K9 dogs are applauded for being the brave front liners that accompany their partners in risky missions. But of course, this job comes with a cause, as it could affect the dog and even the military personnel/police mentally. With this, there are service dogs who do the job of helping those personnel who suffer in this line of job.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Heather O’Brien brought home anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with her after serving at a crowded and dangerous internment camp in Iraq. Through the Dogs 4 Valor program, she was able to seek help in managing her disorder with a bouncy labradoodle named Albus.
Dogs 4 Valor is a program operated through Olathe, a Kansas City-based organization called The Battle Within, which helps retired war veterans and first responders work with their service dogs. It helps patients with managing depression, anxiety, and other challenges that harm their mental health.
Sandra Sindeldecker, the Program Manager for Dogs 4 Valor, said that many veterans are homebound with PTSD. She noted that many of them are so nervous and isolated that they won’t keep eye contact with anyone. Some of them won’t even leave their homes due to the fear that they still experience, even if they’re far from the battlefield now.
How Does Dog Therapy Work?
Dogs 4 Valor works with a group and one-on-one training with the goal of getting the veteran and the dog comfortable with one another. The group sessions involve an outing for veterans to regain their footing in public places. The best part is that program leaders also provide mental health therapy for no cost. The veterans and their dogs graduate in six to nine months, but their group gatherings will continue.
Now, how does this amazing therapy work? In a study published in JAMA Network, they looked into a program by the K9s For Warriors and they learned that the service dogs in the program were taught to pick up signs when veterans show that they are in physical distress. Dogs interrupt these panic attacks and nightmares by nudging their owners lovingly.
In the study, the researchers compared the 81 veterans who went through the therapy with their service dogs with the 75 veterans on the waiting list for a trained dog. After three months, the researchers noticed that the PTSD symptoms improved for both groups, but it is worth noting that the veterans with dogs saw a much bigger improvement.
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Life With Albus
O’Brien recalled that the camp she worked in back in Iraq would sometimes have 20,000 detainees where violence and rioting always happened. This resulted in her bringing home anxiety and PTSD. O’Brien said that when she went out of the military, she expected that she was supposed to be on edge as a veteran.
It was then that her mother spotted the frisky lab-poodle mix on Facebook where she was convinced to adopt the dog that she would name as Albus. Months later, she learned about the Dog 4 Valor program, which she joined together with Albus in October 2023.
Now, O’Brien can proudly go out in public she even went to Branson, Missouri, for vacation. It is something that she never knew she could do again.
She compared her relationship to Albus as a pushy best friend who always wants to go out of the house and do things that will always make her feel nervous. Although admittedly, some things are still hard for O’Brien, what’s important is that she’s seeing significant changes on her way to healing.
With O’Brien, she got her life back, all thanks to Albus and the Dogs 4 Valor program.
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From The Club
This Veterans Day, we also celebrate the dogs who have helped heal our veterans. A huge thanks to them for staying with our veterans and helping them have a normal life once again. Programs such as Dogs 4 Valor have helped put these animals in the limelight and work with veterans to help improve their mental challenges and improve their relationships with other people as well.
