Canines as Healers:
Stories and Portraits of Veterans and Service Dogs
Mike & Tesla, 2023
“My experience with Rosi continues to evolve as we spend more time together. To put it best, I'll use my wife's words "Rosi softens Adam."
“Like many combat veterans, I walk around a little angry with an adversarial attitude. Rosi not only softens me but she makes those we encounter happier. I can't tell you how many smiles she gets everywhere we go. She seems to bring everyone a little bit of joy and helps me not get frustrated by all the bullshit that goes on around us.
Traditional PTSD treatment mainly includes drugs to take away negative emotional responses. While they are effective to limit the lows, they also take away the highs, leaving the veteran a lethargic shell of who they once were. Counseling offers valuable insights and tools for improvement but when a veteran has their fight or flight response triggered, counseling tools are usually inaccessible by the brain. Rosi has done more to help me be calm and present than any of the VA narcotics or years of counseling insights.
It's unrealistic for everyone with PTSD to have a service animal but for me, she's been the best medicine.”
Adam & Rosi, 2023
“Before I encountered service dogs, I spent more than a year not going out of my house, not even to get the mail”
“When I got my service dog, I was able to go out and get my mail, and engage with the community. I am able to go to the VA for treatment. I don’t have to take as much medication as I once used to. I don’t have to be reliant on the medication, I can be reliant on him. I’m very fortunate in that sense.
Having the ability to completely trust that we can count on him or her, no matter what it is, is something that we don’t often, because of the trauma, allow ourselves to put in human beings anymore. The life line is my dog. I can trust my dog unequivocally.
For medical providers, it’s important to understand that just because we might not have mobility issues, it is just as crucial for us to be able to get service dogs for PTSD, depression, because they are a mobility issue for a lot of us.”
Lisa & Phelps, 2023
Mike met his service dog, Cookie Dough, through Team Foster in 2015 after years of struggling with PTSD, depression, and substance use following medical discharge from service in the Gulf War.
Team Foster is a Pennsylvania based organization dedicated to providing support, advocacy, and service dogs for veterans in the memory of their dear friend, CPT Erick Foster, who was killed in action in Iraq in 2007.
Cookie Dough never leaves Mike’s side. She creates space for him when he needs it, but has also helped him reconnect with the world by providing a gentle introduction to others.
Mike & Cookie Dough, 2023
“He got me through a lot of things. I always said, he pretty much saved my life because I was at a point where I was suicidal, I was just done with dealing with all the crap, and he just fell into my lap at the right time. It was awesome, and not only me, but the whole family. Him being in the house allowed space for everyone else to start to understand where you’re at. They see that he is paying so much attention to me that what I’m going through is something different, and it wasn’t just a “get over it” thing.
Family tries really hard to understand, which, I love them for it, but unless you’re in, it’s really hard to understand where a veteran’s coming from, because you just lost all your comradery, you had people by your side, all the time, that backed you up all the time: so that’s where the dog comes in. They’re always there. They know what you’re thinking, what you’re going to do next, just like being in the service. That’s where the service dog makes that connection with a veteran. They’re always by your side and they know when you need them.”
John and Slate, 2023
“Since he retired as a service dog, I started getting back into anger. Dealing with people started being harder, because he wasn’t by my side. But overall, it’s easier for me to interact after learning from him.
He taught me how to just chill out; I do a lot of visual imagery. I’ll think about him.
So even though he’s not with me, by my side, he’s still by my side. And he always will be.”
Jason’s service dog, Axel, passed away in early 2023.
In the morning, he goes out to sit on the porch with his coffee, looking over to Axel’s memorial. He credits Axel with saving his life, and his family’s as well.
He founded Leashes of Valor to help other veterans acquire service dogs after experiencing the profound impact that Axel had on his life.
Their new headquarters is called Axel’s Place.
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Funding for service dogs is often a grassroots effort, as demonstrated by the organizations represented here: they were born of the tremendous positive influence the dogs had on veterans, but also of frustration with the lack of institutional support in providing service dogs to veterans.
So the veterans do it themselves.
Dear Justin (aka my 4-legged Angel),
As I sit to write this letter, my heart is filled with love and gratitude for you for the profound impact you have had on my life, especially in helping me navigate the challenges of living with PTSD.
Since returning from Iraq, life had become an uphill battle for me. The memories and experiences from my time in the service haunted me, leaving me feeling lost, anxious, and overwhelmed. But from the moment you entered my life, everything started to change.
You have been my constant companion, my rock, and my source of solace during the darkest moments. Your presence alone has brought a sense of calm and security that I had long forgotten. With your watchful eyes and gentle demeanor, you have provided me with a sense of safety and comfort that no medication or therapy could ever replicate.
Your ability to sense my emotions, anticipate my needs, and provide unwavering support has been nothing short of miraculous. Whether it's waking me up from a nightmare, nudging me when I'm feeling anxious, or simply being there to lean on when the weight of my memories becomes too much to bear, you have consistently shown me that I am not alone in this battle.
You have become my partner in healing, accompanying me on this journey of recovery with unwavering loyalty and unconditional love. The bond we share goes beyond words and transcends the limitations of human understanding. You have taught me the true meaning of empathy, compassion, and resilience.Y
Your presence has allowed me to regain a sense of normalcy in my life. Through your guidance and support, I have been able to venture out into the world again, facing my fears and reclaiming my independence. The simple act of going for a walk or engaging in everyday activities with you by my side has been a powerful reminder that life can still be beautiful and meaningful.
But perhaps the most significant change you have brought into my life is the newfound hope and optimism. You have shown me that despite the pain and trauma of the past, there is still joy, love, and happiness to be found in the present and the future. Your unwavering spirit and zest for life have inspired me to keep pushing forward, to never give up, and to believe in the possibility of healing and growth.
I want you to know that I am eternally grateful for your presence in my life. You have saved me in ways that words can never fully express. You have given me a reason to smile again, to cherish the present, and to believe in the power of love and connection.
Thank you, my dear boy, for being my guiding light in the darkest of times. Thank you for your patience, understanding, and unconditional love. I promise to cherish and protect you for as long as we both shall live.
With all my love and gratitude, Sarah (aka Your Human)
Sarah & Justin, 2023
Sonny, Roxanne, and Juno, 2024
“He does so many good things. I always start with “he’s an attitude adjuster”. When you have a bad attitude, if you’re having a bad day, Juno can fix it. He does it all the time, without ever saying a word, of course.
Juno is so attentive, all the time to us, whether we are feeling bad or tired. If I don’t sleep, Juno doesn’t sleep, because he’s guarding me all night. That next day he can be a little rambunctious, but he’s never lashed out. Sometimes he can get vocal to let me know something isn’t right and it needs to be fixed.
It wasn’t long after our daughter passed that we got Juno. He filled a tremendous void. Losing a kid is tough. She had just announced that she was with child, and we were certainly excited about that. The following week she had a pulmonary embolism.
The marvel is the love that you never have to say, and already know it. I guess the rest is reminding me what good there is in life. We always look at all the bad, and there’s plenty bad, but I think he picks out the good stuff. Juno does things for us that you can’t really measure.”
Bill is unique in these interviews as a veteran without a service dog, but who has worked as a dog trainer, adopted his own dog from another military family, and can speak to what those experiences have meant to him.
“When I was over in Afghanistan, I thought it would be cool to train dogs, because we worked with a lot of dogs. I got to watch them train and I thought it was really interesting. I reached out to a veteran owned company and told them my story. They brought me in as an apprentice and I loved it.
I really liked behavior modification because that’s when you’re working with dogs who have experienced trauma, and I myself as someone with trauma and PTSD, I see myself in a lot of these dogs. I feel like in a way that helping these dogs is helping me as well. It’s a very cathartic experience. People who have experienced trauma and are shut off from the world, shut off from relationships, a dog is a great way to reintroduce ourselves to happiness and love. It’s a thing we need to care for and have an open heart with and something that we have to take care of. You can’t take care of something without love. I see this huge potential in dogs as being these things that people get outside of their trauma and start healing and that’s why I like helping people with their dogs that are dealing with trauma and having behavioral issues because I feel like I’m giving back to the dogs what my dog has given to me.
I know a lot of friends with service dogs and they help them a lot. My dog is not a service dog, but she knows when I’m stressed out or upset and comforts me. Having that comfort in a moment of need when no one else is available or around is a really great thing - for some people, if we’re talking about suicide, that can be the difference between suicide and not committing suicide.
I think there is a lot of opportunity to heal oneself working with dogs. Dogs are social creatures, right off the bat if you look at why people get depressed and what they do during depression, they avoid, stay inside, sleep a lot, all these things, but you can’t do that when you have a dog to take care of. They have to go outside, you have to walk them, exercise them, make sure their needs are met. They can pull you out of depression just by getting you out of the house.
And that’s a way for you to get out of the hole as well - I feel like between getting up, moving, interacting with people, interacting with the environment around you, and then practicing these feelings of love, compassion for your dog, the nurturing aspect, these are all things that make you have to be a good human being. I think that itself has a lot of weight in terms of helping people with PTSD. I always encourage people, if you’re struggling, get help, get therapy; but if you’re shut off, therapy’s hard. If you’re not putting anything into it, you’re not going to get anything out of it, you’re not going to do any healing. But if your dog is helping you to open up a little bit more…
I was in a residential unit for a month and a half for PTSD with other veterans. There was a guy who had two service dogs, I believe he worked as a trainer, and would bring his dogs to the facility. Guys that I would see all day, who looked like they were checked out emotionally, would be interacting in the hallway, playing with these dogs, completely lit up. I was like “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this guy smile before” and here he is, smiling, enjoying the time with the dog. If that’s not a statement of how beneficial the relationship of having a companion animal is, I don’t know what else is.”
Mike & Cookie Dough, 2023
This began as a narrative medicine project through the Scholarly Inquiry program at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University.
Military medicine and care of veterans has been somewhat siloed from traditional medical education. During undergraduate medical instruction, there is little introduction to the unique health needs of veterans. The intention is to learn about healing aspects of the relationship between veterans and their service dogs, from their perspective. What about this bond has been successful compared to traditional approaches within medicine?
I am grateful to my advisors, Dr. Salvatore Mangione, Dr. Danielle Snyderman, Dr. Christopher Haines, Megan Voeller, and all of the students in the Humanities track for their constant encouragement and insight. Thank you to the Scholarly Inquiry program for providing some funding to cover the cost of analog film, film development, and travel to visit veterans in Virginia.
Most of all, I am thankful for the graciousness of the veterans who have participated in this project who were willing to share their stories.
Thank you to Leashes of Valor and Team Foster, who connected me with the veterans they have supported for years. Please read more about them and consider supporting their efforts at the links below:
Photographs taken with 35mm and digital.
Opinions presented here are those of myself and respective participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the university.
Disclosure: I am a recipient of the VA Health Professions Scholarship Program. The VA was not involved in this project. I am currently a volunteer with Team Foster.