Do Dogs Get PTSD?
Is post-traumatic stress disorder a legitimate diagnosis for dogs?
Jolanta Benal, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA
Lately, I’ve had clients suggest to me that their dogs might have post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the New York Times, Dr. Walter F. Burghardt Jr., the chief of the Military Working Dog Hospital at Lackland Air Force Base, considers it a legitimate diagnosis. I’m not a veterinarian, but…I’m skeptical.
To be absolutely clear, anyone who works with behaviorally troubled animals knows that they suffer from fears and phobias, sometimes crippling ones. Those fears often develop in undersocialized animals, but they can also be brought on or exacerbated by frightening events.
Maybe animals even suffer more from their fears than humans do, because the human ability to reason and to fashion narrative can help us cope with trauma and other stresses. Read More »