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Symptoms of PTSD in Dogs

1.Thank you for participating in our survey about possible symptoms of anxiety and/or PTSD in working dogs. The nonprofit K9 PTSD Center of Seekonk, MA was formed to care for and rehabilitate working dogs retired from police or military service who may suffer from anxiety or other behavior problems. We are interested in your opinions and experiences, to help us better understand behavioral indicators of anxiety in working canines.

Your answers are completely confidential, and will be pooled with others in any final summary or analysis. The survey will take about 5-10 minutes. There are no right or wrong answers. If you decide not to complete the survey or participate, you may quit at any time simply by closing out of this site.

The survey begins with some questions to help us better understand who our participants are, followed by questions more specifically related to anxious behaviors that you may have observed in dogs.

Again, we thank you for your time.

Your gender
2.Your age
3.How would you describe yourself with respect to your work with dogs? (Check all that apply)
4.With regard to the field of animal training and handling, have you had any kind of formal training?
5.If you answered "yes" to the previous question, how was your training obtained? (Check all that apply)
6.Years of experience with working dogs:
7.Breeds of working dogs with which you have worked (check all that apply)
8.Breed of working dog that you have worked with most often (check only one)
9.Tools commonly used by you in training (check all that apply):
10.Have you ever (check all that apply):
11.We are interested in what people who have experience with working dogs might consider to be symptoms of anxiety and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in dogs. Think of a dog that you have personally known who you believe displays or displayed such symptoms. Which of the following, if any, did you observe in this dog? (Check all that apply):
12.Of these, which (if any) do you consider to be indicators of general anxiety in dogs? (Check all that apply)
13.Of these, which (if any) do you consider to be indicators specifically of PTSD in dogs? (Check all that apply)
14.If you have worked with a dog that you believe suffered from PTSD, can you describe the situation(s) or experiences that you believe led to this disorder? If so, please do so below:
15.Have you engaged in any specific training or therapeutic work to try to reduce PTSD symptoms or anxiety in a dog?
16.If you answered "yes" to the previous question, what kinds of training or methods did you utilize? (Check all that apply)
17.Of the methods you have tried, which, if any, seemed to bring about the most improvement in the dog you are thinking of? (Use 0 if a method was never used. For all others, rate on a 1-5 scale with 5 representing the most effective)
Never used
no apparent effect
minimal effect
moderate effect
better than average effect
Excellent effect
Pressure vest or "Thundershirt"
Cannabidiol (CBD) or similar herbal remedy
appeasement or calming pheromones
counter-conditioning; slow and gradual exposure to the problem situation or stimulus
flooding; exposing the dog to the problem situation or stimulus all at once
Consulting with another behavior specialist
Consulting with a veterinarian
prescribed drug therapies (SSRIs, gabapentin, etc.)
time off from training and/or from the problem situation or stimulus
18.In your career lifetime working with dogs, about how many dogs do you estimate you have worked with?
19.In your career lifetime working with dogs, about how many (if any) dogs do you estimate you have seen displaying excessive anxiety/PTSD-type behaviors?
Thank you for your participation! These data will be used to help us better understand PTSD in working dogs and how it might differ from general anxiety. To find out more about the study, please feel free to email our Director of Research, Kathy Morgan, at kmorgan@k9ptsd.org.

We would also like to thank you with a chance to win an Amazon gift card. If you are interested in entering our raffle for participants, please visit https://k9ptsd.org/survey.php?success=1. And thank you again!