The Impact of Service Dogs on Military Veterans and (Ex) First Aid Responders With Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Due to its novelty and lack of empirical study it remains unclear if a service dog truly mitigates the burden of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. To cross sectionally investigate the effect of service dogs on veterans and first aid responders with PTSD, we studied subjective and physiological parameters in 65 individuals divided over four groups. These groups were: veterans and first aid responders with PTSD and a service dog ( = 20), with PTSD and a companion dog ( = 10), with PTSD without a dog ( = 12) and a group without PTSD ( = 23).

Hair Cortisol in Service Dogs for Veterans with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Compared to Companion Dogs ().

Service dogs are trained to assist humans. This assistance potentially exposes them to stressors To investigate if service dogs are exposed to more stressors than companion dogs we questioned whether hair cortisol levels differed between both groups. We studied this by cutting a tuft of hair from the neck of 19 companion and 11 service dogs.

Do Service Dogs for Veterans with PTSD Mount a Cortisol Response in Response to Training?

Only a few studies have investigated the welfare of animals participating in animal-assisted interventions (AAIs). Most of these studies focus on dogs in therapeutic settings. There are, however, also dogs-service dogs-that are employed to continuously support a single human.

The Translation and Validation of the Dutch Monash Dog⁻Owner Relationship Scale (MDORS).

The Monash Dog-Owner Relationship Scale (MDORS) is a questionnaire that is used to evaluate the perceived relationship between humans and their dog. This questionnaire was originally only formulated and validated in English, which limits its use among non-English speaking individuals. Although a translation could be made, the translation of questionnaires without additional validation often impairs the reliability of that questionnaire.

Erratum: The study of service dogs for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: a scoping literature review.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2018.

The study of service dogs for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: a scoping literature review.

The therapeutic application of human-animal interaction has gained interest recently. One form this interest takes is the use of service dogs as complementary treatment for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many reports on the positive effect of PTSD Service Dogs (PSDs) on veterans exist, though most are indirect, anecdotal, or based on self-perceived welfare by veterans.