Welcome home, Gina

[Stinky The Clown]

Military dog comes home from Iraq traumatized

By DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Dan Elliott, Associated Press Writer – Tue Aug 3, 5:54 am ET

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – Gina was a playful 2-year-old German shepherd when she went to Iraq as a highly trained bomb-sniffing dog with the military, conducting door-to-door searches and witnessing all sorts of noisy explosions.

She returned home to Colorado cowering and fearful. When her handlers tried to take her into a building, she would stiffen her legs and resist. Once inside, she would tuck her tail beneath her body and slink along the floor. She would hide under furniture or in a corner to avoid people.

A military veterinarian diagnosed with her post-traumatic stress disorder — a condition that experts say can afflict dogs just like it does humans.

More at this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100803/ap_on_re_us/us_ptsd_military_dogs

Be sure to play the video clip.

Dogs: Unequivocal love.

Our Big looks very much like that dog, except maybe a bit bigger. For all her fearsome appearance, she is incredibly sweet and loving to our family. GSDs bond to families even more than individuals. No wonder they get traumatized when their "family" gets injured.

[xchrom]

1. My rec took it back to 1?

Good girl, Gina.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. Heh!

I have a fan club who come to greet pretty much anything I post. You can always assume a half dozen or so extra recs are needed to get my posts out from under water.

[Vickers]

2. Hopefully someone will take the time to bring this dog back from the abyss.

We just picked up another mutt at the pound on Sunday...you can tell he was abused before by the way he reacts to you. But in just a couple of days he is already starting to relax and be playful and loving.

Dogs are the best!

[hamsterjill]

9. Thank you!

Glad to see one made it out of the pound alive. Thank you for caring, but mostly, thank you for ACTING!

[lunatica]

3. I hope Gina has a full recovery and becomes her old playful self again

She can if she's treated right.

[Catherina]

4. Much love to Gina

Here's to a full recovery and the end of these terrible wars that bring so much pain to so many living creatures.

[tavalon]

5. That breaks my heart just a little more than with a human

I don't think dogs have quite the cognitive set to understand why they are fearful. And since we supposedly have more intelligence than them, it is our sacred duty to protect them. kWe have failed with Gina and every dog and every dolphin we've perverted to our warlike uses.

[alsame]

6. “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged

by the way its animals are treated." - Mahatma Gandhi

Get well, Gina, and have a long, happy and safe life.

[joe black]

7. Gina should get a medical discharge.

Gina needs to be put in a loving home not patched up and sent back into war like the article indicates. Best wishes for a full recovery Gina I know what you're going through.

[alsame]

8. I hope we do better by our military dogs now than we did during

Viet Nam.