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Jaime I just read this story and am glad that Gina is doing better. It's such a shame that this happened to her. Hopefully when they do have her back to work it will be stateside and she won't be put back in combat.
Jaime I just read this story and am glad that Gina is doing better. It's such a shame that this happened to her. Hopefully when they do have her back to work it will be stateside and she won't be put back in combat.
I hope so too. In fact at this point I think they should just let her be a family pet and not work anymore, or do work that doesn't require as much stress like bomb sniffing does to an animal.
It really isn't a wonder that she was terrified. It was not as if she chose to go into combat. Moreover, she was still, basically, a puppy when she went.
I didn't like the part in the article that said that she shouldn't be comforted when frightened. I know that is a long-standing belief among trainers, but I have a GSD who is afraid of thunderstorms and who actually calms down when I comfort her. If/when I do not, her fear increases and the situation goes from bad to worse. A lot of GSD's are very sensitive dogs and sometimes need emotional support when dealing with frightening situations, just like humans.
It really isn't a wonder that she was terrified. It was not as if she chose to go into combat. Moreover, she was still, basically, a puppy when she went.
I didn't like the part in the article that said that she shouldn't be comforted when frightened. I know that is a long-standing belief among trainers, but I have a GSD who is afraid of thunderstorms and who actually calms down when I comfort her. If/when I do not, her fear increases and the situation goes from bad to worse. A lot of GSD's are very sensitive dogs and sometimes need emotional support when dealing with frightening situations, just like humans.
I agree, I think they should comfort her, with what she's been through she deserves some TLC.
I hope they seriously don't send her back to Iraq, that would be horrible. They should make her a therapy dog for veterans, they both can understand each other.
My dog Pammy was gotten thru an ad. Her first owner apparently did the world for her. He joined the miliary and left her with her sister on their farm, including a lot of other dogs. When he was redeployed she couldn't keep her. I'm sure the woman cared, but poor Pam was not used to being a pack of dogs and I get the impression from the behavior I saw at first that people got impatient and hit her.
She is a lot better now, doesn't cringe when your hand is above her, but she sleeps with pillows around her. I think she got attacked by other dogs when they were sleeping because still, when startled awake or just touched, she'll bark and occasionally snap at you. I just give her space. But I'd love to let her cuddle against me to sleep like she wants to.
I feel for this beautiful dog who suffered so much. I am glad that they care and are working with her today. Many of the dogs used in other wars were put down because they were not considered to be safe as pets after their experiences and were not needed as war dogs anymore.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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This makes me insanely sad for so many reasons. Sigh... I wish I could hug Gina.
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