“I’m probably the only person you’ll ever meet who opted to have their leg amputated so they could play hockey, and that was my whole goal. I spent two and a half years at Walter Reed, and everyone there knew that my first goal in life was to get back on the ice.”  – SFC Joe Bowser

Read the whole thing here: “The Warriors Way”

Read more here:
Double Amputee Skydives at Walter Reed
Dana Bowman

This is a huge placement and a major milestone for assistance dogs in the military medical world that’s been two years in the making – how very appropriate that it happened a little over a week before Memorial Day! What makes it so special is a combination of two things:

First, C5 is one of only three major active duty military medical centers where our most severely wounded warriors, primarily amputees, do their rehabilitation – Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) in Washington, DC for those living back East; Center for the Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC/CFI) in San Antonio, TX for those living in the central US; and NMCSD/C5 in San Diego, CA for those living out West.

Second, CCI Facility Dogs are really a class unto themselves among dogs in the rehabilitative hospital environment. You can read more detail in the story I’ve provided in the links section below, but basically that’s because (1) Facility Dogs go through the same two-year process and learn all but three of the same commands as all other CCI assistance dogs, and (2) they are integrated into the ongoing daily rehab program and are trained to respond to the instructions of the therapists conducting that program.

(BTW, I realize that trying to differentiate Facility Dogs from other dogs can be very confusing for those not involved with assistance or therapy dogs, and can also seem disrespectful to those other dogs.  As someone with a Delta Society complex-qualified therapy dog who visits in a military hospital, that is definitely not my intent, but it’s essential to understand that difference – all the dogs are wonderful and do great things, but there’s really no comparison.)

Put those two things together and you have a truly one-of-a-kind combination.  Ideally, though, it won’t be that way much longer – I’m hoping that, on top of all the great work he is already doing, Tommy will be the breakthrough who will make it much easier to get this idea across now, and we will see CCI Facility Dogs in the other rehab centers as well.

Links:

Official website of Naval Medical Center San Diego, Comprehensive Combat and Complex Casualty Care:

http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmcsd/Patients/Pages/ComprehensiveCombatandComplexCasualtyCare.aspx

“Tommy Time” – fantastic interview with Tommy’s puppy raisers with many background details at Ross’ DogBlog:

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/family/19458606/detail.html

Short but detailed article about Scully, a CCI Facility Dog at WakeMed Rehab Hospital in Raleigh, NC, that will tell you everything you need to know about Facility Dogs:

http://www.wakemed.org/body.cfm?id=832

Pictures from the graduation:

Ken Sergi: 

http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/KenSergi/ccigrad051609

Carol-Ann DeMaio Goheen:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZN2jJq4YtGLCWg

What I can do, though, is give you the official OEF/OIF casualty numbers and go from there:  almost 35,000 wounded warriors with varying levels of injuries, including around 900 amputees.

( http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/gwot_reason.pdf and http://www1.va.gov/vetdata/docs/4X6_fall08_sharepoint.pdf )

Now, if I just arbitrarily say the number of people who need service dogs is 1% of that total number – and, again, I have no way of knowing if that’s accurate, it’s just a seemingly conservative “pull it out of the air” number to start from – that’s roughly 350 dogs.  Shoot, let’s say it’s just half a percent – that’s still about 175 dogs.

Either way, in case it’s not obvious, that’s a lotta dogs when you are talking fully-trained service dogs.  To put it in context, the largest organization of the bunch graduates about 200 dogs a year.

Those casualty numbers have stayed fairly constant for a while now, so I’ve had plenty of time to think about them, and there are a coupla things that jump right out at me.

First, I’d expect to see a lot more demand for service dogs coming from this population, which is why I harped on the subject of education so hard in my last post.  But, hey, maybe I’m just flat wrong and there’s not anywhere near the kinda need I think there is.

But if I’m not wrong, even at the low percentages we’re talking about, that’s a huge additional need. And while I don’t think the larger service dog organizations are prepared to handle a load that large if it materializes, I also don’t think there’s any way we get close to handling it without them.

For me, that means I’m gonna continue to spend my time and effort supporting those places because I believe they offer the best hope to make the biggest and most effective positive impact on the largest number of people. Others have a different view and believe they can be more effective through supporting smaller programs or doing things individually.

Personally, I think it’s gonna take a combination of large places, small places, individual trainers, and maybe even some people training their own dogs, just as it does now.  And I think there’s a place at the table for everybody, as long as they are up to the standard and make good placements, which is why I harp on that subject so hard.

That’s not a new discussion, it’s been going on for a long time, I’m familiar with it, and I certainly have no problem with respectful disagreements. That’s to be expected – organizations and trainers focus on different areas of need, feel competent in some areas, not competent in others – and there are great places of every kind – big, small, individuals, you name it.

Unfortunately, the pattern has been for that discussion to deteriorate into attacks on the larger organizations. Let me forewarn you – given the track record, I fully expect to see that same thing happen in the veterans area if it hasn’t already, so don’t be surprised when things turn ugly.

You’ll know that’s started when you see certain things.  Look for a pattern – the first sign will normally be when you hear someone say something like “the big guys suck, I know better than they do, and I can do a better job training a dog”.  As the discussion goes on, I’m willing to bet that at some point a person making those statements will say that either they were looking for a dog for themselves and the place couldn’t meet their need, or they were involved with the organization and became disillusioned with it over time.

Nothing wrong with either of those things per se – that stuff happens, and that’s how many great new ideas, products, companies, and organizations have come about in many areas.  Where the problem starts is when there are attacks about the competency, motives, and sometimes even the character or integrity of the people working with those organizations.

Me? I don’t have time for any of that stuff. I’m focused on getting more top-notch dogs placed with all these young veterans who’ve done so much for all of us, and anything that doesn’t further that goal or, even worse, gets in the way of it (and the kinda stuff we’re talking about here definitely falls under that heading), I just don’t have time for.

What I’m looking for is more people to get on the bus with me and make this happen. The numbers here tell me that we have a potentially huge job ahead of us, and that’s where we need to be concentrating our time and effort.

Whole story is here:  “Don’t Call Him a Hero”.

The hard part for me is there are so many of these tremendous young wounded warriors who’ve given so much that I could never talk about them all or say enough.  I still come into contact with a lot of young active duty military people, especially Army troops at Fort Carson, many of whom know I’m an old retired guy and will very respectfully thank me for my service.  I’m always really flattered and humbled by that, and I also always tell them the truth – they are doing a whole lot more than I ever did, and are going through stuff that I never had to.