what to do when a
troubled veteran sends distress signals, according to Rebecca Stromski, a
senior trainer for Paws of War whose husband served in Afghanistan and Kuwait. "It's
quite a process actually, creating a mutual respect and a connection between
the service dude and the service dog," she says. "Once the
foundations are in place and the dog starts feeling if things are going well or
not for the veterans, they start to do certain motions when the guys are
fidgeting," Stromski explains. "I can start and cue that behavior and
use that as an alert." In the face of seemingly interminable wars for US
military personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq, deployments which began in 2001,
veterans are experiencing PTSD symptoms on a regular basis. Paws of War has
more requests for service animals than it can fulfill, with 50 veterans on the
waiting list, according to the group's co-founder Dori Scofield.
Both Ends of the Leash
After running an animal shelter for 30 years, Scofield
launched Paws of War after being contacted by veterans returning home from
Afghanistan and Iraq. Those soldiers had become attached to dogs they had found
in those countries, but were unable to bring them back home. Through word of
mouth recommendations, the association quickly became a top meeting place for
the 75,000-strong veteran community on Long Island, one of the biggest in the
United States. "We get applications every day -- we can't keep up,"
Scofield says. "I can't train enough dogs fast enough." She has
opened satellite offices in Florida and in northern New York state. She has
also launched a free mobile veterinary clinic where veterans can bring their
companion animals. Dogs who might have ended up put to sleep in shelters now
have homes, and veterans are rediscovering "a reason to get up every day,
get moving, get out," Scofield says. "It has been just so awesome,
helping both ends of the leash."
^ I love animals (especially dogs) and I have great respect
for the men and women in the US Military and this program - and others like it – seem like a great way
to help both human and canine. I know there are many civilians (I am a civilian
myself) who never served in the Military and have or claim to have PTSD or some
other illness or disease so they can bring their “service animal” into stores, restaurants,
on to planes, etc. Many people are abusing a good system that was created to help
people and to which there needs to be Federal and/or State laws regarding who
has a real illness or disease that warrants a service animal and then that
service animal should be registered with the proper government officials with
some sort of ID or paperwork that states they are officially recognized as a
service animal. That will cut down on all the people abusing the system. With
all of that said (and yes it was a rather long tangent, but one I thought had
to be said) I believe PTSD – especially in the men and women who served or are
serving in the Military – is a real illness that deserves a service animal. I
have never been to war and so will never fully understand what it is like, but
I have seen family members and friends go and come back (and oftentimes go
several more times) and can see the difference and the toll it can take. We as
a country as well as individuals owe so much to these brave men and women who
risk everyone (including death) for us on a daily basis. The least we can do for
them is to help treat their PTSD (and other wounds, illnesses or disabilities.)
One of the more proven ways to help is through a trained service animal. I
would love to see the demand for service animals go down, but until that
happens (if it ever does) I believe there needs to be more programs – both private
companies/charities and government ones – to train dogs and other animals as
service animals - especially for soldiers,
sailors and airmen/women currently serving as well as for all the veterans who
did serve and now need some extra help. I know these private companies and
charities are stretched very thin and are doing their best to help, but they
need our help too so they can help those who need it the most. Dogs (and other animals) have long been used by the US Military - as well as other Militaries - for hundreds of years especially during wartime. They (the dogs/animals) show the same kind of bravery as the human soldiers do. It only makes sense to use dogs and other animals to help the veterans that need it in their recuperation. ^
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