Saving Lives on Both Ends of the Leash: Service Dogs Aid Veterans with PTSD

“People want to know – do you really need a dog? What does the dog do for you?” Joe Keegan is getting accustomed to hearing those questions from friends, acquaintances, and even from people he doesn’t know. 

One month into their partnership, Joe Keegan rewards his service dog Muppet outside the offices of Operation Delta Dog in Hollis, NH.  

For Keegan, an Iraq war Veteran and first responder who lives with PTSD, the leash that connects him to his service dog is a lifeline.

Keegan was interviewed a month into his partnership with his service dog, Muppet, a large, gangly, curly-haired Goldendoodle/border collie mix.  Muppet is a rescue dog obtained through Operation Delta Dog About Us - Operation Delta Dog | See How You Can Help, a nonprofit based in Hollis, NH. 

Keegan is training Muppet to help him navigate the world and alleviate his PTSD symptoms. Keegan, a rapid-fire speaker whose rangy frame complements his long-legged dog, says simply: “Without her, I wouldn’t go out. She gets me out.”

Statistics vary, but over the past 10 years, the suicide rate for Veterans and first responders has soared to twice the suicide rate of the civilian population in the US. A commonly-citied statistic is that 18 to 22 veterans per day die by suicide, and the Veterans Administration estimates that 20% to 30% of all Veterans have some level of PTSD which can lead to suicidal thoughts and behaviors, anger, anxiety, substance misuse and general withdrawal from society. There is mounting evidence that people who live with service dogs – which are trained to perform tasks and perform certain behaviors to help their handlers recognize and self-regulate themselves – have lower levels of anxiety, sleep better, and have fewer suicidal thoughts over time. 

Keegan, who joined the police force in Quincy, MA and later became a firefighter, hopes that his new service dog will help him achieve peace that has so far eluded him in civilian life. Muppet’s role as a service dog is also a lifesaver for him, as Operation Delta Dog uses shelter dogs – most from overcrowded shelters in southern states - that would likely be euthanized within days of their impoundment. 

Keegan is still training Muppet to do things like stand behind him, literally “having his back,” shielding him from other people in crowded spaces; crawling and lying quietly under tables at restaurants or other locations where dogs aren’t normally allowed. She is learning to pick up keys, punch a button to open a door, and, most important, how to get his attention and calm him. 

Training the dog and building that bond between the Veteran and the dog takes time, patience and emotional growth for the partners at each end of the leash. 

Each Veteran spends an average of 18 months in active training, including time spent attending classes without being paired with the dog that becomes their partner, says Charlotte Troddyn, ODD’s executive director.    

“Our Veterans have to be our training partners,”  she says. “It’s a different model as we are a small organization, so we have to train the Veterans to do a lot of the training of the tasks for their service dogs.”  

Nona Alexander, a social worker for ODD, says the training classes and involvement with other Veterans provides a sense of community that can help mentally and emotionally scarred men and women ready themselves for their return to a more social and active life.  

For Keegan, and other Veterans, service dogs are often the last resort, after drugs and talk therapy have failed to spare them the suffering and estrangement of their PTSD. Some studies based on self-reports by subjects with service dogs showed positive effects such as lower anxiety and self-reported feelings of well-being. The impact is not just anecdotal: a 2018 study in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology found physiological measures of hormone levels such as cortisol indicate a lessening of PTSD symptoms for individuals paired with service dogs.  

Operation Delta Dog, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, does not charge Veterans or even require them to fundraise to defray the training costs, an estimated $25,000 per dog. “The Vets have paid enough with their service,” Troddyn says. That means that Operation Delta Dog must constantly be fundraising to serve as many Veterans as it can. For example, in the next three months, Operation Delta Dog had a pinball tournament on April 1 and upcoming are a “Run to Rescue” 5K in Nashua (May 7) and a “Power of Ten” gala celebration honoring its 10th anniversary (June 16). This fall, there will be a rappelling event in Manchester and a golf tournament planned. To find out more about the organization, visit www.operationdeltadog.org.

In addition, the organization is extending its community outreach by providing suicide prevention training to local employers and community groups and is looking to start a peer support group for first responders. 

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The PAWS Act:  Building The Case  For Funding Service Dog Training For Veterans With PTSD

Despite this encouraging evidence, the VA has not yet agreed to fund training for service dogs for Veterans with PTSD, although it has funded a pilot study. The PAWS Act, signed into law Aug. 25, 2021, requires VA to conduct a five-year pilot program to provide canine training to eligible Veterans diagnosed with PTSD.  

“Our pilot will help us explore the benefits of service dog training and give us the data we need to make recommendations to Congress on the way forward,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough in 2021. “There are many effective treatments for PTSD and we’re looking at service dog training as an adjunct to those options to ensure Veterans have access to resources that may improve their well-being and help them thrive.”

In an opinion article published in February in the Boston Herald, Robin Ganzert, president of the American Humane, which also trains service dogs for Veterans, criticized the VA for not moving more quickly to fund service dog training. “More Veterans have died of suicide than in combat in the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001. If we trust that dogs help in physical combat, we can trust them to help overcome mental battles here at home, too. It is time for the VA to prioritize service dog access for Veterans.”