Etta Comes Out...

Last night I was SO proud of Miss Etta.  While she has been adjusting more and more every day, she hasn't always been up for being out and about in the house and usually finds a 'safe' spot only coming to join us for a few minutes and going back to her area.  Well, last night, even though we had five friends over for company, Etta joined us in the living room, wagging her tail, sleeping in the open, greeting visitors and walking around like she owned the place.  What a huge step!  And what a huge improvement!  Like most Soldiers when they re-deploy (arrive home from deployment) the dogs from Afghanistan seem to need a significant adjustment period to deal with all the new sights, sounds and smells and to adjust to life inside a home.  Also, like those Soldiers, when we see Etta take steps forward we have to be careful not to take for granted that everything is fine and push her too hard.  These are important things to do/notice.

I want to write more about Etta later, however, briefly I want to talk about TBI and PTSD, two issues we seek to help Soldiers with through companion/therapy dogs.  PLEASE visit the following links to become aware of what both are and keep in mind that when someone experiences BOTH TBI and PTSD the symptoms are often bigger, harder to treat and somewhat different than someone who just experiences one or the other.  Also, remember that TBI and PTSD can happen to ANYONE, not just Soldiers.

http://www.traumaticbraininjury.com/


http://www.ptsd.ne.gov/what-is-ptsd.html