War.

War affects everyone. It’s not just the soldiers; it’s their families, their friends, their family’s friends… even their dogs.  There is an article I found online about a dog that not only actively seems to recognize his owner has passed on (a behavior not typically seen or acknowledged), but lays next to the casket during the funeral. Alternatively, if you search YouTube for “happy dog soldier” you will get numerous hits of videos showing dogs going absolutely bonkers when their owner comes home from fighting overseas. There’s nothing quite like the unfiltered joy of a dog, is there?

On the other hand, there are some dogs raised and trained for war. They help find mines, alert soldiers to possible danger, and provide the priceless service of companionship to some of the men and women that need it most. I don’t know about you, but I’ve receive at least three emails filled with adorable images of dogs latching onto soldiers. Not all of them are originally soldier dogs either, but you can bet most of them are useful to the soldier the attach to.

Some behaviorists are noticing a rather unfortunate side affect of bringing these brilliant pooches onto the front lines: it appears some dogs are actually getting a canine version of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. According to this article, “more than 5 percent of the approximately 650 military dogs deployed by American combat forces are developing canine PTSD.” Some of those dogs will be unable to recover and be retired from the forces–current estimates say half. Those that do recover will likely be deployed again, hopefully with less scarring results.

This is a new concept that doesn’t have widespread support yet, but as someone who spends nearly every day surrounded by dogs it would not surprise me. There is a Great Dane where I work who is afraid of my co-worker because she tripped onto him once and startled him. He literally hides behind me when she’s around. Did I mention he’s a GREAT DANE? It’s adorable. My point though, is I could definitely see an extremely traumatic event like war causing extreme psychological distress, even in our supposedly simple-minded furry soldiers.

I at the very least am very interested to see where this line of research and thought leads. Maybe we’ll be able to understand man’s PTSD better by studying it through dogs…