How It Works
For warriors with PTSD, it has been documented that a dog helps with
emotional regulation. Patients who are very anxious and have anger
issues find they can’t work with a dog if they yell. They must have a
calm voice. Working with a dog helps build confidence and bridge the gap
with strangers. More often than not the response and the bond is
immediate.
A female warrior with PTSD has sleep disorders and often awakens to find
herself barricaded in her closet, behind duffle bags, with a knife. With
her TADSAW SERVICE DOG she is able to
sleep. Simply having a dog around allows the warriors to trust the dog
to assess the safety of their surroundings, as the dogs have a much
keener sensory capacity than people.
TRAIN A DOG~SAVE A WARRIOR. has found
that a great majority of the warriors with PTSD choose a shelter dog
because they want 'to save something’. They may choose a dog with an
injury because they have an injury too. They are both healing. They fit
together. They are a team.
Veterans often suffering alone, seem to silence themselves because of
the stigma still attached to psychological injuries like PTSD. The dog
can calm them down and get their minds off of everything going on in
their lives by focusing on the dog not themselves.
There is life after injuries. This new quality of life just might be, in
part, based on a PTSD SERVICE DOG. Here’s how
TADSAW'S PTSD SERVICE DOGS can help.
A rescue dog from a shelter or the warrior’s own personal dog, if deemed
appropriate in temperament, demeanor, and size, will be evaluated, enter
BOOT CAMP, and be trained specific commands for specific needs of a
wounded warrior with PTSD.
Once trained, these TADSAW SERVICE DOGS
have the ability to decrease isolation of the veteran, decrease the
needs for many medications, decrease anxiety and panic attacks when in
crowded public places, awaken them from nightmares and flashbacks, ‘have
their backs’ when necessary, to name but a few.
This extensive and costly training is at no charge to the warrior and
his dog, with training lasting 3-4 months at the least. Once training is
completed and the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizenship
classification is awarded to the team, and after intensive training to
meet the specific needs of the specific warrior, the dog will be
eligible for service dog designation, according to the American
Disabilities Act.
The team will carry the necessary health certificates and documentation
and will be able to accompany the warrior to stores, restaurants, living
accommodations, and permitting full access to any and all places the
warrior wishes to visit.
Currently, veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the DC VA
Hospital are adopting pets from the Washington Animal Rescue League. It
is working!
For hundreds of wounded veterans, the long walk to recovery is often a
lonely one. A long walk is something most dogs love.
‘Much of life can never be explained but only witnessed.” Rachael Remen, MD
Start the video above and see the kind of training the
dogs go through.
The Difference between:
Service, Therapy, Companion and "Social/therapy" Animals
Service Animals are legally defined (Americans With Disabilities Act, 1990) and are trained to meet the disability-related needs of their handlers who have disabilities. Federal laws protect the rights of individuals with disabilities to be accompanied by their service animals in public places. Service animals are not considered 'pets'.
Therapy Animals are not legally defined by federal law, but some states have laws defining therapy animals. They provide people with contact to animals, but are not limited to working with people who have disabilities. They are usually the personal pets of their handlers, and work with their handlers to provide services to others. Federal laws have no provisions for people to be accompanied by therapy animals in places of public accommodation that have "no pets" policies. Therapy animals usually are not service animals.
A Companion Animal is not legally defined, but is accepted as another term for pet.
'Social/therapy' Animals have no legal definition. They often are
animals that did not complete service animal or service dog training due
to health, disposition, trainability, or other factors, and are made
available as pets for people who have disabilities. These animals might
or might not meet the definition of service animals.
The Delta Society