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Kaia shows how she is able to turn light switches off and on. Service dogs like Kaia are also able to carry bags, tug open doors and bump them closed, get objects out of the fridge, and go get help for their owners.

Photo by Adele Uphaus-Conner

From PTSD to Autism, service dogs are trained to help

14 Jul 2016 | Adele Uphaus-Conner Marine Corps Base Quantico

These dogs really provide holistic healthcare,” said Cabell Youell, executive director of Saint Francis Service Dogs. “They treat the whole person.”

Youell brought Kaia, a four-year-old black Labrador retriever, to Marine Corps Base Quantico June 28 to participate in “Bark in the Park,” a program sponsored by the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) that allowed Quantico families to learn about service dogs and what they can do.

EFMP is a mandatory program for active-duty Marines who have a family member with long-term special medical or educational needs. It connects families with local medical and educational services and sponsors activities for the EFMP community and the base community as a whole.

Kaia was joined at the event by Huff, an 11-year-old golden retriever from Warrior Canine Connection (WCC), an organization that enlists recovering service members in a therapeutic mission to train service dogs for their fellow veterans.

Huff, described by Rick Yount, WCC’s executive director, as an “oxytocin addict” (oxytocin is a stress-reducing hormone released by mammals when they experience a positive interaction) is able to quickly form strong bonds with humans and provides emotional and psychological support to wounded warriors. Yount said the dog often serves as a sleep aide to veterans suffering from anxiety and PTSD.

“Veterans who’ve been averaging zero to two hours of sleep a night with medication have gotten up to six or seven hours when Huff snuggles with them,” Yount said.

Saint Francis, which is based in Roanoke, Virginia, places professionally-trained service dogs to assist people with a wide range of disabilities, including cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, paralysis, Parkinsons, rheumatoid arthritis, and autism. It also places service dogs with physically-disabled veterans.

Kaia wasn’t able to become a full-time service dog because “her work ethic leaves something to be desired,” Youell said. She is very food-motivated and is on a diet. Instead, Youell uses her for demonstrations at public programs such as EFMP’s. Kaia ably demonstrated some of the ways service dogs are trained to assist their owners: standing next to them to help them navigate, picking up dropped items, carrying bags, bumping open doors and tugging them closed, turning on and off light switches, getting objects out of the fridge, and going for help as needed.

For children on the autism spectrum, she said, service dogs are handled by a parent. The dogs are trained to use their bodies to provide pressure, relieving the child’s over-stimulation; to interrupt stimming behavior (repetitive movements prevalent in autistic people such as hand-flapping, head-banging, etc.); and to play therapeutic games to teach empathy skills.

“All people suffering from disabilities are also dealing with loneliness, depression and anxiety,” Youell said. “The dog helps with that as well. The dog offers choices and ensures the person is no longer alone—now they’re part of a team.”

Service dogs also help their owners connect socially to others, since dogs draw people to them.

“The dog is social lubricant,” Yount said.

Even so, Youell said, people need to be aware that service dogs in public are working and are trained to be completely focused on their owners’ needs. It is permissible to pet some service dogs but not others; asking is always recommended.

“Petting is a reward, so if you pet a service dog, you could be rewarding it for being distracted,” she explained.

Finally, Yount told the families about a new category of service dog that WCC is introducing: military family support dogs. Service members often have trouble relaxing and reconnecting with their families after being away on multiple or extended deployments. Yount’s hope is that training service dogs to care for other veterans can also retrain the service member to be a loving, caring parent and spouse.

Find out more about WCC at http://warriorcanineconnection.org/ and about Saint Francis at http://www.saintfrancisdogs.org.

Writer: auphausconner@quanticosentryonline.com
Marine Corps Base Quantico