Post traumatic stress disorder – in dogs!

A highly trained Titan German shepherd dog (Photo: Lifestyle Pets)

A German Shepherd barks wildly at the sound of gunfire, a noise that it once tolerated in silence. Another dog cowers under a cot at the sound of gunfire.

You might think these reactions were normal responses, but these are military dogs, trained to be stoical in battle. They’re meant to put up with such challenges, but these animals aren’t coping any more.

The official explanation: they’re suffering from Canine Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A report in today’s New York Times explains how they’re being treated by a behavioural specialist at a Military Working Dog Hospital.  They’re given programmes including “desensitization and counterconditioning” and anti-anxiety medication. I suppose the plan is to toughen them up again, then send them back into action.

Meanwhile, another ex-military dog is in the news today. Peg was a stray dog, found in Afghanistan by a British soldier who subsequently died in battle. The dog had become his loyal companion out there, and his final wish was for her to be brought home to the UK. His family have now adopted her.

A stray Afghan dog is brought back to safety, while hard working American military animals soldier on. I guess they should have realised the risks of what they were getting into before they signed on. Wait a minute; they didn’t sign on.

Conscription may be history for humans, but for animals, there’s no other way.

 

 Article by Pete Wedderburn, Health and Lifestyle for the Telegraph

Pete Wedderburn

Pete Wedderburn qualified as a vet twenty-five years ago, and now spends half his working life writing newspaper columns. He lives in Ireland with his wife, two daughters and a menagerie of dogs, cats, poultry and other furry and feathered companions. Pete answers readers' queries about their pets' health in his video Q&A – he is also on Twitter as @petethevet and has a Facebook Fan Page.