Dogs help vets with PTSD to cope

A trained dog can help ward off panic attacks, act as a physical barrier in public places and aid veterans with mobility issues by retrieving items for them.

With a lick or a tug and the ability to perform helpful tasks, the dogs can be comforting friends and lifelines as veterans with physical injuries, posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries transition back to civilian life.

Project HEAL™ is one program offered by the non-profit organization called Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities (ECAD) founded in 1995 by Lu and Dale Picard.

With training facilities in New York and Connecticut, the organization’s initial focus on providing service dogs for people with physical disabilities has grown to include programs for children with autism as well as veterans and prison inmates.

Lu Picard explained that the service dogs, for example, can be used by a veteran who does not want to get too close to others in a line at a fast food restaurant. That barrier the dog creates helps the veteran to feel safe.

The canines can also retrieve items and are trained to recognize alarms set as medication reminders.

They learn to respond to cues such as when a veteran begins thrashing during a nightmare and the dogs ‘step in’ to gently wake him/her with a lick on the neck or a touch of a face.

“The dog has a purpose all the way around,” Picard said.

She noted that back in 2005, veterans participated in a program that met with great success where they worked with dogs who were in the final stages of training.

Today, a transitions program teaches vets to educate service dogs to be placed with fellow veterans and act as mentors and role models for at-risk youth who are doing the same training.

The “art part,” of the 15-day training cycle is matching the clients with the proper dogs, Picard said. Four to six clients participate in training with about six dogs, usually Labradors and golden retrievers.

For veterans, an advisor with the Veterans Administration helps.

“It’s an important piece. The 15 days can be stressful and the vets need and get the support of a therapist while they are here,” Picard said.

A new ECAD program, funded by a contract with the Connecticut Department of Corrections, pairs the canines with inmates on their way out of prison who are in a “step down,” mode and are allowed to go around the prison grounds, near parking lots, etc.

Picard said that once per week, the inmates assist with “team training,” and she sees their participation as a means to give back to society.

“My goal is to teach them to transition back to their communities,” she said.

ECAD places approximately 25 service dogs annually in residential treatment facilities, hospitals, and other sites. To date, it has served 12 states.

Although there are no geographic boundaries, Picard noted that the individual must have a family or other support system in place so that the dogs will be cared for even if the client dies.

Candidates must also demonstrate they have the means to physically and financially support the dogs in order to qualify.