Wounded veterans take case for service dogs to Capitol Hill

For Iraqi war vet Luiz Montalvan, Tuesday can pick up a dropped cane, even sense when he needs his medications. Wounded veterans and their dogs were on Capitol Hill recently hoping to get more support for the service dog program.

Stress dogs can be Soldier’s best friend

Spc. Eliezer Pagan poses March 10 with the therapeutic dog with which he has been training. The 85th Combat Stress Control Unit from Fort Hood will deploy at the end of the month and its troops will work with dogs that can help Soldiers cope with combat stress. Pfc. Sean Mcguire, 4th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs

Stress dogs can be Soldier’s best friend
By Pfc. Amy M. Lane, 4th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs
March 18, 2010 News
It can be difficult for some Soldiers to open up after a traumatizing event or if there are problems at home while they are overseas. But the 85th Medical Detachment, 1st Medical Brigade, a combat stress control unit, is learning to work with some unique emotional ice breakers.

The 85th’s Soldiers, who are deploying to Iraq at the end of the month, have been training all week with four therapeutic dogs that were bred, trained and donated to the Army by America’s VetDogs.

Stress control dogs can help Soldiers open up and start conversations flowing, whether troops come to the clinic seeking help or encounter a trained dog while walking around the compound.
read more here
http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/story.php?id=3373

Dog prescribed by doctor may get couple evicted from mobile home

Dog prescribed by doctor may get couple evicted from mobile home
Spunky dog Lucy has eased Tavares owner’s depression, doctor says, but mobile-home park says pup must go

By Stephen Hudak, Orlando Sentinel

6:13 p.m. EST, February 18, 2010


TAVARES — Little Lucy could mean big trouble for Kenny and Verdie Cook.

The spunky chihuahua and Boston terrier mix that the elderly couple adopted on doctor's orders about four months ago could lead to the Cooks' eviction from their mobile-home park.

The park has a strict "no- dogs" policy, but the Cooks' legal-aid attorney argued that it is obliged to accommodate the couple — and Lucy — under a provision of the federal Fair Housing Act.

Though aware of the park's rule, the couple said they brought Lucy home from a Sanford animal shelter because Verdie Cook's neurologist and two other physicians thought that an emotional support animal would help the 78-year-old woman cope with anxiety, depression and early stages of Alzheimer's disease, which have interfered with her daily life.

"We weren't interested in breaking the rules, but if it could help Verdie, well, I'd do anything," Kenny Cook said while the pup gnawed a chew toy. "That dog has helped her where pills and the therapist really didn't."
read more here
Dog prescribed by doctor may get couple evicted from mobile home

Two-legged dog gives hope to disabled Army vets

Two-legged dog gives hope to disabled Army vets
By SUE MANNING Associated Press
For several years, Jude Stringfellow and her Lab-chow mix have toured the country with a simple message: Faith walks.
Born without front legs to a junkyard dog around Christmas 2002, Faith the puppy was rejected and abused by her mother. She was rescued by Reuben Stringfellow, now an Army E-4 specialist, who had been asked to bury other puppies in the litter.

"Can we fix her? Stringfellow, then 17, asked his mom. "No, but maybe we can help her," she said.
read more here
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/79445672.html

Iraq veteran training dog for disabled

Iraq veteran training dog for disabled

By Bridget DiCosmo - Southeast Missourian via Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Sep 12, 2009 10:32:00 EDT

BENTON, Mo. — Five years ago, before the arrival of a chocolate Lab named L.T., Phillip D. Sturgeon Jr.'s life was very different.

In 2004, Sturgeon, originally of Vanduser, Mo., was stationed near Baghdad as an Army medic with the 458th Engineer Battalion when a rocket-propelled grenade struck the vehicle he was in. Four of Sturgeon's patrol were killed in the blast, and he suffered broken ribs, facial fractures, serious knee and shoulder injuries and brain trauma. In addition to extensive and ongoing physical therapy required to repair his body, Sturgeon was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I was just basically learning how to live life over again," said Sturgeon, 35.

It was through reconnecting with an old friend with whom he used to serve, Chris Amacker, that Sturgeon learned about Mission Continues, a St. Louis-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping returning war veterans discover new ways of giving back to their communities.

Sturgeon said Mission Continues staff suggested the idea of training support dogs for the disabled, and it struck a chord with him. His father had been confined to a wheelchair, and Sturgeon had also spent some time in the military working with service dogs.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_vet_trains_dog_091209/

Canine reports for duty at Kane'ohe base

Marine Staff Sgt. Karlo Salgado gets to know Finn at the Kane'ohe base. Lance Cpl. Zachary Kemp and Cpl. Masato Takaki, standing, also enjoyed the dog's company.
Photos by JEFF WIDENER The Honolulu Advertiser

Canine reports for duty at Kane'ohe base
Service dog lifting spirits of Marines recovering at Wounded Warrior barracks
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward Writer

KANE'OHE — Marine Corps Base Hawaii's latest recruit breaks the mold with his laid-back attitude and nonregulation hairstyle. But he's highly trained and devoted to his unit.

Pressed into service about a month ago, Finn, a yellow Labrador retriever, is stationed at the Wounded Warrior Battalion at the Kane'ohe base. His duty is simple — bring joy to the people around him — but his ability to carry it out took two years of rigorous training that's expected of any Marine.

A highly trained service dog, Finn spends his days in a comfortable air conditioned lounge filled with brown leather sofas, computers, a television and game table. The people there are recuperating and Finn brings a touch of home and a sense of calm to a sometimes alien or depressing situation.

read more here
Canine reports for duty at Kaneohe base

After 8-year delay, VA program hopes to help vets

After 8-year delay, VA program hopes to help vets
By: ARELIS HERNANDEZ
Associated Press
09/05/09 10:30 AM PDT HOUSTON — The drone of helicopters still haunts William Callahan decades after Vietnam combat left him paralyzed, but he said government bureaucracy stood in the way of getting the one thing that made the echoes stop and kept him independent: a service dog.

It took four years and giving up on a Veteran's Affairs canine program for Callahan to find Taylor, a specially trained Labrador retriever.

Although the canine program's Web site touts that it "routinely" gives veterans service dogs, the program's director Neil Eckrich said only two dogs have been paired with veterans since Congress authorized the program in 2001. Eckrich acknowledged there were difficulties with the program, including the time it took to conduct studies on the dogs' benefits and problems promoting the service.

Finally, about eight years after the program began, many hope it will start finding homes for the four-legged companions that can help disabled veterans be more independent, better deal with post traumatic stress syndrome and to just be a friend. The VA is now working on improving the program and in Washington, increasing funding for such programs is getting bipartisan support.

Callahan, 63, began trying to find a service dog in 2004, and his local VA office said the program didn't exist — even though that wasn't true. He eventually turned to one of the more than two dozen nonprofit groups in the U.S. that train dogs for injured veterans.
read more here
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/ap/57566422.html

“Battle Buddy’s” for the veterans

“Battle Buddy’s” for the veterans
July 9, 1:44 PM

There is a need for wounded veterans to have help with daily activities after coming back from war. Freedom Service Dogs has joined with the Veterans Administration to create Operation Freedom. They train and place service dogs with the appropriate veteran or service member for their needs. Once a dog has passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen test they then endure a six week program. Each dog endures the same program but each is then individualized for the particular individual needs of the person they are going to. Sharon Wilson, executive director of Freedom Service Dogs says, “Operation Freedom has been more successful than we ever imagined”.Quotes noted in the Freedom Press Summer 2009 Edition.

Army Specialist Cameron Briggs finished the course with his dog Harper this past June. He is a client and a volunteer for FSD. He, as well as many others, resides in the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Carson. Cameron suffers from a traumatic brain injury and PTSD. He also suffers from physical injuries to his back, knees and ankles.
read more here
Battle Buddy for the veterans

Psychiatric Service Dog handlers to notify the airlines 48 hours in advance?

Campaign TALK BACK!
The U.S. Department of Transportation released new regulations under the Air Carrier Access Act on May 7, 2008. The new regulations require Psychiatric Service Dog handlers to notify the airlines 48 hours in advance every time they fly with their Service Dog. Additionally, handlers must submit a mental healthcare provider’s letter at least 48 hours in advance of travel that discloses they are mentally ill, explains the handler’s need for a Psychiatric Service Dog, provides evidence of the clinician’s status as a licensed mental health professional, and attests to the fact that the handler is his/her patient. No other disability group is subject to these new rules. In fact, the new regulations state explicitly that airlines are prohibited from requiring documentation from any disabled Service Dog handler, unless the individual has a mental health disability.


STIGMA
The Air Carrier Access Act is a federal civil rights law that is intended to remedy “…discriminatory, inconsistent and unpredictable treatment’ of air travelers with disabilities….” Nonetheless, DOT has decided that persons living with mental health disabilities who utilize a Service Dog in order to manage their disability must be controlled, identified, and otherwise discriminated against, selectively and systematically. In the press release that accompanied DOT’s release of the Final Rules, the U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters said, “This revised rule expands the protections people with disabilities will enjoy while traveling by air”. It appears that Ms. Peters is either sleeping on the job or something sinister is brewing at DOT. Since when, in the post civil rights era of the United States, is it acceptable to single-out an entire class of disabled persons and impose restrictive measures selectively upon them in the name of ‘preventing potential abuse’ as the DOT claims these new regulations will do?
STIGMA
The Psychiatric Service Dog Society is collecting written statements from those who will be directly affected by these new rules. We encourage all Psychiatric Service Dog handlers to send us an email expressing your outrage and horror at the selective oppression these new regulations represent. In the name of ‘preventing potential abuse’ the U.S. Department of Transportation has abrogated its legal responsibility to uphold the Air Carrier Access Act, a major civil rights law. You may remember it from a long time ago.
STIGMA
Please ‘Talk Back’ to DOT in regards to the new regulations. Include your full name and snail mail address. All testimony will be presented to DOT officials in the near future. Please refrain from using slang or profanity in your correspondence. It undermines our collective efforts. Let the Psychiatric Service Dog Society be your VOICE in Washington, DC. Stay tuned for further updates.
Download the New Air Carrier Access Regulations Here (PDF)
Read pages182-209
On June 3, 2008, DOT sponsored a public forum for disability advocates so that they could learn about the new Air Carrier Access Act regulations. Dr. Joan Esnayra represented PSDS and the views of the PSD handler community to the panel of DOT experts on stage. Prior to the forum invitees were asked to submit written questions that they wanted addressed at the forum. PSDS submitted the document below. At the forum, DOT answered none of our submitted questions. Additionally, none of our objections to the new regulations were considered in earnest.
Download the Questions for DOT Forum Here (PDF)

Iraq vet honored at service-dog fundraiser

Iraq vet honored at service-dog fundraiser
Kate Santich Sentinel Staff Writer
November 7, 2008
ORLANDO - Almost four years to the day after losing his leg to a bomb in Iraq, 1st Lt. Jeffrey Adams will be guest of honor at the Canine Companions for Independence 12th annual Tales and Tails Gala on Saturday at SeaWorld Orlando. Adams, the first Iraq war veteran helped by the nonprofit organization, graduated from training in February and will attend with his service dog, Sharif.

PTSD:Retired Army Sergeant Learns To Cope With Help From 4 Legged Friend

More Than A Man's Best Friend
A Retired Army Sergeant Learns To Cope With PTSD With Help From A Four-Legged Friend

AFAYETTE, Colo., Oct. 6, 2008

(CBS) After terrifying tours of duty in Kuwait, Iraq and Somalia, a retired Army Sergeant is recovering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with the help of a four-legged therapist, reports CBS News correspondent Richard Schlesinger.

For two solid weeks, retired Sgt. Jim Mason and Yankee have been in intensive training.

Yankee is already a fully qualified service dog. It's Mason who is in training. He's learning to use Yankee to cope with what doctors have diagnosed as severe PTSD.

"I know I can say 'hello' to anyone with that dog and they'll smile and say 'hello' back," says Mason.

And that alone is a huge step for Mason, who still feels trapped in the real life nightmares he lived in both Gulf wars and in Somalia - especially Somalia - where his unit was ambushed while trying to provide humanitarian aid.

"I had to kill some people," Mason says as he chokes up.

Fifteen years later, he still can barely talk about it.
go here for more
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/06/eveningnews/main4505094.shtml

Help on Four Legs, Sometimes Followed by Confusion

Help on Four Legs, Sometimes Followed by Confusion

By GREGORY BEYER
Published: June 29, 2008
THE incident occurred about two years ago. Laura Damone, a 56-year-old resident of Gramercy Park who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and panic attacks, walked into the Union Square subway station with Buddy, who was her service dog at the time.

The dog, who wore a vest, attracted the attention of two transit workers, who, Ms. Damone says, humiliated her by backing her into a corner, demanding proof of her disability and giving her a ticket.

The confrontation exemplifies problems that can arise from what Assemblywoman Deborah Glick thinks is a vague city law.

Unlike state and federal law, which explicitly prohibits asking about or demanding proof of a disability, city law declares only that establishments provide “reasonable accommodation” to people with service animals. According to Bethany Jankunis, Ms. Glick’s chief of staff, this subjects people like Ms. Damone, who use service animals and whose disabilities are not plainly evident, to discrimination and embarrassment.
click post title for more

Bill Campbell's Labrador Helps Cope With PTSD

Heading to Iraq

Campbell, 46, was a biologist for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife for 19 years. He served as an executive officer in the National Guard for nearly a decade.

When the war in Iraq broke out, Campbell volunteered to re-enlist. He said he wanted to be involved, even if that meant taking a cut in rank and pay and putting his life on the line.

May 9, 2008

Dog helps heal wounds of war: Veteran suffering from PTSD finds an anchor in canine companion

MASON COUNTY - Bill Campbell took a long pause as he searched for the right words to describe what happened to him in Iraq.

He looked over at his wife, Domenica, who often tackles questions for him, especially when he's struggling to think of the answers.

Then Campbell reached down and brushed his hands against Pax, a specially trained yellow Labrador, whose mission is to help the Army National Guard sergeant heal after serving on the front lines of war, where he witnessed death, destruction and despair.

"It was a car bomb - shrapnel," he said, his voice trailing off. "I was at a place that was just outside the Green Zone."

Pax stays close to Campbell around the clock. He reminds Campbell to take medication. He can sense the onset of panic attacks, hallucinations and other symptoms of the post-traumatic stress disorder that afflicts Campbell.

Pax even sleeps in the same room with Campbell and serves as "a reality check" during his frequent nightmares.

Campbell is the first veteran in the country to receive a companion dog through the Puppies Behind Bars' Dog Tags program. The New York City-based nonprofit organization works with inmates to train service dogs.

Although there are several programs that produce psychiatric service dogs, the Dog Tags program was established last year to raise companions specifically for U.S. servicemen and servicewomen injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We wanted to do something to thank our vets for serving their country," said Gloria Gilbert Stoga, who founded Puppies Behind Bars in 1997.

What: Puppies Behind Bars' Dog Tags program was created to match service dogs with injured veterans who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

To qualify: A veteran or service member must be out of the hospital for at least eight months and be able to incorporate a dog into his or her life. After a dog is placed, the recipient is responsible for providing exercise, food, annual veterinarian visits, and love for the dog. "(It's for) somebody who's serious about getting better - somebody who's stable, so they're home life is stable enough to have a dog in it," said Gloria Gilbert Stoga, founder and president of Puppies Behind Bars.

Applying: Veterans are required to fill out an application and go through several interviews. In most cases, those selected will need to travel to New York or Colorado to be matched up with a dog and complete specialized training.

Costs: Puppies Behind Bars pays for all costs associated with raising puppies in prison - including dog supplies, educational supplies for puppy raisers, teachers' salaries and travel. The nonprofit organization, which is funded through private donations, pays for related training and travel expenses for a veteran and a support person if needed.

How to help: For more details about the Puppies Behind Bars and Dog Tags programs, including how to donate, go to www.puppiesbehindbars.com or call 212-680-9562.
go here for the rest
http://www.theolympian.com/living/story/383411.html

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Iraqi Veterans

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Iraqi Veterans
Posted by Allan N. Schwartz, LCSW, PhD on Fri, Feb 15th 2008


Out of a deep sense of respect and honor I feel compelled to write about a wounded veteran of the Iraqi war. The respect I have for him developed from the things I learned about him this week. More than that I learned about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in a way different than I really knew before. This man, who shall remain anonymous in order to protect him, is representative of countless other soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with concussions, brain injuries, loss of limbs and PTSD.

This is the story of a particular soldier who did everything he could to protect his men and do his job in ways that were courageous and necessary. Home, now, from the war, he is not angry or bitter about the army or about the Iraqi people for whom he has nothing bad to say. In fact, as he stated it, the army saved his life because he was on the road to deep trouble as a result of the dysfunctional and violent family in which he grew up. He credits the army with setting him on the right path so that he was able to go to college, get an advanced degree and an excellent job prior to his volunteering for a tour of duty when he was in his late thirties.
go here for the rest


http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=weblog&wlid=5&id=370&cn=109

The veteran has a service dog to help him. He has a second wife to understand him. He has a psychiatrist to treat him. He has what he needs to heal enough to live a life instead of just existing. How many others do not? This is what it takes to cope with PTSD. This is what is needed for all of them. We need to make sure all the support available is provided to all of them or we will keep seeing more and more end up homeless, more marriages dissolve and more veterans take their own lives.

PTSD:Dogs chase nightmares of war away

Dogs chase nightmares of war away
Story Highlights
Service dogs can help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder

Dogs can sense and ease panic attacks, depression

Caring for animal forces patient to overcome social isolation

Small survey found less dependence on drugs after dogs arrived
By Joan Shim



(LifeWire) -- Jo Hanna Schaffer's dog is more than a best friend. The 67-year-old Vietnam veteran, a former Army medic, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and three years ago, she decided to get a service dog, a Chihuahua named Cody. Cody barks if someone is approaching from behind and cuddles with her when she is depressed.


With Cindy, a Bernese mountain dog, by her side, retired Air Force Capt. Karen Alexander can leave her home without fear


"I never took a pill for PTSD that did as much for me as Cody has done," says the Billerica, Massachusetts, resident, who no longer takes medication for the disorder.

Schaffer is one of a growing number of veterans with PTSD who are turning to an alternative therapy: psychiatric service dogs.

Like guide dogs for the blind, psychiatric service dogs aid people with mental illnesses, from anxiety disorder to bipolar disorder to PTSD. The dogs are trained to know when their owners are depressed or having a panic attack, for example, and the animals might calm them down by curling up in their lap or giving a nudge. Watch dogs who help calm troops on frontlines of war »

For five years, Persian Gulf War veteran Karen Alexander, 52, of Pensacola, Florida, has relied on Cindy, a Bernese mountain dog that can sense when Alexander is having an anxiety attack.

"She'll come up and touch me, and that is enough of a stimulus to break the loop, bring me back to reality," says the retired Air Force captain. "Sometimes I'll scratch my hand until it's raw and won't realize until she comes up to me and brings me out. She's such a grounding influence for me."

More veterans diagnosed

The use of service dogs for mental illness has emerged in the past decade, says Dr. Joan Esnayra, founder and president of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society. Esnayra coined the term "psychiatric service dog" in 1997 and has worked with thousands of people who are using the animals. She estimates that the society's online community is adding more than 400 members each year.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/01/29/dogs.veterans/