Posted on 10/08/2010 7:39:31 PM PDT by nuconvert
The devastating and long-lasting effects of PTSD are something Tom has discussed at length on this blog. It seems that the trauma of war does not discriminate -- war dogs get PTSD, too.
Despite their special training, some dogs don't ever adapt to the conditions of a war zone or life as a bomb-sniffing dog. Such was the case with Gunner, a yellow Labrador with "liquid brown eyes."
When Gunner first arrived to serve with Marines in Afghanistan his trainer decided he was too distracted and "so skittish that the troops never risked sending him on patrol." The Marines decided he wasn't fit for duty and Gunner was put up for adoption. He couldn't have found a more fitting home -- Gunner was adopted by the Dunhams, a couple whose son, Jason, a Marine had died after sustaining shrapnel wounds from a grenade blast while serving in Iraq.
"My Marine never came home," says Jason's mother. "I have a place for a Marine."
(Excerpt) Read more at ricks.foreignpolicy.com ...
maybe i should have posted a tissue alert
/johnny
Dog just needed a slap.
This sounds like a case for the DOG WHISPERER.
He had to rehab an ATF Dog. He has the patience and skill to help this Marine.
Of course. Skittish dogs respond well to slaps./s
“Dog just needed a slap.”
Don’t get married and don’t have kids......
Some dogs just cannot stand the sound of gunfire and loud noises. The dogs I had as a kid were hunting dogs who LOVED the sound of gunfire because it meant that it was time to go hunting!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2602430/posts
Already posted a few days back.
And update seems to confirm my suspicions - FOX ticker said seems dogs were not rightly vetted for war work. I cannot believe a MIL dog would not be ensured to be gun-sure.
“Early on in his stay with the Dunhams, a thunderstorm sent “cowering with his nose in the corner and his tail sticking out the door [of his crate].”
Not and uncommon trait in the Lab breed.
Please say you left out the /s on your post. These dogs are not volunteers, as are ANY dogs for what they do. They just end up in situations humans selected them for, whether lap dogs or service dogs. If you'd slap a dog for being put into involuntary work he simply could not do, then your screen name more likely has a double meaning.
“Some dogs just cannot stand the sound of gunfire and loud noises”
Yep... my dog is a husky mix...a pound puppy...LOVES people...but afraid of loud noises.....GREAT watch dog...lets me know when to wake up and to flip the safety off..... ;-)
I laughed when i read ‘ dog just needs a slap” cause I thought it was a sarcastic reference to Gen Patton slapping the soldier.
Hope that is what it was..
what a heartwarming story.
Of course it’s a Patton reference. Duh :-)
My first thought was:
There’ll be no more “battle fatigue” in this kennel!
And I can see Patton being ordered to apologize to the dog too.
It would make quite a parody.
apologizing to the dog...HA!!great.
More conformation Labs than hunting Labs are gun-shy and afraid of thunderstorms. The trait has been mostly bred out of the hunting strains.
Chances are this little fella is from a service dog/ conformation line. I can't believe they didn't test him before they went to all the trouble of shipping him out.
We had a hellacious thunderstorm blow up while we were working in the yard. Everybody retreated into the garage (including Shelley the Chocolate and Ruby the Black - we didn't have Katy the Yellow yet). There was a blinding flash of lightning and an enormous clap of thunder right on top of it -- and Shelley went tearing out into the rain - "That was a BIG gunshot - must be a REALLY BIG duck - where is he? Where is he?" and of course Ruby went tearing after her, so here are my two Labs cruising up and down the yard in the pouring rain looking for a duck that isn't there . . .
Lunatics. Just got back from a hunting training day. Ruby FINALLY did a double water retrieve without breaking and ran a water blind pretty nicely. But poor Katy got her first live (pinioned) mallard duck, which promptly socked her in the nose with a wing and terrified her. We gave her a freshly deceased one to console her. She was very happy with that.
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