Service dogs help veterans with PTSD. Why won’t Ottawa?

I Just graduated from this program as well. The benefits of a service dog are incredible.

Dogs helping Victoria veterans cope with PTSD

By Kendra Wong - Victoria News
posted Feb 17, 2017 at 8:00 AM


Stephane Marcotte and his dog Sarge. The duo will be graduating from the Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs program, which pairs dogs with veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, in the next few months.

Stephane Marcotte has a connection with his dog Sarge that he finds difficult to describe, but it’s one he knows has changed his life forever.

When Marcotte is agitated or angry, the two-and-a-half-year-old yellow lab will sense his emotions and gently nudge him to pet and distract him. If Marcotte is happy, Sarge will wag his tail, turning Marcotte into a new person.

“When your blood gets boiling and you’re emotional, it creates a chemical reaction and dogs can sense that,” said the 49-year-old Greater Victoria resident. “Our relationship is like friendship, companionship, trust. It’s very deep.”

But Sarge is no ordinary dog.

Sarge, who was previously trained to be a guide dog, is now helping Marcotte deal with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as part of Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs, a non-profit organization that matches rescue dogs with veterans suffering from PTSD.

Marcotte served in the Canadian navy as a marine engineer responsible for maintaining a submarine’s engine and mechanics for 18 years. However, after leaving the navy following nearly three decades of service, he started having nightmares, flash backs, anxiety and panic attacks of his time in war. He didn’t want to socialize with anyone and rarely left the house, during what he described as an “intense” period in his life.

After being diagnosed with the disorder three years after, he tried to get help through various programs, such as Couples Overcoming PTSD Everyday, which helps spouses deal with the disorder, as well as the Can Praxis program in Alberta, where couples learn to communicate with the help of a horse. However, none of the programs have had the same effect on Marcotte that Sarge has.

Marcotte was matched with Sarge roughly a year ago through the program. After interacting with two other dogs to try and find the right match, it was Sarge who walked right up to Marcotte and sat on his feet.

Making the two-hour drive, twice a week to the Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs school in Qualicum Beach, Marcotte teaches Sarge basic obedience such as sit, stay, leave it and recall, establishing trust between each other. Now, the duo are inseparable. Anywhere Marcotte goes Sarge does as well.

But it’s the things Marcotte doesn’t teach Sarge that have the biggest impact.

When Marcotte has nightmares as a result of his PTSD, Sarge will climb into bed and wake him up. If he’s agitated, Sarge will push him in another direction or whine to get him away from certain situations. Sarge can act as a barrier for Marcotte, walking in front of or behind him if he feels people are too close to him as well.

Sarge has also encouraged Marcotte to get out of the house to go for walks and socialize with other people again.

“He’s so incredible. He’s so good and I feel great with him. I can do things, I can go out in public,” Marcotte said, adding people often ask to pet Sarge, which then leads into a conversation.

“For me, socializing is going out for a walk and talking to people and for me that’s a big step. To go out and talk to people and enjoy the exercise that we do together is physically and mentally healthy.”

Sarge has had such a positive affect on Marcotte that he no longer needs medication to cope with his disorder.

It’s a change Barb Ashmead still hasn’t gotten used to seeing since she co-founded Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs in 2013. When veterans first enter the program, they’re often angry and frustrated. However, over the 52-week comprehensive program, they become more compassionate.

“You see them start training the dog and they soften up and you see them become compassionate. They see the change the dog is making in them. They’re not so angry all the time . . . it’s phenomenal,” said Ashmead, who used to raise puppies to become B.C. guide dogs and was a dog trainer for 15 years prior to that.

Over the past four years, the program has helped 29 veterans struggling with PTSD, including Langford resident Allan Kobayashi, who recently graduated from the program with his dog, Chico. Kobayashi said the two-year-old chocolate lab has had a profound affect on him in the one year since they were matched. Chico, said Kobayashi, is what keeps him connected and grounded.

If Kobayashi is activated or triggered, Chico will paw, lick or bark at him, or rest his head on Kobayashi’s wrist.

“I’ve never really truly connected to an animal such as Chico. Chico provides that stability when I need it,” Kobayashi said. “He keeps me grounded.”

Marcotte and Sarge will be graduating from the program in a few months, but in the long-run Marcotte knows he’ll be able to continue living a normal life with Sarge by his side.

For more information about Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs visit http://vicompassiondogs.ca/

http://www.vicnews.com/news/414083443.html

Hey Johnny,here on Vancouver Island we have a very unique service dog program which I am part of. Cedric knows about us thru Barb our CEO. Check out the link which explains the program. We get our dogs donated, train them for 52 weeks at no cost for anything. The program runs on corporate and private donations. We also have some small service dogs like a toy poodle and a yorkie. I have a yellow lab and she has made a huge difference in my life. One of the guys in the program is part of the pilot project VAC is running. As usual, one study leads to a study group which leads to a ministerial study. Well you get the drill. Anyway I am one of the lucky ones to live here and have a service dog from these great people.

Hi hopefully you can see my new profile pic. This little girl, named Chili has my back every day. She is 9 yrs old, a retired Toy Pom. I got her a couple of yrs ago, then after that we did some more training. She may be the smallest service dog you have seen. But I can assure you with My severe PTSD, and anxiety issues in places, she looks out for me. She knows when my back is up, and will lick my face off..lol. She sleeps  with me also. Not having a dog for yrs, and now would not know how life would be without one. It is too bad our gov, and VAC cannot see this. I don't know Medric, but hope someone will listen..Johnny Out
VVV...

Service dogs help veterans with PTSD. Why won’t Ottawa?



Medric Cousineau with Thai, his service dog

“I went down into a virtual floating slaughter house,” says Medric Cousineau. I can hear the catch in his voice as the retired RCAF Captain recalled the terrible night of October 6, 1986, when he rescued two badly injured Americans from a fishing boat.  It was a vicious North Atlantic storm. The two fisherman had been sucked through the hydraulic line hauler and almost butchered.

Cousineau—people just call him Cous—was a member of the HMCS Nipigon Helicopter Detachment and he had volunteered to be lowered down from the helicopter onto the boat to try to rescue the men. Bucking waves threw him over-board into the freezing ocean, but somehow Cous managed to climb back on the pitching deck and evacuate the two bleeding men. He was awarded the Star of Courage for his actions. “Had Lt. Cousineau not willingly put his own life in jeopardy, both of the injured men would certainly have died,” the declaration of bravery concluded.

That event changed Medric Cousineau forever. Although the country regards him as a hero, the personal cost of his actions was devastating. “That night just never went away,” Cous says. He began to have “dissociative events” and had to stop flying because he felt he was a danger to others. He didn’t realize for years that he was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but soon it took over his life. “For three decades, I’ve battled panic attacks, night terrors and multiple addictions.” He contemplated suicide. At times he felt so numb that he stabbed himself with pins or drove his car at 100 miles an hour through side streets “just to feel something.” Cous is not proud of these moments but he doesn’t shy away from talking about them. “It ain’t pretty,” he says.

Cous, the man awarded the star of courage for rescuing others, believes he would be dead today if he wasn’t rescued as well, but not by a person. Medric Cousineau was rescued by a yellow lab named Thai.

It wasn’t just any dog. Thai is a psychiatric service dog, an animal specially trained to help people facing health challenges. As the PTSD took over Cous’ life, a friend recommended he get a psychiatric Service dog but Cous was so broke, he couldn’t even afford one. Finally, the local Legion stepped in and helped him out. What happened next was remarkable. “On August 6, 2012 I got my psychiatric service dog and my life changed dramatically,” Cous says. “By Christmas that year, my daughter came home to see me and she was awestruck.” Thai had totally changed him. Cous was calmer, happier. When he woke up at 4:30am in midst of a night terror—he still does to this day—Thai was there to soothe him, to remind him he was off the boat and safe. She still does. “I was injured before my daughter was born and she had never seen me like this, never met this man before and she said, ‘whatever you are doing, keep doing it’.” He did even more.

Cousineau became an activist, starting a group called Paws Fur Thought, a Nova Scotia based organization that helps vets get psychiatric service dogs. To raise money and awareness for his cause, Cous walked from Nova Scotia to the War Museum in Ottawa, over 1,000 km, a journey he wrote about in his book Further Than Yesterday.  He began to give motivational speeches and turned his life around, helping over 70 other veterans get psychiatric service dogs.

This should be the end of the story, a Christmas tale of redemption and help, how one vet had his life saved by a dog and went on to help others. But it’s not that kind of story. Instead, it’s the story of Medric Cousineau’s next big battle, one pitting veterans against the government, a battle that is still going today.

If a veteran suffers from epilepsy, blindness, deafness or a myriad of other conditions, the government helps them get a service dog though a tax credit. It is quite simple: a veteran makes a claim for the care and maintenance of a service dog under the disability tax credit certificate, which is part of the Canada Revenue Agency Act and in most cases they get it. But here is the catch: a veteran with PTSD is not eligible.

Veterans Affairs Canada does not recognize psychiatric service dogs as a legitimate treatment for PTSD.  “This is just basic discrimination,” Cous says about the situation.

For the past few years, Cous has asked various Ministers of Veterans affairs to work with the finance department to change the tax credit and let vets with PTSD get support for their service dog but so far nothing has changed. I contacted the government to find out why they won’t include vets in what looks like a simple change to the tax code to help out these vets. “The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a pilot study to evaluate whether the use of psychiatric service dogs is a safe and effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder,” the department told me. “VAC has also sought to establish a set of national standards to provide assurance that the psychiatric service dogs being provided to Veterans are properly trained and meet standardized behavior requirements.” So, when will all this get done? “Both of these projects are expected to be complete by December 2017. At [that] time, we will review the findings and determine next steps.”

I passed on these comments to Cous and he was livid. “This is a DBM letter, a Don’t bother Me Letter,” he said. “They completely miss the mark. Psychiatric service dog handlers are being held to different standards than other service dog handlers as embedded in the Income Tax Act. This is a clear case of discrimination on the basis of disability. They see this as a “service dog efficacy and standards” issue when it is a Human Rights Issue. ”

I went back to the department to find out when they might make a change but they punted the issue to the Finance department, who would have to make the change. So I asked them if Finance Minister Bill Morneau might make the change right now, in time for Christmas. No dice. “Finance Canada looks forward to receiving the results of these projects,” they wrote to me, referring to the Veterans affairs study. “They will provide important evidence as the department considers whether the list of eligible expenses should be expanded to include psychiatric service dogs. The list of expenses eligible for the Medical Expense Tax Credit is reviewed on an ongoing basis in light of medically-related developments and new technologies.”

Let me translate this. Nothing is happening right now. That’s not going make people happy. The former NDP MP and veterans affairs critic Peter Stoffer has met with Medric and doesn’t buy the government’s explanation. “No other service dog for other groups had to go through this process,” Stoffer says, dismissing the government’s position as a delay tactic, but one with deadly consequences. “They wish to wait until December 2017 then maybe put it in a budget for spring 2018, which means that the credit will be done in the late fall of 2018, almost two years from now, “ Stoffer says. “This year alone 19 service personal have taken their own lives. These service dogs for people suffering mental injuries save lives and give back worth to the individual. Nothing is stopping the government from doing this today.”

Why they won’t is hard to understand. This is not an issue of money, as the tax credit would cost the government next to nothing. It’s not an issue of politics, because this government repeats that it listens to the needs of veterans, so you would think this would be a no brainer. And it doesn’t appear to be an issue of medical study, because, as Stoffer says, no other group has ever been held to the same standards. The Veterans Affairs office told me they are only aware of 36 veterans who use service dogs, but Cous himself has placed 72 through his own organization, information he says he’s passed on to VAC. What it starts to look like is tone deafness.

This week the Royal Canadian Legion sent letters to  both the ministers of finance and veterans affairs asking for a change to the tax code on this and Cous is thinking of filing a human rights complaint.

“This could have been a great Christmas story,” Cous says. “It could have been the department helping out veterans with service dogs. Renew their faith in the government. Instead, I’m likely going to file a human rights complaint about discrimination. I would have died for this country. I’ve demonstrated that, and this is what we get. I’m furious.”

http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/service-dogs-help-veterans-with-ptsd-why-wont-ottawa/