Earlier this month Massachusetts Democrat Jim McGovern was on Capitol Hill to garner support for the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Act. The bill, which he introduced last year, would give five million dollars annually in federal grants to nonprofit organizations that train service dogs for members of the Armed Forces and disabled veterans. The congressman was joined by retired Marine Corps Sgt. Michael Garvey, his service dog, Liberty, and Gloria Gilbert Stoga, the founder of Puppies Behind Bars, a program where prison inmates train Labrador Retrievers for veterans, people with disabilities, and law enforcement agencies.

The funding would not only help make dogs available, but would also provide assistance with expenses. Under Veterans Affairs rules, service members seeking animals to help with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) don't quality for the benefits available to those with visual, hearing, or mobility impairment, who get help with veterinary care and travel benefits associated with obtaining and training a dog.

According to an article in Time magazine, 40,000 troops have been physically wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq, but 10 times as many exhibit symptoms of PTSD. As you can imagine, the need for service dogs has been steadily growing in recent years.

These pups help veterans live more independent lives, increasing mobility and social interactions, while reducing stress and panic. They can be trained to perform functions specific to those with PTSD or traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). For instance, if a dog sees their partner is having a flashback or nightmare, they will initiate a calming behavior, like putting their head in the person's lap or licking their face.

Organizations that place dogs with veterans have seen significant gains. One man became an avid traveler after being too afraid to leave his house for months. Another was able to reduce his pill intake from 30 to two different medications.

For Michael, no one needs to tell him the statistics to know how invaluable Liberty has become in his life. "Liberty is my grounding rod, he calms me down so quickly," Michael says. "If I ever get disoriented, he is like my little rock."

 

When I first went away to college, I remember how homesick I felt, especially since I had to leave my pets behind. One of my first good friendships began over a conversation about our guinea pigs. Not only do animals have the ability to make us feel better, but they can also help bring people together.

New research from the University of British Columbia shows that animal-assisted therapy can help students combat homesickness and could have a positive effect on retention. The transition from high school to university can be challenging, and students who are homesick are more likely to drop out.

In the study, 44 first-year university students who self-identified as homesick were given a survey to measure levels of homesickness, satisfaction with life, and connectedness with campus. Half of the students completed eight weeks of pet therapy, while the other half were informed that their sessions would begin in eight weeks. The therapy included 45-minute weekly small group interactions with the dogs, their handlers, and the other participating students. Following the eight weeks, participants in both the treatment group and the non-treatment group completed the survey again.

Participants who completed the eight week program experienced significant reductions in homesickness and a greater increase in satisfaction with life. One student reported that the sessions "felt like they were at home chatting with friends who brought their puppies." The non-treatment group reported an increase in their feelings of homesickness.

According to Professor John Tyler Binfet., homesick students are three times more likely than those who manage their homesickness to disengage and drop out of university.

UBC student Varenka Kim says that moving to a new city to attend university caused her to feel very homesick and depressed. "I was mainly secluded in my dorm and didn't feel like I belonged here. Coming to animal assisted therapy sessions every Friday gave me a sense of purpose and kept me enthusiastic about life."

Have time with the puppies is certainly beneficial, but more importantly these sessions gave participants a way to meet and interact with each other, forming lasting relationships that went beyond the therapy program.

From time to time I hear about friends' dogs who have developed “swimmers tail,” a condition many believe is caused by spending too much time playing in the water. Limber tail as professionals call it, mostly affects larger working dog breeds, such as Labrador Retrievers, and results in the tail becoming limp and painful.

A team at the University of Edinburgh wanted to study cases of limber tail in order to understand the habits and lifestyles that might explain why some dogs are affected and others are not. The researchers confirmed that the condition is more likely to show up in working dogs. But not all of the affected dogs had been swimming prior to the onset of symptoms. They did find that dogs with limber tail were more likely to live in northern areas, lending support to anecdotal reports that the condition is associated with exposure to the cold.

Interestingly, Labradors that suffered limber tail were more likely to be related to each other than unaffected dogs, which may indicate an underlying genetic risk.

This was the first large scale study of limber tail. Researchers hope that further studies will look to identify genes associated with the condition, which could help breeders identify animals that are likely to be affected. Overtime, this could help reduce the disease prevalence.

Thankfully limber tail isn't a life threatening condition, but this often causes it to be overlooked and underestimated. Limber tail isn't always reported to veterinarians since symptoms usually resolve themselves within a few days or weeks. However, it's thought to be very painful and distressing for affected pups, so more research is certainly welcome in this area.

Has one of your pups ever been affected by limber tail?

People leaving dogs (and kids) in hot cars has been a heated topic this summer. For those traveling, making the car a comfortable place for pets is a necessity. I've seen lots of solutions, from leaving the air conditioner on to using aluminum shade blankets to deflect the sun. There are also thermometers that monitor a car's temperature from your phone. With all of the media attention on pets in cars, some people that keep the air conditioning on have resorted to posting a sign on their car so well meaning animal lovers don't automatically smash their windows open.

But keeping temperatures cool isn't foolproof. Earlier in the summer an Indiana kennel had 14 dogs die after their truck's air conditioning set-up malfunctioned. And last month, in a more unusual chain of events that were thankfully less tragic, a woman in West Virginia learned that keeping your vehicle on can be problematic. She left her two pups in the car with the engine and air conditioning running while she ran an errand. Meanwhile, the dogs managed to crash the car into a Walmart store. It happened at a slow rate of speed so no people or pups were hurt, and there was minimal damage to the car and building.

It's probably best to leave your pups at home while you're running errands or eating at a restaurant, but for those who don't have a choice, make sure you have a solid plan for keeping your pets cool. And if you leave the engine on, remember to put your car in park!