June 26, 2014 – For dog lovers, it’s an absolute: The unconditional love of a canine companion heals the soul, reaching into the heart to cross canyons of loneliness and despair.
Military researchers now are trying to learn if there’s real science behind that semimystical link — and if so, whether it can help treat the signature wounds of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
A $5 million study is underway at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., to evaluate whether and how training service dogs may help patients with traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Participating troops are paired with puppies that they will raise for two years to serve as assistance dogs for other injured veterans.
Anecdotal personal stories aside, a handful of studies have suggested that working with dogs releases oxytocin, the feel-good hormone that promotes bonding. The new research seeks to quantify these observations.
“There’s not a lot of information. … It’s hard to conduct randomized, controlled trials as to why some people benefit,” said Navy Capt. Robert Koffman, a psychiatrist contributing to the study as part of his job at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence in Bethesda.
The research is modeled on a program started five years ago at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health System in California.
Rick Yount, executive director of the nonprofit Warrior Canine Connection, which breeds golden and Labrador retrievers to become service dogs, said the program succeeds by combining the power of the human-animal bond with the “warrior ethos” of helping brothers-in-arms.
Being in need of mental health treatment is “contrary” to how combat troops see themselves, Yount said, “but tell them you need volunteers to help train service dogs, and a lot of hands go up.”
The study involves at least 40 service members, half of whom will train dogs.
The research will follow participants through the program, examining physiological responses — such as heart rate and stress markers — as well as any psychiatric changes before, during and after the study period.
If the results are anything like what Palo Alto has seen, Yount said troops will benefit, and a new crop of hard-working service dogs will be available for injured vets.
“While service members are trying to teach the dog that the world is a safe place, they are, at the same time, working on their own triggers,” Yount said.
The study is the first Defense Department research to examine the interaction between dogs and humans with head injuries or mental health conditions.
A larger, different study is just getting underway at the Veterans Affairs Department, but that research will focus on the effectiveness of trained psychiatric service dogs as well as companion dogs — pets — to ease PTSD symptoms.
On any given day, service dogs can be spotted strolling through the NICoE, Building 62, which houses injured troops, and the America Building outpatient clinics at Walter Reed-Bethesda.
Koffman’s golden-Lab mix, Ron, works as an animal assistance therapy dog, breaking the ice between his handler and patients.
He said the magnetic draw of dogs is one of many reasons they’re beneficial to patients with anxiety disorders, including PTSD.
“When you have a dog in public that’s as irresistible as mine, it’s almost impossible to get anywhere on time,” he said. “It forces a person to socialize.”
The Pentagon is expected to update Congress on the research’s progress next year. Advocates say the results may guide the military, veteran and medical communities on canine-assisted therapy, service dog policies, medical treatment and more.
Retired Army Col. Elspeth Ritchie, lifelong dog lover and chief clinical officer for the Washington, D.C., Department of Mental Health, said dog therapies “are not yet a ‘best practice.’ … They’re still new and emerging.”
“But the anecdotal information — just from talking with the service member — is so strong,” she said. “As complementary or alternative medicine, it’s powerful.”
First published in the June 26, 2014 online issue of Marine Corps Times.
New leash on life: Service dogs, trained by and for wounded warriors
March 14, 2015 – Brookeville, Md. — Meet Ron.
He has helped hundreds of servicemembers suffering from PTSD. He works at Walter Reed National Medical Center in a Navy camo harness. His title? Animal co-therapist.
Ron is a 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever — a facility dog who works at Walter Reed and the National Intrepid Center of Excellence in Bethesda, Md. The Department of Defense Institute is dedicated to studying and healing servicemembers with traumatic brain injury and psychological issues.
Read the full article, and view the photographs and videos here.
Veterans’ Therapy Goes to the Dogs – CBSNews.com
February 18, 2015 – WASHINGTON — When Lt. Tommy Faulkenberry came home to his wife and four sons in 2012, after 12 years at sea with the U.S. Coast Guard, he found his transition to civilian life especially difficult. He had contracted a rare form of muscular dystrophy, and as the physical toll on him mounted, depression, anxiety, and prescription drug dependence followed.
View the video and read the article here.
Puppies at Warrior Canine Connection More Than Just a Cute Face – WNEW
February 3, 2015 – The puppies at Warrior Canine Connection are more than just a cute, fluffy face — they’re service dogs in training. Warrior Canine Connection is a nonprofit service dog organization that provides therapeutic intervention for service members in treatment for post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.
Click here to read the article.
From pups to healers: Companions change wounded warriors’ lives – WTOP Radio
November 24, 2014 – Can a furry, four-legged creature really help save a life? Many wounded warriors and their spouses say, “yes.”
It’s in part thanks to the Warrior Canine Connection. The pioneering program enlists recovering wounded service members to train service dogs for fellow wounded members. Read the article, see the video and picture gallery, and download the full audio report here.
2015 WCC Calendars for Sale
Solid Gold Partners With Warrior Canine Connection — Pet Age
October 27, 2014 – Solid Gold Pet and the Solid Gold Foundation have developed an exclusive alliance with Warrior Canine Connection (WCC), a national nonprofit organization that enlists recovering warriors in a therapeutic mission of learning to train service dogs for their fellow veterans. Read the full story at Pet Age.
Furry therapy: Group connects veterans and dogs — Frederick News Post
July 6, 2014 – A cold wet nose and wagging tail have given many a sad or weary heart a lift.
But seeing his dog Gabe ease the anxiety of an 11-year-old boy who was leaving his mother and moving into foster care gave social worker Rick Yount an idea.
That led Yount and Gabe, a pup given him by friends who had fought in Operation Desert Storm, to embark on the golden retriever’s work as a certified therapy dog.
Twelve years later the gift came full circle when Yount started a program using dogs like Gabe to help veterans recover from the psychological and physical wounds they suffered in war.
Read the full story at the Frederick News Post.
Researchers try to verify whether canines help patients with TBI, PTSD — Marine Corps Times
June 26, 2014 – For dog lovers, it’s an absolute: The unconditional love of a canine companion heals the soul, reaching into the heart to cross canyons of loneliness and despair.
Military researchers now are trying to learn if there’s real science behind that semimystical link — and if so, whether it can help treat the signature wounds of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
A $5 million study is underway at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., to evaluate whether and how training service dogs may help patients with traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Participating troops are paired with puppies that they will raise for two years to serve as assistance dogs for other injured veterans.
Anecdotal personal stories aside, a handful of studies have suggested that working with dogs releases oxytocin, the feel-good hormone that promotes bonding. The new research seeks to quantify these observations.
“There’s not a lot of information. … It’s hard to conduct randomized, controlled trials as to why some people benefit,” said Navy Capt. Robert Koffman, a psychiatrist contributing to the study as part of his job at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence in Bethesda.
The research is modeled on a program started five years ago at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health System in California.
Rick Yount, executive director of the nonprofit Warrior Canine Connection, which breeds golden and Labrador retrievers to become service dogs, said the program succeeds by combining the power of the human-animal bond with the “warrior ethos” of helping brothers-in-arms.
Being in need of mental health treatment is “contrary” to how combat troops see themselves, Yount said, “but tell them you need volunteers to help train service dogs, and a lot of hands go up.”
The study involves at least 40 service members, half of whom will train dogs.
The research will follow participants through the program, examining physiological responses — such as heart rate and stress markers — as well as any psychiatric changes before, during and after the study period.
If the results are anything like what Palo Alto has seen, Yount said troops will benefit, and a new crop of hard-working service dogs will be available for injured vets.
“While service members are trying to teach the dog that the world is a safe place, they are, at the same time, working on their own triggers,” Yount said.
The study is the first Defense Department research to examine the interaction between dogs and humans with head injuries or mental health conditions.
A larger, different study is just getting underway at the Veterans Affairs Department, but that research will focus on the effectiveness of trained psychiatric service dogs as well as companion dogs — pets — to ease PTSD symptoms.
On any given day, service dogs can be spotted strolling through the NICoE, Building 62, which houses injured troops, and the America Building outpatient clinics at Walter Reed-Bethesda.
Koffman’s golden-Lab mix, Ron, works as an animal assistance therapy dog, breaking the ice between his handler and patients.
He said the magnetic draw of dogs is one of many reasons they’re beneficial to patients with anxiety disorders, including PTSD.
“When you have a dog in public that’s as irresistible as mine, it’s almost impossible to get anywhere on time,” he said. “It forces a person to socialize.”
The Pentagon is expected to update Congress on the research’s progress next year. Advocates say the results may guide the military, veteran and medical communities on canine-assisted therapy, service dog policies, medical treatment and more.
Retired Army Col. Elspeth Ritchie, lifelong dog lover and chief clinical officer for the Washington, D.C., Department of Mental Health, said dog therapies “are not yet a ‘best practice.’ … They’re still new and emerging.”
“But the anecdotal information — just from talking with the service member — is so strong,” she said. “As complementary or alternative medicine, it’s powerful.”
First published in the June 26, 2014 online issue of Marine Corps Times.
Power of Dogs to Heal Our Veterans — FOX News Network
May 30, 2014 – Warrior Canine Connection helps brave vets recover from the battlefield.
View the clip from Fox News’ The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson.”
Military Therapy Dogs Help Soldiers — ABC Nightly News
May 27, 2014 – Therapy dogs trained to sense a soldier’s distress are doing wonders to help veterans return to family life.
Watch the ABC Nightly News Clip at abcnews.com.