I’ve been wanting to say something about this subject for some time, but I’ve been wrestling with just what to say because I want to add something helpful and not just more fuel for all the arguments about what is a controversial subject.  So, I think the best thing to do is just tell you my approach and how I got there.

Probably no topic generates more heat in the assistance dog world than just what is and what isn’t a real service dog.  Once you get past the subject of people who have no respect whatsoever for the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and flagrantly violate that law by claiming their pet is a service animal, I’d say the next biggest area of contention is what have come to be referred to as emotional support animals and psychiatric service dogs. That discussion has already been going on for years, and what’s really brought it to the forefront lately is the proliferation of new programs that say they are training dogs specifically to help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), usually associated with our returning OEF and OIF veterans.

Now, I don’t question PTSD for a second, or that the right dog can be very helpful, or the motives of most, if not all, of the people who’ve put those programs together. There are, however, still a number of legitimate concerns about the details of these “PTSD dog” programs, such as how candidates are evaluated, providing effective training, ensuring that the animal is not being placed into a public situation that’s beyond what can be reasonably expected of it, regularly scheduled follow-up support services, and so on – really all the same  things that the top service dog organizations I’ve already talked about (“How to Find the Best Service Dogs for Disabled Veterans”) have been doing for years.

But here’s the thing, and this is really my point…

The reality is there’s already enough potential unmet need for service dogs for veterans with physical disabilities that I could devote the rest of my life to that and still likely never meet that need. Rather than spending time on new programs that train dogs focused only on PTSD, trying to determine if that’s a valuable thing to do in and of itself, and, if so, which programs are best, I’ve chosen instead to concentrate on organizations that provide service dogs to veterans with physical disabilities where PTSD is being incorporated into an existing program. I know that there are ongoing focused discussions about how best to do that, for obvious reasons – if you’re placing an assistance dog with a wounded warrior, it’s also highly likely that PTSD is present as well.

You may come to a different conclusion, but, for me, frankly, life’s too short to spend time arguing about or chasing a new area – I’ve got more than I can handle already and need to concentrate my efforts where I believe the most significant impact can be made.  And so you will likely not see any discussion here about what I would call PTSD-only dogs, and that’s why.