View Full Version : K9 PTSD
"Trip-Wire K9s" - coming to a VA vet clinic near you...
Richard :munchin
Military's Dogs of War Also Suffer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
LATimes, 26 Nov 2012
Canine PTSD is now recognized by military dog specialists as a combat affliction, and they're learning to treat it.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-military-dogs-20121126,0,1859286.story
LibraryLady
11-26-2012, 12:21
Canine PTSD is now recognized by military dog specialists as a combat affliction, and they're learning to treat it.
Good. I can still remember each and every one I put down who couldn't perform correctly. I thought then that stress caused their behavioral issues, but no one wanted to do anything about it. Of course the option to adopt out wasn't a given, so in addition, those deemed too old were also put down. I remember them too.
LL
Santo Tomas
11-26-2012, 12:39
This is very real. I work closely with them and the AF doc trying to get this recognized.
Damn I love a good dog, all of the attributes you need in a good friend....we need to take care of war dogs.
I had a German Shepherd once who was a great bird dog - a couple of dove hunting punks filled her @$$ with a couple loads of #6 shot one day - she was gun shy from then on and would damn near go apoplectic every time a thunder storm blew into the area. Guess she had undiagnosed PTSD.
Richard :munchin
Peregrino
11-26-2012, 20:49
It's a REAL and EXPENSIVE problem. Each one of our MPCs starts at about $12,000 before training. Add the fact that they're providing vital support in theater (when properly used) and they're getting burned out, wounded, and killed just like our Soldiers. It is not an appropriate topic for sarcasm.
Sadly some of them have it bad enough that they can't be salvaged by retirement and adoption.
Trapper John
11-26-2012, 21:09
I had a German Shepherd once who was a great bird dog - a couple of dove hunting punks filled her @$$ with a couple loads of #6 shot one day - she was gun shy from then on and would damn near go apoplectic every time a thunder storm blew into the area. Guess she had undiagnosed PTSD.
Richard :munchin
So did they ever find the dove hunters? :D
It is not an appropriate topic for sarcasm.
Agree - and that wasn't 'sarcasm' - I had just never thought of my dog's behvaior in that way before. RIP, Kate. :(
Richard :munchin
After our lab of 14 years passed I vowed never to have a dog again. Guess what, our son picked up a lab/shephard mix that is one year old this month. He got her as a pup and man has she grown on my wife and I. When my wife and I get home from work that dog greets us like we have been away for months. You can have your cats, fish and whatever else. There is no greater loyalty than a dog to their owner.
Richard,
Thanks for putting this out there. The bottomline is that we in the veterinary community have fewer answers than the physicians and psychologists. In reading this article, the following statements bother me:
Quote: "There are no official statistics, but Burghardt estimates that half of the dogs that return with PTSD or other behavioral hitches..."
Quote: "The decision to officially label the dogs' condition as PTSD was made by a working group of dog trainers and other specialists at Lackland. In most cases, such labeling of animal behavior would be subjected to peer review and scrutiny in veterinary medical journals."
Quote: "But Burghardt and others in the group decided that they could not wait for that kind of lengthy professional vetting — that a delay could endanger those who depend on the dogs."
I'm throwing the BS flag out on that. We've been at war for over a decade, these reports started at a trickle and are now at an all-time high. The Dog Center has one veterinarian in a behavioral residency right now as we speak. They have had plenty of time to pull data retrospectively, analyze it and give us some answers.
I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they are inundated with medical, surgical and behavioral cases and consults, and as typical in the Army these days are undermanned and underfunded; however, this condition must be considered a high priority.
Cheers,
Dale
LibraryLady
12-02-2012, 13:49
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From a 2 minute search, it appears Tony Perry the journalist who wrote the article has no medical background. He's writing an article to appeal to the masses - a feel good story and all details in the article should be filtered with that in mind.
LL
I have a dog that the team and i kept and we ended up rotating to the same team house for 2 deployments. She would sleep in my room and we got word that our team house would be shutting down ( this was 2009) I brought her home through Operation Baghdad Pups. Im married now with a son who is one and right now she is laying by him. I think when it comes time for her pass on that im just going to go with her. She is the best dog I have ever had.
Slightly off-topic - BUT... :lifter
Richard :munchin
Marine Special Operator Gets Navy Cross For Afghanistan Heroism
StarsStripes, 3 Dec 2012
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus on Monday honored four members of a Marine special operations team in a rare public ceremony for the covert forces.
In a ceremony at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Mabus awarded Marine Sgt. William Soutra Jr. the Navy Cross, the Navy's highest honor and the military's second highest honor, for tending to the wounded while guiding the platoon to safety during an attack in Afghanistan's Helmand Province in July 2010 that spanned over two days.
Three others on his team, including a Navy corpsman, were given Silver Stars.
Often the heroic actions of special operators are only known to each other and the leadership because of their covert work on classified missions.
"This is a chance to recognize people who don't get recognized much," Mabus said, adding that their actions show "just how incredibly capable" Marine special operators are.
Soutra was a canine handler with a Marine special operations team when they were ambushed. After the team's assistant leader was fatally wounded by an enemy explosive during the ambush, Soutra jumped into action, repeatedly running into the line of fire as he helped direct troops to defend themselves and fight off the enemy, Mabus said.
At one point, the 27-year-old Marine from Worchester, Mass., placed a tourniquet on a wounded commando, before dragging him to a ditch for cover. He worked tirelessly for more than an hour after the initial blast and helped carry casualties through the sporadic gunfire, officials said.
His military dog stayed attached to his side during the ordeal. The dog had to be put down more than a year ago because it had cancer.
Maj. James Rose, Staff Sgt. Frankie Shinost Jr. and Navy Corpsman Patrick Quill were given Silver Stars for their actions that day.
The four men called it a horrible day because they lost their element leader, Staff Sgt. Chris Antonik.
"Every day I think about Chris," said Soutra, calling him a close friend and great warrior.
Soutra vowed to try to carry on as the kind of warrior that would make Antonik proud.
http://www.stripes.com/news/navy/marine-special-operator-gets-navy-cross-for-afghanistan-heroism-1.199223