Posted on 10/17/2012 12:53:39 PM PDT by Altariel
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan—When the Marines cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war, one remains in his kennel. Quivering.
Out of the 58 bomb-sniffing dogs the Marines have in Afghanistan, only one—a brown-eyed, floppy-eared yellow Lab named Gunner—is suffering from such severe canine post-traumatic stress disorder that he had to sit out the ongoing offensive in central Helmand Province.
"He's the only combat-ineffective dog out here," says his kennel chief, Cpl. Chad McCoy.
Like their human comrades, some war dogs can handle combat, and some can't. One Marine Corps explosives dog, a black Lab named Daisy, has found 13 hidden bombs since arriving in Afghanistan in October. Zoom, another Lab, refused to associate with the Marines after seeing one serviceman shoot a feral Afghan dog. Only after weeks of retraining, hours of playing with a reindeer squeaky toy and a gusher of good-boy praise was Zoom willing to go back to work.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Military dogs need a little love, and a DOGGIE PING too.
A dog like that needs to go home, be sent to somebody that will train him to be a pet, and live out his days being fed steak everyday.
Agreed. This is heartbreaking; why traumatize him further by keeping him there? Bring the baby home and find him a place to live with someone who will spoil him.
I did a little digging and have some good news:
http://www.wellsvilledaily.com/news/x102607940/Gunner-comes-home
Gunner Comes Home
Thanks, Altariel! The picture of Gunner running in that field... well, he just looks so happy.
Welcome home Gunner!
I saw a news story a couple years ago about Native American Marine that flew back to his home. Members of his tribe drove hours to the airport so that the tribal leadership could present him with a ceremonial blanket. It was meant to ward off the demons that would haunt him from the battle field. I found it interesting that this particular indian culture recognized the idea of PTSD in their traditions. For so many years our culture said to suck it up.
YES THANK YOU! You made my day!
(owner of 3 rescue pets)
Okay...I’m crying. Not only because of the article, but because of that pic of Gunner running across the yard with a smile on his face.
Thank you for posting that!
I agree, but first they should change the dog’s name to Obama.
Glad to here Gunner has a good home.
Glad to hear, too!
Please don’t insult the dog that way!
What a sweet story. I’m surprised that Gunner was repatriated home. The military has not always been so cooperative about handing trained military dogs over to civilians.
A 50 page application! And I thought it was tough when I had to fill out a 4 page adoption application for my Golden Retriever from Golden Retriever Rescue of Wisconsin, PLUS writing an original essay disclosing what my all time perfect canine companion would be.
Later I asked my dog’s foster mom how I was chosen to adopt the best Golden ever since he was absolutely NOTHING like the dog I described in my essay. She told me it was because I had asked for a BIG dog because it would be more dog to love. LOL!
Yup...screen’s a little blurry here too...
GOOD for Gunner!
“refused to associate with the Marines after seeing one serviceman shoot a feral Afghan dog.”
Just like a liberal.
This is why serious tough dogs, like the ubiquitous Shepherd, are needed for all these jobs.
Say rather it’s a sign of intelligence. The lab recognized another of its own kind was shot. Being unable to reconcile why the other dog was shot, it became fearful of doing its job.
Labs have the intelligence of a toddler (IIRC); toddlers can recognize some basic facts of life, however, they are not yet capable of higher levels of logic and reasoning.
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