The Department of Defense is testing canine therapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
From: Joseph R. John [mailto:jrjassoc@earthlink.net]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 8:29 PM
To:
jrj@combatveteransforcongress.orgSubject: Combat Veterans For Congress
We have made contact with the Helen Woodward Animal Shelter
http://www.animalcenter.org/ ; it is the premier animal shelter in the nation. It is located on 11 acres of land in Rancho Santa Fe, CA; the facility operates hospitals for every type of animal including a new hospital for horses. I have asked them if they would be willing to provide dogs for returning Wounded Warriors to help them with their healing process; they have been very positive and supportive. Please read the below listed article that documents how dogs speed up the healing process. Helen Woodward work very closely with a manufacturer of dog food who they feel will help fund this type of positive and uplifting program. This would not be a political activity, or an attempt to raise funds for the Combat Veterans For Congress PAC, this is our major effort to give back to the Wounded Warriors—something we have been trying to figure out how to do for nearly four years. We are retired military personnel, and will strictly observe military guidelines against involvement in any political activities. We would like to co-sponsor a major event aboard USS Midway or at SeaWorld in September with the Helen Woodward Animal Shelter to support this effort. We feel we can generate broad civilian and retired military support within San Diego County to make this happen, to primarily help Patriotic Wounded Warrior “heal more quickly”. Please get back to us, if this is something you would work with us to support.
Respectfully,
Joe
Joseph R. John, USNA ‘62
Capt USN (Ret)
Chairman, Combat Veterans For Congress PAC
2307 Fenton Parkway, Suite 107-184
San Diego, CA 92108
Tel: (619) 220-0094
Fax: (619) 220-0109
Cell: (310) 989-8778
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Canine Therapy
By Brian Fung
Apr 16 2012, 12:06 PM ET1
The Department of Defense is testing canine therapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Flickr/pmarkham
For veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, finding relief from post traumatic stress disorder usually involves psychiatric treatment, medication, or both. But what if you could achieve some of the same outcomes just by spending time with a dog?
That's what Marine Sergeant Jon Gordon tried after he suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2010 while on tour in Afghanistan. Gordon started having problems sleeping when he came back to the United States, reporting only one or two hours of rest a night. Then he met Birdie, a specially trained golden retriever. Now, Gordon says, he sleeps "ten times better" when he takes Birdie home with him.
"I slept 11 hours with him last night," said Gordon. "Without medication."
Stories like Gordon's are contributing to a growing body of research on canine therapy and its potential for helping veterans and active-duty soldiers recover from traumatic events. With the Pentagon's support, nearly 100 troops have undergone canine therapy at the Defense Department's National Intrepid Center of Excellence. Dogs rotate among groups of patients whose job it is to train the animals. It's a mutually beneficial relationship: by the end of each rotation, the program winds up providing treatment to 20 service members and produces a fully trained service dog.
Dog therapy remains an experimental treatment for now, but the pace of research on canine and other animal-assisted treatment is beginning to pick up. Last year, an Israeli study found that teenage girls suffering from psychological trauma exhibited fewer symptoms of PTSD after receiving canine therapy. Other studies credit canine therapy with lowering blood pressure among cardiac patients, reducing the perception of pain among children, and increasing the function of elderly schizophrenics.
The secret to dog therapy? Oxytocin, the hormone that lubricates social interactions by tamping down the brain's fight-or-flight instinct.
"Oxytocin replaces fight-flight with a brain and body chemistry of calm-connect," said Meg Olmert, director of research at the veterans' therapy outfit Warrior Canine Connection. "Dogs also release this same brain chemistry in humans. It is not just in your head that you think your dog is family."
For Sergeant Gordon, the relationship with Birdie has had second-order effects, too. Learning how to train a dog has helped him raise his human family.
"I have a five-year-old," Gordon said. "I was correcting the negative things all the time, but I've learned you've got to praise the positives and not so much the negatives. It just taught me a different aspect in how to shape behavior when it comes to raising a daughter."
