Military Review English Edition November December 2016 | Page 98

likely to share their concerns, fears, and goals,
and to let down their guard for a short time …
The prevention mission was much easier and
more effective with therapy dogs as members
of the team.35

Employing Dogs to Stimulate
Conversation and Identify Issues
Currently, for deployed soldiers, dogs are used mainly
to engage soldiers in diagnostic conversations to help
identify those in need of therapy and to increase compliance with other therapies, not as a direct therapeutic
modality. However, because COSC teams are not integrated into the soldiers’ units, and are often spread thin
due to demand, they are unable to attend to everybody
in need.36 Furthermore, because a soldier must actively
take the initiative to go to meet with a member of these
teams, the limited availability of COSC teams further
reduces the prospect of diagnosis because one of the
downsides of PTSD is a reduction in an individual’s likelihood to actively seek help.37
One measure aimed at helping to mitigate the
effects of a shortage of COSC units—at least as an
interim measure—is early exposure to therapy dogs.
There have been many retrospective studies on the
use of dogs for PTSD treatment that suggest soldiers
greatly benefit from working with dogs.38 The VA has
undertaken the first prospective controlled study, over
a two-year period, to evaluate the efficacy of dogs for
treating those with PTSD.39
Treatment using dogs has few side effects as compared to drugs. Additionally, patients are then more
willing to engage and comply with other prescribed
therapies. Neuroscience research suggests multiple
physiological mechanisms that may be involved. When
petting a dog, a person experiences the body releasing
higher levels of several chemicals, including oxytocin,
β-endorphin, and dopamine.40 Oxytocin, known as a
bonding hormone, helps with relationships by promoting attachment and trust.41 Endorphins, as opiates, “are involved in pain reduction [and] pleasure …
Endorphins are also thought to play a role in appetite,
sexual activity, blood pressure, mood, learning, and
memory … a link [also] exists between endorphins
and human attachment.”42 Dopamine is involved in
emotion, pleasure, and reward.43 Dogs apparently
help people calm down, be happy, trust others, and, in
96

general, improve morale due to the natural release of
such substances within the human body.
Much of the innovation in the use of dogs in treatment has been for veterans. Once home, veterans get
involved with service dogs in various ways. Some get
service dogs for themselves. Others train service dogs
for other veterans, getting the side benefits of being with
dogs during the training period. Over time, training a
service dog has been shown to improve patience, impulse
control, emotional regulation, and sleep. It also appears
to increase in many cases a trainer’s sense of purpose and
enables a decrease in pain medications and depression.44
As a result, the benefits of one dog can extend to many
veterans, as shown by the Warrior Canine Connection, a
specific service dog training organization.45

Discussion
PTSD is a major cost to the military in lost productivity (including premature retirements) and higher
health care costs. Taxpayers continue to bear PTSDrelated costs for soldiers after their retirement. In
addition, the nonmonetary, human costs are significant.
When soldiers leave the military because of PTSD, their
lives may be impaired, particularly if they fail to comply
with care guidelines. These soldiers often becoming dependent on drugs, have trouble being in civilian gatherings, and feel abandoned by the military.
Better interventions may improve the situation. On
a small scale, COSC teams have successfully used dogs
in programs to help soldiers recognize combat stress and
trauma, to aid in diagnosis, and to get the soldiers to accept treatment. Given the scale of the problem, however,
there are not enough dogs deployed to meet the need.
Assuming that the VA study supports the hypothesis,
the Army should consider dramatically increasing the
number of dogs deployed.
The reports of dogs attached to COSC teams and
informally adopted into units raises the question of
whether widespread deployment of dogs within units,
rather than with the COSC teams, might help to avoid
development of PTSD from ASR.46 If this proves
successful, those who do develop PTSD would have a
socially acceptable therapeutic approach from day zero,
one that will easily transition into civilian life.
Given the promise of this new approach, the military
should test the efficacy of using dogs in the prevention
and treatment of PTSD. The military should evaluate
November-December 2016  MILITARY REVIEW