Even His Red Squeak Toy Can't Get First Sgt. Gunner, USMC, to Fight

Wall Street Journal ^ | March 3, 2010 | MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS

[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.

[Altariel]

I am glad that we are now facing and dealing with the problem of PTSD; it is a healthier response than hiding it or pretending it doesn’t exist.

Do you remember what tribe the Native American Marine was from?

[the OlLine Rebel]

I wasn’t talking about just the shot-dog incident. 2 comments in 1 post. All shell-shock-type problems.

You need a dog with an edge, with nerve.

[USNBandit]

I tried to google it. It was from Montana, but I can’t remember what tribe. Can’t find it now.

[Titan Magroyne]

Re-ping to return for vids

[CSM]

All,

Does anyone have contact information for this unit? We have been shipping donations to them for years, however our coordinator is now on medical leave and she did not leave us the APO address for them. We currently have about 50 lbs of dog “stuff” that we need to ship to them....

Pleas help...

[bayouranger]

US Army Sergeant Adam Serella bonds with his military working dog, Nero, as children look on during Operation Clean Sweep in Kandahar City in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Oct. 3, 2012. Serella, a narcotics patrol detector dog handler, is assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division. US Army photo by Specialist Tyler Meiste.