Service dogs and PTSD
PTSD is more common in veterans than civilians, with 7% of veterans developing PTSD at some point in their lives, versus 6% of civilians, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Rates of PTSD vary among service areas and depend on the study. In 2021, 10% of male veterans and 19% of female veterans out of a total of 6 million treated by the VA were diagnosed.
But as Lins and hundreds of other veterans have found, service dogs can help with treatment. K9s For Warriors, founded by Shari Duval in 2011, is one of a number of organizations dedicated to hooking veterans such as Lins up with service dogs. As of April, the organization has 873 "warrior canine" graduates — veterans who have gone through the training process to be paired with a service dog — with a 99% success rate, said Carl Cricco, chief executive officer of K9s For Warriors.
A study of K9s For Warriors participants conducted by Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla., found that veterans in the program had a 92% reduction in medication and an 82% reduction in suicidal ideation, Cricco said.
"I would say from a wider understanding perspective across the veteran community, it's really caught on pretty substantially — our long wait list is a testament to that," Cricco said. The organization has more than 300 veterans on its wait list, with a wait time between 18 and 20 months, he said.
The VA disputed the medication claim. "To date, there is not substantial evidence providing support that service dogs reduce the number of prescription drugs needed," a spokesperson wrote via email.
But the VA does recognize service dogs can have therapeutic benefits for veterans struggling with PTSD and other issues. The Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers for Veteran Therapy Act, or PAWS Act, was signed into law in August 2021, and required the VA to launch a five-year pilot program to study the benefits of veterans training service dogs.
Previously, the VA only covered some costs of service dogs for veterans with certain physical disabilities, such as blindness, hearing impairment and mobility issues — but not mental health conditions, Stars and Stripes previously reported.
So far, 29 PAWS groups have completed the eight-week training program, or are in progress, at five pilot sites in Anchorage, Alaska; Asheville, N.C., Palo Alto, Calif., San Antonio, Texas; and West Palm Beach, Fla., according to the VA. The VA partnered with Assistance Dog International accredited organizations Paws for Purple Heart, Warrior Canine Connection and Dogs For Life for the training courses.
At a recent graduation for a Dogs For Life training session in Vero Beach, Fla, three veterans sat in a semicircle, petting the service dogs they had spent the last eight weeks bonding with (there were seven in the class, but four couldn't make the session).
Deborah Quon, who served in the Navy from 1987 to 2008, tried different therapies, including recreation therapy and art therapy, to treat the effects of the military sexual trauma she experienced.
"The program has made me realize that service dogs are life-changing," she said. "If I can help another veteran avoid suicide, I'm all for it. I'm currently an intensive outpatient because I was having suicidal ideation. And so being able to come to Vero Beach and participate every week has been really healing for me."
Frank Terranova enlisted in the Army in 2011 and was medically discharged in 2015 after breaking his right foot in a non-service-related accident. He suffers from anxiety and PTSD and said the dogs help him "pretty much forget about everything else besides learning how to train the dogs."
"If I'm feeling a certain type of way, I just start petting," he said. "I don't have a service dog yet, but here — if I come in here having a bad day, I leave having a good day basically."
Meeting Link
It took nearly four years for Lins to hook up with his service dog, Link. He was first paired with a sponsor who was going to train the dog he owned to be a service animal, but "that person took the money, and I never heard from them again." Eventually, K9s For Warriors reached out and asked him to interview and fill out an application.
Because of limited class sizes due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lins found himself on a lengthy wait list. But the wait turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
"The greatest thing that they did for me that I didn't even realize at the time, was they'd check in every month," he said. "When I felt like I had nobody, they were still in my corner and saying, like, 'Hey, how are you doing? What's going on? What can we help you with?' And just, 'How are you?' And it was a point in time where I didn't even care about myself, but they did, and they dragged me through it and gave me some hope."
After finally attending a class at K9s headquarters in Florida in 2022, he was paired with Link, a Lab mix, in August 2022.
Part of the process requires veterans to do some work on their issues before receiving a dog. To be eligible, veterans must live in the U.S. and have been honorably discharged, must have a verifiable diagnosis of PTSD, traumatic brain injury or military sexual trauma (MST), and must be in a stable living environment free from alcohol or substance abuse, with no felony convictions or pending criminal charges, Cricco said.
"When I first went to the VA, I took every pill under the sun that they would throw at me and was kind of looking for a magic cure without doing any work," Lins said. "And it didn't work. So, I had to do it myself and kind of bump around a lot until I was paired with [Link] in a place where I could manage, because he's a lot. I have to take care of him as much as I take care of myself, as much as I take care of my children. And that responsibility and accountability have been great for me."
Many K9s dogs are rescues, with the organization saving more than 2,000 dogs from euthanasia since 2011, Cricco said. All of the dogs have a number of basic commands they have been trained, including "brace" — the dogs are trained to stand alongside the veteran and serve as a brace to help the veteran stand up — and watching the veteran's 6.
"Like when a veteran is at the ATM, a moment of extreme vulnerability, the dog will sit and look in the opposite direction," Cricco said. "There's also the command to make space. One of the biggest triggers for veterans out in the community is crowds, so the dog can make a perimeter around the veteran and help them navigate the space."
Veteran Mark Heid gives some love to his service dog, Mama Bear, at K9s For Warriors' headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Heid was paired with Mama Bear in December 2022. (K9s For Warriors)
PTSD is more common in veterans than civilians, with 7% of veterans developing PTSD at some point in their lives, versus 6% of civilians, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Rates of PTSD vary among service areas and depend on the study. In 2021, 10% of male veterans and 19% of female veterans out of a total of 6 million treated by the VA were diagnosed.
But as Lins and hundreds of other veterans have found, service dogs can help with treatment. K9s For Warriors, founded by Shari Duval in 2011, is one of a number of organizations dedicated to hooking veterans such as Lins up with service dogs. As of April, the organization has 873 "warrior canine" graduates — veterans who have gone through the training process to be paired with a service dog — with a 99% success rate, said Carl Cricco, chief executive officer of K9s For Warriors.
A study of K9s For Warriors participants conducted by Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla., found that veterans in the program had a 92% reduction in medication and an 82% reduction in suicidal ideation, Cricco said.
"I would say from a wider understanding perspective across the veteran community, it's really caught on pretty substantially — our long wait list is a testament to that," Cricco said. The organization has more than 300 veterans on its wait list, with a wait time between 18 and 20 months, he said.
The VA disputed the medication claim. "To date, there is not substantial evidence providing support that service dogs reduce the number of prescription drugs needed," a spokesperson wrote via email.
But the VA does recognize service dogs can have therapeutic benefits for veterans struggling with PTSD and other issues. The Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers for Veteran Therapy Act, or PAWS Act, was signed into law in August 2021, and required the VA to launch a five-year pilot program to study the benefits of veterans training service dogs.
Previously, the VA only covered some costs of service dogs for veterans with certain physical disabilities, such as blindness, hearing impairment and mobility issues — but not mental health conditions, Stars and Stripes previously reported.
So far, 29 PAWS groups have completed the eight-week training program, or are in progress, at five pilot sites in Anchorage, Alaska; Asheville, N.C., Palo Alto, Calif., San Antonio, Texas; and West Palm Beach, Fla., according to the VA. The VA partnered with Assistance Dog International accredited organizations Paws for Purple Heart, Warrior Canine Connection and Dogs For Life for the training courses.
At a recent graduation for a Dogs For Life training session in Vero Beach, Fla, three veterans sat in a semicircle, petting the service dogs they had spent the last eight weeks bonding with (there were seven in the class, but four couldn't make the session).
Deborah Quon, who served in the Navy from 1987 to 2008, tried different therapies, including recreation therapy and art therapy, to treat the effects of the military sexual trauma she experienced.
"The program has made me realize that service dogs are life-changing," she said. "If I can help another veteran avoid suicide, I'm all for it. I'm currently an intensive outpatient because I was having suicidal ideation. And so being able to come to Vero Beach and participate every week has been really healing for me."
Frank Terranova enlisted in the Army in 2011 and was medically discharged in 2015 after breaking his right foot in a non-service-related accident. He suffers from anxiety and PTSD and said the dogs help him "pretty much forget about everything else besides learning how to train the dogs."
"If I'm feeling a certain type of way, I just start petting," he said. "I don't have a service dog yet, but here — if I come in here having a bad day, I leave having a good day basically."
Meeting Link
It took nearly four years for Lins to hook up with his service dog, Link. He was first paired with a sponsor who was going to train the dog he owned to be a service animal, but "that person took the money, and I never heard from them again." Eventually, K9s For Warriors reached out and asked him to interview and fill out an application.
Because of limited class sizes due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lins found himself on a lengthy wait list. But the wait turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
"The greatest thing that they did for me that I didn't even realize at the time, was they'd check in every month," he said. "When I felt like I had nobody, they were still in my corner and saying, like, 'Hey, how are you doing? What's going on? What can we help you with?' And just, 'How are you?' And it was a point in time where I didn't even care about myself, but they did, and they dragged me through it and gave me some hope."
After finally attending a class at K9s headquarters in Florida in 2022, he was paired with Link, a Lab mix, in August 2022.
Part of the process requires veterans to do some work on their issues before receiving a dog. To be eligible, veterans must live in the U.S. and have been honorably discharged, must have a verifiable diagnosis of PTSD, traumatic brain injury or military sexual trauma (MST), and must be in a stable living environment free from alcohol or substance abuse, with no felony convictions or pending criminal charges, Cricco said.
"When I first went to the VA, I took every pill under the sun that they would throw at me and was kind of looking for a magic cure without doing any work," Lins said. "And it didn't work. So, I had to do it myself and kind of bump around a lot until I was paired with [Link] in a place where I could manage, because he's a lot. I have to take care of him as much as I take care of myself, as much as I take care of my children. And that responsibility and accountability have been great for me."
Many K9s dogs are rescues, with the organization saving more than 2,000 dogs from euthanasia since 2011, Cricco said. All of the dogs have a number of basic commands they have been trained, including "brace" — the dogs are trained to stand alongside the veteran and serve as a brace to help the veteran stand up — and watching the veteran's 6.
"Like when a veteran is at the ATM, a moment of extreme vulnerability, the dog will sit and look in the opposite direction," Cricco said. "There's also the command to make space. One of the biggest triggers for veterans out in the community is crowds, so the dog can make a perimeter around the veteran and help them navigate the space."
Veteran Mark Heid gives some love to his service dog, Mama Bear, at K9s For Warriors' headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Heid was paired with Mama Bear in December 2022. (K9s For Warriors)
