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As all human American troops leave Iraq, one special group continues to deploy: K-9 units. These dogs have a special role in the country, as their noses have proven more effective at finding bombs than any technology employed. The New York Times profiles these military canines.
Iraq doesn’t use sniffer dogs nearly as much as the United States, and so far they’re only used for bomb-sniffing, not to locate mines or cadavers or other common jobs for military/law enforcement dogs. Of the 310 American sniffer dogs now currently deployed in Iraq 8 are trained to find narcotics, but the rest are used to locate bombs.
Iraqi officials say that they’ll eventually need about double the amount of dogs they already have to handle the current demand. The country would like to train their own, but they currently lack the sufficient resources to run their own breeding program.
These dogs are doing a fantastic service and we must not forget that. We also must not forget that, just like human soldiers, many members of K-9 units don’t come back from war zones still equipped to resume normal life.
In the past 18 months or so military veterinarians have begun identifying and diagnosing canine post-traumatic stress disorder. That’s right: the trauma of war can and does affect dogs mentally just as it does to people.
Also just like with people, returning military dogs show various symptoms of PTSD. Some exhibit behavior problems, either becoming excessively timid or aggressive with their handlers. Others won’t enter buildings in which they’d previously been comfortable. Still others hide under beds or in safety spaces and won’t come out. Some are hyper-vigilant.
But most importantly, and most distressingly, many dogs with PTSD stop performing the task they were trained to do. Now, I’m not worried about no longer being able to send these dogs back into war zones; I feel that once they’ve done their duty, and especially if they show trauma caused by it, they should be allowed to stay home.
But I’m worried that the fate of military dogs with PTSD, especially those that don’t want to do their trained task any more, might align with other dogs that can no longer do what they’re meant to do. Greyhounds, for example, often find themselves in dire situations when they can’t race anymore. Greyhound rescues are abundant because so many dogs that are no longer able to race end up abandoned, cast off by their owners.
I hope that won’t be the situation for military dogs with PTSD. I don’t believe it will; I believe that the attention these dogs are getting proves that there are people out there who will honor the dogs’ sacrifice and be willing to care for them. At least, I hope that is the case.
Treatment for the dogs is tricky, since it’s harder than with humans to determine exactly what sets off a dog. But most of it involves being calm and gentle with the dogs, and taking them through simple daily routines. Some of the same medications used to treat anxiety in humans have also proven effective for canine trauma as well.
Military dogs make great sacrifices and that should not be overlooked.
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*(This image by soldiersmediacenter is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
