Posted on 01/12/2008 9:52:37 AM PST by SandRat
Along with Staff Sgt. Mike Calaway, an occupational therapy assistant with the Combat Stress Control unit, Boe is part of a new Army program, which encourages Soldiers to interact with dogs in order to help relieve the psychological stresses of war.
The dogs, two Black Labrador Retrievers, were donated and trained by America’s VetDogs and are the first dogs to be used in a combat zone for therapeutic purposes. The organization is part of the larger non-profit group, Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, which has been helping provide guide dogs for the blind since the 1940s. Recognizing a growing need for specialized service dogs for America’s fighting forces, VetDogs recently initiated the therapy dog concept.
The dogs are intended to provide comfort and relaxation through physical interaction, whether it’s a game of fetch or just a peaceful few minutes of petting.
“I felt more relaxed after being able spend some time with her,” said Sgt. 1st Class Brenda Rich, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Medical Operations. “For a few minutes it was just me and the dog and nothing in this environment seemed to matter.”
Calaway spent two weeks training with Boe in New York City to develop a bond, before the pair was sent to Iraq to take on the challenge of helping Soldiers cope with a deployment.
“She’s a very well trained and very intelligent animal,” said Calaway, who recently introduced Boe to Soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at COB Speicher. “So far we’ve had an outstanding response from Soldiers,” he said, “whether they need help or not.”
Deployments can create several different kinds of stressors, said Calaway, and Boe helps to break the ice, allowing Soldiers to open up about ongoing issues in their lives.
The major types of stress deployed Soldiers must deal with include operational stress, homefront stress and sleeping issues, said Calaway.
“The Soldiers absolutely love her,” said Maj. Charles Kuhlman, 1st BCT Chaplain.
Often Soldiers on outlying bases will befriend stray dogs for companionship and to get a feel for home, said Kuhlman. “Dogs make a huge difference in morale.”
(Story by Spc. Rick L. Rzepka, 101st Airborne Division Public Affairs)
In Other Recent Developments Here:
The dog has a higher rank than the journalist? As it should be.
A dog’s calling card left on the ground has a higher rank than a Civilian Lame Stream Urinalist (journalist)!
Nice observation. I would have never noticed that =)
Hey! Cats are great, too, though I admit there’s nothing like a dog looking at you with unconditional acceptance and love, and this sounds like a great idea for our troops.
About time, I should say. Look at personal photos posted from the ‘Stan or the sandbox, and you seem to see an awful lot of “camp dogs”.
When my son returned from his second tour, he was -obviously affected by his experiances. Loss of short term memory, sleepless nights, odd moments of the ‘1000 m stare’.
Soon after he was back in town with a damp DD 214 and looking for a job. He had a girlfriend, but that didn’t work out - but he did pick up a Basset Hound.
A runt he named Booze. That dog has made such a positive difference in his outlook on things, I could not believe the changes we saw.
He now has a nice job, has bought a condo and he and the Booze hound come to visit pretty regulalry.
I wonder if the smart guys in the USMC will figure out that camp dogs stateside are a good thing for returning units and barracks rats.....
I’d trust eating after a dog licking my plate clean before I’d ever trust a Muslim washing it. I’d also love to put one of my dogs on a iman, right in the middle of his prayer session.
This is a great use of those dogs that wash out of the Guide dog program. Black labs are the best dogs. We had one for 13 years and she was a love.
Most journalists do not deserve having their leg used as a fire hydrant by most of ‘man’s best friends’.
Thanks for sharing that and may I offer my personal thanks to your son for his service to this great nation. He’s done a job that no Lib would ever have the stomach for. Glad he got back home in one piece.
Thank you. We know now the power of prayer.
He lost 3 of his USMC squad, the killer IED missed him by just a few seconds.
He had been blown across streets, flat on his a$$ and other close calls many times, but the last one was beleieved to be a 500 lb bomb....the crater was yards across.
But he is now smiling, plays with his dog, and still kicks my ass at the range....
Now, if he could just meet a nice lady.....
My girlfriend’s son was in the Corp. in 2003 and over in hell in May of 2003 until Dec. of that year. He lost 2 really close friends (Marines) on their second tours in Iraq. He got out in May 2005, worked as a civ contractor at Bragg for 8 months, then re-upped in the Army in March 2006 and got stationed with the 10th Mountain. He’s at Ft. Sill now.
Anyone else find it ‘interesting’ that people who don’t know what toilet paper it, who wipe their butts with their bare hand and then shake your hand with the other, who don’t know what soaps and antiseptics and antibacterials are...... they are the ones who consider dogs ‘unclean’????
Thanks for sharing this wonderful report.
Not the first note on inconsitancies.
WINSTON CHURCHILL ON ISLAM - IN 1899!
“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries!
Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity.
The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities - but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.
No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”
-Sir Winston Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).
 |
MAKING FRIENDS U.S. Army Sgt. Doug Bowyer, takes a moment to pet a puppy that a group of Iraqi children brought to show him in Al Rashid, Baghdad, Dec. 27, 2007. Bowyer is assigned to the 318th Tactical Psychological Operations Company. U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Greg Pierot |
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.