Companion Dogs for a Veteran With PTSD

According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, out of 750,000 veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, around 100,000 of those veterans sought mental health care. About half of those were ultimately diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. To help these veterans deal with their PTSD, some organizations are supplying these veterans with service dogs trained to help those with mental health issues.

Dog Qualifications

• The type of dog that is used for this type of service dog does not matter as much as the temperament and attitude of the dog. While some of the organizations that train and provide these dogs prefer specific breeds, such as labrador and golden retrievers, many other types of dogs are also used. It is important that the dog have no significant history of health problems to ensure that the veteran will not lose his companion prematurely. Most PTSD dogs are younger than 4 years of age when they join the program.

Training

• Once an organization selects a dog for one of these programs, the dog must undergo the proper training before it is assigned to a veteran suffering from PTSD. Some of the programs complete minimal training with the dogs, allowing veterans to customize the training to best meet their needs. The program provides the veteran with the necessary tools to train the dog. Allowing the veteran to participate in the training helps to build a more solid human-canine bond.

How Dogs Help

• Most dog owners will tell you that a dog becomes a part of the family. PTSD service dogs are usually one of two types: those that offer emotional comfort and those that reduce symptoms. One of the reasons dogs make ideal choices to treat PTSD in veterans is their ability to evaluate human emotion and react upon it. A dog is often able to sense when its owner is unhappy, fearful or unsettled. The dog then offers comfort to its owner by nudging his hand or cuddling up to its owner. A dog can even alert its owner when someone is approaching.

Effectiveness

• Before organization started using dogs as PTSD service dogs, many of the veterans suffering from the mental ailment were treated with therapy and medications. These treatments are still used; however, studies show that the use of dogs is more effective than these other treatments. According to Alicia Miller, who founded an organization called Operation Wolfhound, dogs are more than 84 percent effective at treating PTSD. Therapy is only about 30 percent effective, and medication is effective about half of the time.