VA Says No Service Dogs Benefits for PTSD Sufferers

Though I'm really not a big (personal) fan of social media, I do rely on it for news bites.  And I saw something shocking on Facebook yesterday.  Canines with a Cause posted a link to an article about service dog benefits no longer being allowed by the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA).

What?!

You read that correctly.  If you are a veteran with vision, hearing or mobility related injuries, you may receive service-dog benefits.  However, veterans who only suffer with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) or another mental health disability, will not qualify.

The VA justified its decision by saying that they'd not been able to determine that service dogs provide medical benefit to veterans with mental illness.  They also cited nationally established and widely accepted training protocols for sight, hearing and mobility assistance dogs and the lack of similar training protocols for mental health service dogs.

According to an article written by Christine Stapleton of The Palm Beach Post:

�Veterans with service dogs were baffled by the rule.

�You get doctors and people telling you that you�re not disabled enough,� said Jim Stanek, an infantryman in the U.S. Army who served three tours of combat duty in Iraq. Stanek, who has been diagnosed with PTSD and traumatic brain injury, helped found Paws and Stripes, a non-profit group in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that provides service dogs and training to veterans with PTSD and mental health disabilities.

�What do I have to do? Have my leg amputated?� Stanek asked. �Is that what I need to do to get what I need to recover?

"Service dogs are individually trained to perform tasks for a specific person. Some of the tasks performed to assist veterans with PTSD include surveying darkened rooms, turning on lights, re-orienting their owner during nightmares or flashbacks, navigating through crowds, sensing anxiety, enforcing boundaries for personal space and retrieving a cellphone, said Sally Chester, secretary of Genesis Assistance Dogs Inc. of West Palm Beach.�

You can read the final draft of rules concerning veterans in need of service dogs here.

Canines With a Cause is a non-profit organization that helps shelter dogs find homes by training them to work as companion, therapy and service dogs for veterans in need.  According to them, a Pentagon study found that one in four veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD, depression or anxiety.

Inspiration On Wheels

Via CBS out of Dallas-Fort Worth: They are inspiration on wheels. Two handicapped recruits to a Dallas rehabilitation program are providing the kind of hope and encouragement nobody else can. They do that without saying a single word.

Excellent.

Chloe: American Red Cross Therapy Dog

Chloe is a friend to many.  Via pennlive.com.

Therapy Dogs: A Teckel Named Tinker

Pet partner Becky Cade and Tinker visit Ashley Castro on Monday, June 13, 2011, at the Edinburg Children's Hospital in Edinburg, Texas.

We mostly sit around the house all day and wait for Dad to come home from work.  Not smooth black and tan 'Tinker' though.  This is a Dachshund who makes things happen.  Excerpt from The Monitor:

Little 5-year-old Ashley Castro wanted to leave the hospital where she had been since Saturday, but as soon as she saw Tinker — a miniature Dachshund — she got off her hospital bed and knelt to pet the dog.

“She was crying because she misses her dog,” said Amparo Castro, Ashley’s mom. “She wanted to leave.”

“This (visit) motivates her,” the mother said.

Tinker belongs to Becky Cade, a pet partner with Wonderful Animals Giving Support. WAGS is a local chapter of the Washington state-based Delta Society, a nonprofit that brings the emotional power of pets to bear on hospital-weary patients.

Ashley petted Tinker with the hand that wasn’t connected to an IV, and the dog was placed on her bed.
“To give love, that’s what they do,” Cade said.

Way to go Tinker!  Read more about Tinker and therapy dogs, and see five photos at The Monitor.

Macy and Abby: Therapy Dogs

The residents at Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital in Buffalo, New York know there's nothing in the world like a warm cuddly Dachshund.  Way to go Macy and Abby.  Via NBC2 - WGRZ.

A Dachshund Family Update: Meet Deacon!

Deacon

Back in April of 2010, we helped celebrate a special Dachshund's first birthday.  His name was 'Samson,' and his mom, S. Kate Fletcher, had sent us in some of the most stunning Dachshund photos we had ever seen.  We were devastated to find out that Samson left this planet just a few months later. 
But it's a new year, and we couldn't be happier to report that a new Dachshund is with the family now, and boy is he a looker!  It's 'Deacon!'  His mom writes:

Dear Joey and Maggie,

June 5th, 2011 will be difficult. A year ago on that day, as you previously reported, I lost my dear Samson in a terrible accident. He was only a year old, but was oh-so-smart! He was only one test away from obtaining his therapy dog certification and I mourned his lost, not only for myself, but for all the children who would miss out on time with such a special fella. As the one year mark of Samson's absence from my life approaches, I find cause to celebrate.
Recently, a new little doxie has placed his tiny paws on my heart. Meet Deacon-- a chocolate and tan, patchwork dapple dachshund! Like his brother before him, Deacon is destined for therapy work at Arkansas Children's Hospital.
This is a message of hope for everyone out there who has ever lost their best, little, Dachshund friend. I may never have my Sam again, but I do get the honor of loving Deacon now. It is like comparing apples to oranges-- but lucky for me, I love all kinds of fruit!

Samson

Related:  Those Special Dachshunds: Happy Birthday Samson!

Related:  Sir Samson the Stout

Samson may be gone, but he will never be forgotten. 

You've got big paws to fill, Deacon, but we're sure you'll brighten hundreds of children's lives.  Go Deacon!

Meet Sam the Service Dog!

Golden Retrievers step aside, there's a new service dog in town, and his name is 'Sam,' a 4-year-old black and tan dappled smooth Dachshund who "enjoys tearing the stuffing out of toy animals in his free time."  Sam assists his human Amber Cornford, who attends Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois where she is majoring in Nursing.  Amber suffers from chronic pain caused by Ollier’s disease, a bone disorder resulting in tumors in the joints.  Excerpt from the Loyola Phoenix:

Amber was diagnosed with the disease before her first birthday, and since then, she has undergone six limb-lengthening procedures to help her condition.

When Amber experiences pain, she pets Sam to distract herself. At night when her arthritic hand aches, she often rests it on Sam’s chest, and his body heat relieves the pain.

“Instead of taking a lot of drugs that hurt my body, [having a service dog] is a treatment that is less harmful to my body and, in the long term, [it] has less side effects,” said the 22-year-old junior.

While she doesn’t like to think of herself as disabled, Amber said she realizes that her condition limits her physical abilities. She often needs to ask for a seat on the shuttle and public transportation because it is difficult, for her to stand for long periods of time.

Sometimes even walking can be painful, so Sam tags along anywhere and everywhere she goes. From the classroom to the IC, he’s there to assist.

“It’s not a convenience thing,” she said. “It’s what he’s for. You can’t choose when you’re going to have pain.”

Read all about Sam and Amber in a great little article at the Loyola Phoenix. 

Dogs Don't Judge

First-grader Brian Preshlock reads to smooth black and tan 'Buster,' at the Crystal Lake Library in Crystal Lake, Illinois, during a monthly Read to the Dog program.  Brian notes, “Some dogs look at you and they concentrate on what you’re reading.”  Brian's mother, Julie Preshlock, said the children love the dogs and the family doesn’t have a pet at home. She said reading to the dogs has been a motivator in helping her first-grader learn to read.  Find out more about the program at the Crystal Lake Patch.

Super Lance Revisited: Paralyzed Pooch to Therapy Dog

We're sure that you remember handsome red smooth 'Lance,' the Florida therapy Dachshund on a mission to brighten the days of the patients at Miami's Children's Hospital.  Lo and Behold, The Associated Press has recently done this Video Essay on Lance!    They note:  when their 6-year-old dachshund became paralyzed, Caio Stinchi and Claudia Machado had a specialized wheelchair made. Now little Lance has become "Super Lance", a therapy dog visiting sick children in Miami.

Keep up with Lance at his super website. 

Dachshund Therapy: Lexi and Laci

There's no therapy quite like Dachshund Love, as these patients at Pinecrest Rehab in Delray Beach have discovered.  We're so proud of the work you do Lexi and Laci! 

Read more about this Dynamic Duo over at WPTV.com.

Piebald Therapy

Handsome black and tan piebald 'Patches,' a helper dog, gets some attention from Johnny Adams (left), 13 of Haltom City, Jonathan Jones, 16 of Waco, and Harrison Vaughan, 12 of Dallas, at a summer camp sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association at Camp John Marc, near Meridian, Texas, Thursday, June 24, 2010.  Apparently Patches' nickname is 'Speed Bump!'  Read all about the Muscular Dystrophy Association camp at the Star-Telegram.  

Dog Days

'Oliver,' a scene-stealing Dachshund, yawns as he joins Tammy Nagely for a photo session. Nagely takes Oliver with her when she goes to rest homes. The residents love it when a pet visits. 

Read all about Ms. Nagely's 25-year career at the Carlton Oregon Veterinary Clinic at the News Register.  “I really enjoy dogs. And people who love animals, I trust a little more,”  she says. 

Reading to Sandy

Isabel Handa, 8, reads to Sheila Weiss’s Dachshund, 'Sandy,' 14, Saturday as part of the Westport Public Library’s Reading to Rover program in Westport, Connecticut. There were 18 dogs and 72 children involved in the day’s program in which children have a chance to read for 15 minutes to dogs to improve their reading skills.  Source:  Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.