VCU Health working to support service dogs, veterans

In the calm of night, Jason Haag finds himself back in the war zone he left behind. Suddenly, a bite on his arm brings him back into reality.

This is just one of the many ways Haag’s service dog, Axel, has helped the veteran transition back into everyday life.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense Quarterly Suicide Report, there were 130 suicides in the Active Component, 89 in the Reserve Component, and 56 in the National Guard in the first half of 2015. Haag believes service dogs could change statistics like this.

“The 24/7 caretaker aspect is what makes Axel so great at what he does,” Haag said. “I couldn’t think of a better definition of a hero.”

Haag, a 13-year Marine Corps veteran, was deployed three times, once in Afghanistan and twice in Iraq.

On Apr. 9, 2003 Haag sustained his first major injury when his squad took gunfire while crossing a street in Baghdad. Two machine gun bullets hit the road, sending fragments everywhere -– three fragments found their way into Haag’s legs.

“I just happened to be the slowest one in my squad,” Haag said. “Luckily those two bullets fragmented. If they hadn’t I probably wouldn’t have both of my legs right now.”

Haag made it across the street to a nearby retaining wall, taking cover before a rocket propelled grenade hit beside his head, resulting in his first traumatic brain injury.

But Haag did not get sent back to America after his injury; he said he wanted to remain in Iraq with his squad. His wounds were bandaged up, he was given antibiotics and headed back into the war zone.

Haag explained that although service dogs can make a huge difference in the lives of veterans, their use is not widely recognized because there is not enough scientific evidence to prove it.

Haag said returning home was much more painful than his battlefield injuries because he had developed post traumatic stress disorder.

“Back in 2003 we didn’t know much about PTSD,” Jason said.

Haag said one of his men asked their Platoon Sergeant what to do if he has nightmares and trouble sleeping at night.

“I remember his exact words,” Jason said. “He said, ‘Go to the bar and have a drink.’”

Within four months of returning home, Jason was drinking heavily just to sleep at night. He said he averaged 18 beers a night before he could finally rest.

Haag’s first flashback occurred after returning home from his initial deployment in Iraq. The condition worsened overtime, until Jason hit his breaking point after his third deployment in 2010.

When alcohol wasn’t enough, Haag said he began to abuse pain medications, isolating himself from his family.

“I basically locked myself in our basement for about a year and a half,” Haag said.

Haag finally reached out for help at his local clinic on base.

“I went in as a 30-year-old Captain in the United States Marine Corps crying my eyes out and asking for help,” Haag said, “and they looked me dead in the face and said, ‘Come back tomorrow we don’t have any appointments.’”

A year later, Haag said he’d reached his lowest point and was taking a cocktail of 32 different medications, including twelve different types of narcotics. His wife, Maggie, gave him an ultimatum and said he had to fix himself or she would take the kids and leave.

Haag knew he had to find help. He reached out to K9’s for Warriors, a non-profit organization in Florida dedicated to providing service canines to veterans suffering from PTSD, who introduced him to Axel.

Haag worked closely with Axel for three weeks to learn how to train him properly. Axel is trained to do multiple services for Haag like bring him medications, pull him out of panic attacks, flashbacks and nightmares, and serve as an alert system and buffer in large crowds.

Haag said he hopes to work with VCU to uncover scientific evidence that service dogs help war vets more than countless amounts of medication.

Haag toured the VCU Medical Center on Nov. 4 with the Director of Military Student Services, Stephen Ross, to learn about The Center for Human-Animal Interaction.

The Center for Human-Animal Interaction was established within the VCU School of Medicine in June 2001 and was the first of its kind in the United States.

CHAI works to improve understanding of the benefits human-animal interaction provides through interdisciplinary research.

“Wanting to build a collaboration with Jason and raise awareness of PTSD,” Ross said, “we went down to the Dogs On Call program.”

CHAI provides a service titled ‘Dogs On Call’ throughout the VCU Medical Center. The Dogs On Call program allows patients, their families, and other visitors to spend time with a volunteer and their own certified therapy dog, decreasing stress among patients.

With the success of Dogs On Call, Ross said he sees the potential for VCU to expand a program into the Hunter Holmes McGuire Virginia Medical Center, which specializes in providing veteran health care and improving their well-being.

“My hope was that by sharing that with Jason, we might be able to expand that service into the McGuire Hospital, help more of our veterans cope with the problems they face, and raise the awareness of the benefits that these dogs can do when properly trained,” Ross said.

Ross hopes VCU can pair up with AHA and build training programs for people to train both service and therapy dogs for each of these hospitals.

“VCU is just the kind of place that can come up with a creative way to train people to do that,” Ross said.

Haag said they could reach a lot more people if they had more proof of service dog effectiveness for funding. According to the Foundation for Dog Support Inc., training a service dog can run in excess of $15,000.

“AHA is currently looking for funding and academic partners on this study,” Sowers said. “We do not have any formal agreements yet, but we are open to the possibility.”

Haag recalled Axel pulling him out of a flashback on July 3, 2014. His family was vacationing at a nearby lake for his birthday on July 4.

Haag took his 9-month-old nephew outside with him to get one of his toys. Someone across the lake started setting off firecrackers, sending Haag into a flashback.

Haag said he dropped to the ground with his nephew and crawled to the nearest tree, calling to his men for help. Axel heard the screams outside and tried to get to Haag, clawing at the door.

Another firecracker went off.

Haag ran to the house and kicked the door off the hinges. He handed his nephew to his mother-in-law, and then ran into his bedroom slamming the door behind him.

Axel opened the door on his own and bit Jason’s arm to pull him out of the flashback. He then laid on Jason’s chest to slow down his heartbeat.

Haag explained that when service dogs aren’t wearing their vests, it usually means that they’re off duty and can relax. But Axel completed all of these tasks without his vest on, or knowing what caused Haag to go into a flashback outside.

Along with helping in emergencies like this, Axel has lowered Haag’s medication needs from 32 pills per day to two. The two medications Haag continues to take he will need for the rest of his life as a result of his traumatic brain injuries.

Haag’s main goal now is to educate others of what service dogs can do for veterans across the nation. He previously served as a national spokesman for K9’s for Warriors and has put three of his closest friends through the program successfully.

Last January, Haag nominated Axel in the service dog category for the 2015 American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards. Axel was named 2015 Service Dog of the Year by a celebrity panel on Sept. 19, and was broadcasted on the Hallmark Channel on Oct. 30.

Haag is currently the National Director of Military Affairs at the American Humane Association. Through the AHA, he works with programs benefiting active duty warriors, veterans, military dogs, and their families.

The AHA Manager of Communications and Public Relations, Scott Sowers said, they don’t work directly with K9’s for warriors, “but supports their important mission of pairing veterans like Jason with service dogs like Axel.”

“In 2016, we will celebrate 100 years of working with the U.S. military with the centennial anniversary of our Red Star Rescue program,” Sowers said. Since then, Red Star has rescued and cared for animals during times of disaster.

The AHA serves as an umbrella for other programs as well, like K9 Battle Buddies, Wags4Patriots, and Operation Purple.

Article by:

Steven McDonald, Contributing Writer