Compassion with a wet nose: 'Sarge' helps veteran heal from trauma
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Compassion with a wet nose: 'Sarge' helps veteran heal from trauma
After nightmares and numbness, 'that lick on my face was like two years of therapy'
CBC News --- Posted: Dec 02, 2017
Stephane Marcotte said Sarge helps to 'ground' him when the dog senses he is under stress.
Sometimes, Stephane Marcotte has learned, the best medicine is a dog.
Marcotte left the Canadian military with an operational stress injury after a 28-year career that included "many bad experiences."
As he skirts the details of the traumatic events he saw and the nightmares and insomnia that followed, his companion Sarge, a large yellow labrador, watches him closely for signs of distress.
"What he's actually doing right now, he's grounding me," Marcotte said. "He's going to jump on me and make sure I'm down to earth."
Sarge will be on hand with Marcotte at a fundraiser called Pet Pictures with Santa Dec. 2 and 3 in Saanich in Greater Victoria.
The event will raise money for Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs, a group based in Qualicum Beach that trains canines to help people with disabilities, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
After a nightmare-inducing experience on board a submarine, Marcotte tried treatment with medications but quit, because he hated feeling numb and unresponsive.
He said he was "not doing too good" when he attended an event for servicemen in 2015 that included a booth promoting Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs.
"A lady with a brown lab was there," he said. "The lady said hi to me and the dog just came and licked my face, and I started to cry."
"It was then that I said, 'that's what I need'," Marcotte said. "That lick on my face was like two years of therapy."
It prompted him to begin the process of getting his own service dog.
Marcotte said Sarge has turned his life around.
"Sometimes when I have a flashback or a nightmare he will just jump on the bed and he'll just poke me," he said. "Make sure I'm awake. If I'm not then he will jump and just lick me."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-island-compassion-dogs-military-ptsd-therapy-1.4429123
CBC News --- Posted: Dec 02, 2017
Stephane Marcotte said Sarge helps to 'ground' him when the dog senses he is under stress.
Sometimes, Stephane Marcotte has learned, the best medicine is a dog.
Marcotte left the Canadian military with an operational stress injury after a 28-year career that included "many bad experiences."
As he skirts the details of the traumatic events he saw and the nightmares and insomnia that followed, his companion Sarge, a large yellow labrador, watches him closely for signs of distress.
"What he's actually doing right now, he's grounding me," Marcotte said. "He's going to jump on me and make sure I'm down to earth."
Sarge will be on hand with Marcotte at a fundraiser called Pet Pictures with Santa Dec. 2 and 3 in Saanich in Greater Victoria.
The event will raise money for Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs, a group based in Qualicum Beach that trains canines to help people with disabilities, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
After a nightmare-inducing experience on board a submarine, Marcotte tried treatment with medications but quit, because he hated feeling numb and unresponsive.
He said he was "not doing too good" when he attended an event for servicemen in 2015 that included a booth promoting Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs.
"A lady with a brown lab was there," he said. "The lady said hi to me and the dog just came and licked my face, and I started to cry."
"It was then that I said, 'that's what I need'," Marcotte said. "That lick on my face was like two years of therapy."
It prompted him to begin the process of getting his own service dog.
Marcotte said Sarge has turned his life around.
"Sometimes when I have a flashback or a nightmare he will just jump on the bed and he'll just poke me," he said. "Make sure I'm awake. If I'm not then he will jump and just lick me."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-island-compassion-dogs-military-ptsd-therapy-1.4429123
Re: Compassion with a wet nose: 'Sarge' helps veteran heal from trauma
This is the same program that I got my service dog Mia from. Great organization dedicated to helping veterans with OSI's.
prawnstar- Registered User
- Posts : 38
Join date : 2017-10-09
Re: Compassion with a wet nose: 'Sarge' helps veteran heal from trauma
Serving those
who served.
OUR SERVICE DOG TRAINING PROGRAM
PROVIDES VETERANS WITH RENEWED
PURPOSE, CONFIDENCE AND
UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT.
who served.
OUR SERVICE DOG TRAINING PROGRAM
PROVIDES VETERANS WITH RENEWED
PURPOSE, CONFIDENCE AND
UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT.
Alpha- Advocate Coordinator
- Posts : 234
Join date : 2018-02-07
Re: Compassion with a wet nose: 'Sarge' helps veteran heal from trauma
Delta-based B.C. and Alberta Guide Dogs Society and Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs merging to service to more veterans
GRACE KENNEDY / Aug. 17, 2018
GRACE KENNEDY / Aug. 17, 2018
Alpha- Advocate Coordinator
- Posts : 234
Join date : 2018-02-07
Re: Compassion with a wet nose: 'Sarge' helps veteran heal from trauma
Dogs offer support to PTSD sufferers
Ian Jacques / Delta Optimist
AUGUST 23, 2018
Ian Jacques / Delta Optimist
AUGUST 23, 2018
Garrison- Registered User
- Posts : 291
Join date : 2018-02-21
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