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Training future service dogs
Last month my mom sent me an interesting article from Smithsonian Magazine that she thought would make a good topic for the Pets blog (thanks Mom!) It was about the growing movement to provide service dogs to combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. I’ve written before about two topics very close to this one: rescue organizations dedicated to providing dogs to veterans, and military dogs developing PTSD. Now the two are combined. The dogs provided by Pets for Patriots aren’t necessarily service dogs, though they do deliver a wonderful service for veterans. In this case, more dogs are being specifically trained to help veterans.
Designating these dogs as service dogs allows their owners to bring them into more public places, areas to which normal pet dogs would be barred. Traveling anywhere can be a harrowing experience for a veteran for PTSD, but enclosed dark places like movie theaters, for example, turn previously a fun experience, into a stressful trial. The dog brings a comforting presence.
You might wonder: what can a service dog do for a veteran with PTSD? One of the primary functions of these dogs is to just be a soothing, calming presence for the veterans. They need that more than most; in the article veterans with service dogs mentioned how much easier it was to sleep, for example, knowing that there was another alert entity in the house.
Obviously this is something just about any pet dog can provide, but service dogs take it a step farther. They’re specifically trained to help those with PTSD. That means they’re especially calm. For example, if I felt very tense and uncomfortable about something, as many sufferers of PTSD might, my dog would reflect that. She would also become on edge and jumpy. That’s not good for someone with PTSD, so these dogs are trained to remain calm in most situations.
Service dogs are also highly intelligent, which means they’re good at being trained to perform various tasks or tricks. The process of training these dogs, to do anything from sit to fetch the paper, is another benefit of the dogs for the veterans. It gives them a task on which to focus, but one that, if it takes a while to perform or that the dog isn’t good at doing, doesn’t have any ramifications.
It can be so damaging on a veteran’s psyche to have trouble going to the grocery store, for example. Previously it was a simple task, and a small one that seems easy to perform, but it’s out in public in a place where there can be noise. Training the dog is a simple task that can be performed at home, without as many consequences: so what if the dog doesn’t learn to bring your slippers? It also helps the dog and its owner bond.
At one point I misplaced the original article mom sent me. When using Google to try to find it, I discovered something even more heartening: countless local organizations dedicated to training service dogs for combat veterans with PTSD. The movement is spreading, buoyed by the positive experiences had by many of those receiving the dogs. It’s wonderful that the loving bond between humans and animals can be used for such a good cause.
Related Articles:
Make Reunions Happen: Be a Noble Foster
Can Military Family Members Suffer from PTSD
Sergeant Stubby: World War I Hero
*(This image by soldiersmediacenter is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
