Future healers of U.S. troops

The cutest and noblest golden retriever pups ever bred to be service dogs are at the Warrior Canine Connection just north of the capital. You can find them way up on on Georgia Avenue, in Brookeville, Maryland, nursing in an old farmhouse.

What gorgeous puppies they are. When we visited the six golden retriever babes last weekend, the house was full of visitors who had watched the puppies nursing over the group’s streaming videocam.

An outgrowth of earlier efforts to meld service dogs and wounded warriors, Warrior Canine Connections has several missions, under the leadership of Rick Yount:

– Help service members to train dogs to become service animals.

– Bring wounded warriors to play with the puppies.

– Renew hope in combat veterans.

– Help to do research at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence on the value of service animals in reducing the symptoms of PTSD and traumatic brain injury.

The Army is doing more than ever to determine why canines and other animals, including horses, help wounded veterans and regular Soldiers relate to therapists, regain mobility, achieve motivation, and live with PTSD, TBI, and other disabilities.

For more details, see this recent issue of the Army’s medical journal dedicated to Canine-Assisted Therapy in Military Medicine.