Understandable, I suppose, given everything going on in the world right now, but not acceptable, and the very thing I’m concerned about, i.e., seems like we’re forgetting that we still have troops coming home with very serious physical injuries from Afghanistan:

“More powerful roadside bombs lead to increase in spinal injuries among troops”

First I saw this discussed was in a similar article in USA Today back in Dec 09, which was followed later by another article in Jan of this year describing how casualties from IEDs in Afghanistan had almost quadrupled since Jan 09:

“Spinal injuries up among troops”

“Afghan insurgents match surge with more IEDs”

Those articles track with what I’ve heard personally in the last week from someone who just visited WRAMC and was told by the medical staff that they’re seeing polytrauma injuries coming back at the same rate as when OEF first started.

Strong reminder to me that, not only do we have an already existing large population of veterans from all eras with both service-related and non-service-related physical injuries and illnesses who are potential service dog candidates that we haven’t reached, we are continuing to add to that population daily. Something we absolutely cannot lose sight of and have to remain focused on constantly.

“Dual-duty dogs”

(There may be a few inaccuracies in the article – for example, I’m certainly familiar with the legislation, but I’m not sure exactly which bill the writer is referring to here: “Legislation that would create a $7 million, five-year pilot program at up to five Veterans Affairs facilities is currently before the Senate.” – but that doesn’t detract from the overall theme.)

I’ve known about PPH for several years, but I’m surprised to find I’ve never written about it here – just searched and didn’t see anything. The biggest thing I’ve always liked about it was the separation – these are veterans with post-traumatic stress training service dogs for OTHER veterans who have physical issues, as opposed to getting the dogs themselves. That removes much of what I’m concerned about with using service dogs where those with PTS are concerned while still offering them the benefits.

Plus, the program is run under the auspices of Bergin University of Canine Studies, which was known as the Assistance Dog Institute for many years.   Bonnie Bergin’s a little far out for me on some things, BUT she is, after all, the person credited with starting the whole assistance dog movement and who founded Canine Companions for Independence, and her organization is a long-time accredited member of Assistance Dogs International.

All of which is far better than the vast majority of what’s out there. I am increasingly concerned with some of the organizations that have popped up outta nowhere, especially those training “PTSD dogs”, one in particular that’s got my attention and I’ve been biting my tongue hard about since I first heard of it about six months ago. (I’m still being quiet for now, but maybe not much longer – that’s how much this place scares me.)

Please – if you’re gonna look for a service dog to help you or someone else deal with PTS, be smart.  Even though I’m no fan of the whole concept (at least as it’s being implemented right now), I can still aim you at a number of places who train those kinda dogs who I’d talk to LONG before some I see getting a lotta favorable press and who I’d likely not talk to at all.

In any event, might need some refinements, but I think the whole PPH concept is a good one overall and I’d like to see a lot more programs like it.  About the only “bad” thing I see is using “Paws” in the name, since there are so many places that use that and it’s confusing. There are some great ones – most notably Paws With A Cause – and some other definitely not-so-great ones.  As I always say, look closely.

You definitely need to read their site and blog for the details of how they’re going to make this happen – it’s a good plan – but here’s their stated mission:

“Pets for Patriots’ vision is to end animal homelessness by supporting the permanent placement of adult dogs and cats with every available, able, and willing military family in the U.S.”

Great concept in general, but what really caught my eye was Beth’s post (“Pets for Patriots launches new program with the U.S. Army“) a few days ago about visiting the Army Wounded Warrior (AW2) office recently here at Ft Carson, and specifically this sentence:

“Wounded soldiers who don’t qualify for a service animal – but would benefit from a new pet friend – will be referred to us.”

Exactly!  This is another outstanding example of a key concept I wrote about last November after reading about the Washington DC Humane Society’s Dog Tags program where troops rehabbing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center train dogs in basic obedience so they have a greater chance of being adopted. Please go read that post in its entirety (it’s not long) – everything I said there is still true today (in fact, even more so) and I’d just have to repost the whole thing here: “Every Veteran With A Disability Doesn’t Need A Service Dog, And This Is A Great Alternative“

No question in my mind that dogs have an important role to play with helping our wounded warriors recover, just not necessarily SERVICE dogs, something so many seem to assume.

We absolutely have to look at the ENTIRE range of options when we’re talking about dogs helping veterans, especially where post-traumatic stress is involved. Things like veterans training dogs in shelters so they have a better chance to be adopted, or adopting great pets, or working with a therapist who has a Canine Companions for Independence Facility Dog, or raising dogs that will eventually be service dogs for someone else (with the caveat that those dogs receive advanced training from a professional trainer), and so on.

Let’s be very clear – Beth is coming at things from a different and broader angle than I am, but Pets for Patriots is also a perfect fit for what I’m looking to accomplish and gives me one more very valuable option to offer people. I very much look forward to working with her as she expands this program both locally here in Colorado Springs and around the country as well.

“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”

When you see someone talking about service dogs for veterans, I want the image of this team to immediately pop into your head, because this is the model, on both ends of the leash.  Beyond just being a great story on its face, as you read it, compare what you see here – and, just as importantly, don’t see – with some of the other very visible “service dogs for veterans” stories of late.

Andrew Pike is a young Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran from Idaho who was paralyzed below the waist by a sniper in Palaji, Iraq on March 26, 2007.  He graduated with Service Dog Yazmin from Team Training at the Canine Companions for Independence Northwest Regional Center in Santa Rosa, CA on November 21st.

You can read all about them here:

“A wounded vet and black lab become partners”

Please watch the following two videos which will tell you even more. (Guess it’s not my day for embedding videos since I couldn’t get either one to do it, which is very odd.)  First one was taken during Team Training; second one was filmed after they returned home to Idaho.

“Iraq War Vet gets service dog from CCI”

“Andrew Pike: New life after the war“

You can make your own list, of course, but here’s just a few things I’m hoping you noted and will file away for comparison:

• Very calm dog under all circumstances – no evidence of stress, such as panting or pawing at her human partner.

• Dog under control by the human at all times, and that means a leash – shoot, Andrew even held onto the leash when Yazmin was at home – now THAT’s control.

• Dog actually performing physical tasks for the veteran, e.g., opening doors.

• Calm, stable, grounded veteran discussing his future in very positive terms.

• Veteran who’s very active in nonpartisan positively focused wounded veterans organizations like Paralyzed Veterans of America and US Paralympics.

I know there are more, but you get the idea.

Not really much I can add other than to say Andrew is a wonderful example to me of someone being positive under far tougher circumstances than I hope I ever have to deal with, and a great reminder of why those of us involved with CCI do what we do.

“Homeless Dogs Help Healing Troops”

The reality is a service dog isn’t necessary or appropriate for every wounded veteran (or anyone with a disability, for that matter) – not the popular thing to say, but the truth. So much of the popular public opinion I see now comes off as “Hey, let’s just give every wounded veteran a service dog and that’ll fix things”, especially when we’re talking about mental health issues like post-traumatic stress as opposed to physical injuries.  Well-intentioned, no doubt, but misguided, nonetheless – it’s just not that simple nor necessarily the way to go.

There are a myriad of factors involved in providing someone with a no-joke, for-real, fully functioning service dog, and, done right, it’s a time-consuming, extremely thorough, and usually expensive process that requires a lifetime commitment from everyone involved. Programs like this one are great because they provide troops who don’t have a more serious need with so much of what they do need, cost very little, if anything, and all of the factors specifically associated with a service dog are taken away.  They also have the potential to not divert a lot of funding and effort away from areas where, in my view, they are better expended, e.g., the training of full-up service dogs for those people who have physical injuries as their primary issue.

No question whatsoever that there are still many veterans who really need and would benefit from a service dog, and I remain convinced that we still aren’t reaching those with severe physical disabilities, particularly the relatively younger group of OEF/OIF veterans. But I’m also convinced there are a whole lotta people that don’t need that level of support, and we need to be talking about these kind of programs first before making the big jump to right away talking about service dogs for everybody.