[nagdu] Fw: The Dogs of War, Suffering Like Soldiers.

[Tami Kinney]

This is interesting. Observing Daisy and working to help her recover 
from her really serious fear aggression, I could not help noticing that 
her symptoms really did seem just like PTSD in humans. Things that 
reminded her of past trauma would set off her anxiety, which in her case 
would lead to aggression. So to combat this behavior, I started by 
helping her reduce her overall anxiety level and to learn to manage her 
anxiety herself... I didn't use Xanax, of course, but I did use rescue 
remedy and another herbal doggy anxiety remedy to calm the physiological 
stress reactions so that I could then gently work with her on making 
positive, happy associations... This worked, especially as I learned 
from her what those many, many triggers were and how to help her find 
calm and happiness. Poor dog was beyond permanent repair, but the more I 
learned about how to manage her anxiety on a day to day basis and to 
keep it reduced over time, the more calm and relaxed she became.

Her trauma was from abuse by humans, over too long a time, but for the 
last year or so she was with us, we could touch her all over, lift her, 
play happily -- both me and Mitzi -- and generally calm her even in high 
stimulus situations. Mostly. She would get pretty wound up when we 
started traveling, but not in an aggressive way, just a completely 
unmanageable way... /lol/ Given another few years, we could have worked 
with her to have nice travels with her, although we would never have 
been able to let her go out even on leash and Halti without her 
muzzle... She really was a lovely dog, with three legs, and keeping 
people from coming up to her was just too iffy... Still, we did get have 
some enjoyable travel time with her, and she was getting better even 
there quickly. But the pain from the arthritis brought back bad memories 
and and some snapping and lunging even as we upped the pain meds to 
manage it better... Then the anti-inflammatories would sort of put her 
out of her head, so when one of us moved while she was sleeping, she 
would wake up in her aggressive defensive mode, clearly not knowing 
where she was... We decided it was time, since this could not be quality 
of life for her and was potentially dangerous to Mitzi or one of us. 
Sigh. Still, she was overall a very calm, loving and happy dog for the 
last 2 or 3 years of her life, so I am glad we could give her that. /smile/

Still, observing and thinking and pondering how best to help her through 
to the dog we knew she was meant to be, I really did find myself b eing 
reminded of PTSD in humans, and addressing her issues from that 
standpoint worked really well.

So I do hope that these military dogs are well treated from those 
psychological traumas, to work or to be re-homed where their PTSD can be 
managed and relieved.

Tami

On 12/03/2011 01:09 PM, Ed Meskys wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Louis Gosselin"<gosselin_louis at MYFAIRPOINT.NET>
> To:<NHBLIND-TALK at LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG>
> Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2011 12:05 PM
> Subject: The Dogs of War, Suffering Like Soldiers.
>
>
> The Dogs of War, Suffering Like Soldiers.
> NY Times Friday, 2011_12_02
> By JAMES DAO. SAN ANTONIO -- The call came into the behavior specialists
> here
> from
> a doctor in Afghanistan. His patient had just been through a firefight and
> now
> was
> cowering under a cot, refusing to come out.
> Apparently even the chew toys hadn't worked.
> Post-traumatic stress disorder, thought Dr. Walter F. Burghardt Jr., chief
> of
> behavioral
> medicine at the Daniel E. Holland Military Working Dog Hospital at Lackland
> Air
> Force
> Base. Specifically, canine PTSD.
> If anyone needed evidence of the frontline role played by dogs in war these
> days,
> here is the latest: the four-legged, wet-nosed troops used to sniff out
> mines,
> track
> down enemy fighters and clear buildings are struggling with the mental
> strains
> of
> combat nearly as much as their human counterparts.
> By some estimates, more than 5 percent of the approximately 650 military
> dogs
> deployed
> by American combat forces are developing canine PTSD. Of those, about half
> are
> likely
> to be retired from service, Dr. Burghardt said.
> Though veterinarians have long diagnosed behavioral problems in animals, the
> concept
> of canine PTSD is only about 18 months old, and still being debated. But it
> has
> gained
> vogue among military veterinarians, who have been seeing patterns of
> troubling
> behavior
> among dogs exposed to explosions, gunfire and other combat-related violence
> in
> Iraq
> and Afghanistan.
> Like humans with the analogous disorder, different dogs show different
> symptoms.
> Some become hyper-vigilant. Others avoid buildings or work areas that they
> had
> previously
> been comfortable in. Some undergo sharp changes in temperament, becoming
> unusually
> aggressive with their handlers, or clingy and timid. Most crucially, many
> stop
> doing
> the tasks they were trained to perform.
> If the dog is trained to find improvised explosives and it looks like it's
> working,
> but isn't, it's not just the dog that's at risk,' Dr. Burghardt said. This
> is a
> human
> health issue as well.
> That the military is taking a serious interest in canine PTSD underscores
> the
> importance
> of working dogs in the current wars. Once used primarily as furry sentries,
> military
> dogs -- most are German shepherds, followed by Belgian Malinois and Labrador
> retrievers
> -- have branched out into an array of specialized tasks.
> They are widely considered the most effective tools for detecting the
> improvised
> explosive devices, or I.E.D.'s, frequently used in Afghanistan. Typically
> made
> from
> fertilizer and chemicals, and containing little or no metal, those buried
> bombs
> can
> be nearly impossible to find with standard mine-sweeping instruments. In the
> past
> three years, I.E.D.'s have become the major cause of casualties in
> Afghanistan.
> The Marine Corps also has begun using specially trained dogs to track
> Taliban
> fighters
> and bomb-makers. And Special Operations commandos train their own dogs to
> accompany
> elite teams on secret missions like the Navy SEAL raid that led to the
> killing
> of
> Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Across all the forces, more than 50 military
> dogs
> have
> been killed since 2005.
> The number of working dogs on active duty has risen to 2,700, from 1,800 in
> 2001,
> and the training school headquartered here at Lackland has gotten busy,
> preparing
> about 500 dogs a year. So has the Holland hospital, the Pentagon's canine
> version
> of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
> Dr. Burghardt, a lanky 59-year-old who retired last year from the Air Force
> as a
> colonel, rarely sees his PTSD patients in the flesh. Consultations with
> veterinarians
> in the field are generally done by phone, e-mail or Skype, and often involve
> video
> documentation.
> In a series of videos that Dr. Burghardt uses to train veterinarians to spot
> canine
> PTSD, one shepherd barks wildly at the sound of gunfire that it had once
> tolerated
> in silence. Another can be seen confidently inspecting the interior of cars
> but
> then
> refusing to go inside a bus or a building. Another sits listlessly on a
> barrier
> wall,
> then after finally responding to its handler's summons, runs away from a
> group
> of
> Afghan soldiers.
> In each case, Dr. Burghardt theorizes, the dogs were using an object,
> vehicle or
> person as a 'cue' for some violence they had witnessed. If you want to put
> doggy
> thoughts into their heads,' he said, 'the dog is thinking: when I see this
> kind
> of
> individual, things go boom, and I'm distressed.
> Treatment can be tricky. Since the patient cannot explain what is wrong,
> veterinarians
> and handlers must make educated guesses about the traumatizing events. Care
> can
> be
> as simple as taking a dog off patrol and giving it lots of exercise,
> playtime
> and
> gentle obedience training.
> More serious cases will receive what Dr. Burghardt calls 'desensitization
> counterconditioning,'
> which entails exposing the dog at a safe distance to a sight or sound that
> might
> set off a reaction -- a gunshot, a loud bang or a vehicle, for instance. If
> the
> dog
> does not react, it is rewarded, and the trigger -- 'the spider in a glass
> box,'
> Dr.
> Burghardt calls it -- is moved progressively closer.
> Gina, a shepherd with PTSD who was the subject of news articles last year,
> was
> successfully
> treated with desensitization and has been cleared to deploy again, said
> Tech.
> Sgt.
> Amanda Callahan, a spokeswoman at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
> Some dogs are also treated with the same medications used to fight panic
> attacks
> in humans. Dr. Burghardt asserts that medications seem particularly
> effective
> when
> administered soon after traumatizing events. The Labrador retriever that
> cowered
> under a cot after a firefight, for instance, was given Xanax, an
> anti-anxiety
> drug,
> and within days was working well again.
> Dogs that do not recover quickly are returned to their home bases for
> longer-term
> treatment. But if they continue to show symptoms after three months, they
> are
> usually
> retired or transferred to different duties, Dr. Burghardt said.
> As with humans, there is much debate about treatment, with little research
> yet
> to
> guide veterinarians. Lee Charles Kelley, a dog trainer who writes a blog for
> Psychology
> Today called 'My Puppy, My Self,' says medications should be used only as a
> stopgap.
> We don't even know how they work in people,' he said.
> In the civilian dog world, a growing number of animal behaviorists seem to
> be
> endorsing
> the concept of canine PTSD, saying it also affects household pets who
> experience
> car accidents and even less traumatic events.
> Dr. Nicholas H. Dodman, director of the animal behavior clinic at the
> Cummings
> School
> of Veterinary Medicine at Tuft University, said he had written about and
> treated
> dogs with PTSD-like symptoms for years -- but did not call it PTSD until
> recently.
> Asked if the disorder could be cured, Dr. Dodman said probably not.
> It is more management,' he said. Dogs never forget.
> PHOTOS: Yuri receives aquatic therapy at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. A
> hospital
> there treats military dogs suffering behavioral problems acquired in the
> field.;
> Staff Sgt. Shane Larson instructs a dog in a warehouse drill. American
> combat
> forces
> in Iraq and Afghanistan used 650 dogs to sniff out bombs and the enemy.
> (PHOTOGRAPHS
> BY BRYCE HARPER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES) .
>
>
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