Service dog can be a veteran's best friend

RNW, 20 August 2012, by Marnix Quee

(RNW)

         

Guide dogs are well-established as invaluable assistants for those who are blind, and increasingly service dogs are being used by people with other sorts of physical disability. But they can also be a boon for people suffering from psychological difficulties. The Dutch Service Dog Foundation (Hulphond Nederland) has, for the first time, placed a dog with a veteran suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Soldiers often see and experience terrible things when deployed in conflict zones. But the nature of their work means they tend not to complain or talk about these experiences when they get back home. And that can lead to serious problems as service men and women struggle to re-adjust to ‘normal’ life with memories of death and violence still haunting them.

American organisations are experienced in placing dogs with traumatised veterans according to Eric Bouwer, director of Hulphond Nederland. "A Dutch veteran told us about the use of service dogs for soldiers, and that got us interested. We looked very carefully at the Americans to see what dogs needed to learn to be helpful to people with PTSD and then got started. It’s a logical extension of the work we already do with service dogs”.

Sensory warnings

PTSD manifests itself in various symptoms. Sufferers sleep badly, are irritable, depressed, can become instantly aggressive or display violent shock reactions. Often they are tormented by vivid nightmares and flashbacks during which they re-live traumatic experiences. An estimated 7,000 Dutch veterans suffer from some form of PTSD.

The usefulness of service dogs for veterans is comparable to the way they can help those who suffer from a severe form of epilepsy, experiencing more than ten attacks per day. “We humans have no idea of the sensory abilities of dogs”, explains Bouwer. “Dogs are so good at sensing the very early signals of an attack. They can take preventive action as much as half an hour in advance. It’s the same with PTSD veterans. For instance, dogs can react to tiny changes in sleep patterns which indicate a nightmare”.

Teddy goes everywhere

John Kunstman served in the UN force in Lebanon and is the first Dutch veteran to be paired up with a specially trained dog. He lost a leg during the mission and developed a severe stress disorder. He was too scared to go outdoors alone and suffered anxiety dreams every night. But now he has Teddy. “He goes everywhere with me. I even went to the National Veteran’s Day in The Hague recently. Me, in a crowd of 85,000 people! I’d never have dared without Teddy.”

More than a pet

Hulphond Nederland is also in contact with soldiers who’ve served in Afghanistan. “There are such distressing cases. People who don’t dare go out because they see an enemy behind every tree. In the army, soldiers are always in pairs or groups for protection. A dog can fill that role. Of course, a pet dog can also help if veterans are simply lonely and want companionship, but a well-trained service dog has extra value. For instance, it will intervene if it senses aggression. It can lead the veteran away before a situation gets out of hand.

It’s difficult to say just how many cases there are where a service dog would be of benefit. “We’re training seven dogs at the moment, but I think there are at least 500 veterans we could be helping”. It costs around 10,000 euros to properly train and place a service dog, and to provide follow-up assistance. Hulphond Nederland is dependent on private sponsors and donations. A veterans’ support group is financing the costs of the first seven ‘soldier dogs’ and the foundation is hoping that if the project is a success, the Defence Ministry may also contribute.

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Matthew message (Channelled by Suzanne Ward, June 3, 2012)

20. Because it offers an excellent forum for an explanation of great importance, we address a writer’s suggestion, offered some time ago: on Memorial Day in the United States, the truth be told to the world about who starts wars and why so that “never again will people have to fight and die ‘for freedom.’” We honor the writer’s intense desire for peace in your world, but especially on that emotionally-charged day of commemoration to fallen soldiers, the truth about war could not have been told.

21. Grieving families and friends of troops who have died don’t want to hear that their beloved persons did not die to protect their own nation from oppressors or to help another nation achieve freedom from tyranny. Veterans whose severe wounds have caused physical pain and perhaps loss of limbs don’t want to hear who actually benefited from their service, and neither do those who are living with nightmares about their wartime experience want to hear that truth. Troops still in combat zones or stationed in foreign countries in an occupation capacity don’t want to hear the real reason they are far away from home and families.

22. Beyond those myriad personal situations, beyond the civilian casualties in war zones, and beyond the financial burdens to the peoples whose nations are at war is the global emotional impact. It can be said that the condition coined post traumatic stress disorder is endemic to Earth. No one is immune to this battle energy that permeates your world, no one can escape the ravages that centuries of bloodshed have inured generation after generation to accept as humankind’s nature and lot in life. Yet, the fear of dying is just as pervasive, and that sets up a paradox that minds have to come to terms with.

23. There is another vital factor — the soul’s composition is love energy. The soul knows that it is not human nature to fight one another to the death because each is part of the Oneness of All. The soul knows that life is eternal, that physical death is only a transition to the next lifetime in spirit, where it prepares for the next embodiment.

24. The psyche’s continual subconscious juggling act with soul knowingness keeps the psyche in fragile condition. That is exactly the intention of the dark forces, whose ultimate goal is to capture souls. They are manipulating their Earth puppets to be tenacious in perpetuating the war mentality and fear of death because the negativity produced can fracture psyches and prevent absorption of the light that connects the consciousness and the soul. The collective juggling has paralyzed the civilization into accepting what is force-fed as “patriotism” and all who fight and die are “heroes.” The collective psyche would suffer a severe trauma if this truth about war came forth in one fell swoop.

25. When veterans join with others in peace rallies, worldwide meditations for peace, and internationally respected leaders negotiate peacefully with enough frequency, forcefulness and publicity, minds are stirred. People who formerly accepted official reasons for going to war start questioning, pondering, and then “see the light” that enables psyches to more easily assimilate shocking information — day by day, this is occurring to persons around the world.

26. However, there isn’t much time left for the masses to reach that level of consciousness about what is behind wars or religious dogmas or any other facet of life that is of dark origin and intent. The light that would let individuals avoid severe psychic trauma is the same light that would enable them to physically ascend with Earth. Many will not be ready to accept that for millennia Earth’s population has been controlled by darkness through fear, deception and various forms of mind control.

27. Please understand that these people are doing what is right for them. Every soul becomes enlightened at its own pace, and divine grace offers each as many opportunities as needed to accept the light within truth and spiritually evolve. Be heartened by knowing that even though paces of evolvement differ, reunions of beloved souls take place in compatible energy planes.