Nicole Lanahan and Recon
On September 26, 2018, Nicole Lanahan and Recon from Got Your Six Support Dogs visited health classes at Collinsville High School to talk about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and how service dogs assist people.
Got Your Six trains PTSD service dogs for veterans and first responders. Recon, a German Shepherd, is an education ambassador for the program. CHS health teacher Julie Mayfield invited Nicole and Recon to talk to her class about what service dogs do, how they are trained and studies related to the effectiveness of therapy dogs.
“Got Your Six focuses on PTSD and other mental health issues with their program, so it is a nice compliment to our Mental Health unit in class,” said Mayfield. During the visit, the students also learned about different kinds of therapies that work for anxiety.
Recon. Got Your Six Education Ambassador
Lanahan shared facts about PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury. She explained service dogs are specially trained to perform tasks for their human companion. In the case of PTSD, the dogs learn to sense actions that indicate the person’s anxiety level is increasing — such as foot tapping or hand wringing – and alert him/her to to address the anxiety before it escalates. Each dog is trained to respond to the needs of the individual.
Based on a person’s needs, PTSD dogs can also help locate items, remind their human to take medication and identify night terrors.
Lanahan explained “Got Your Six” is a term familiar to the military and first responders. It means “I’ve got your back” referencing fighter pilots who fly behind one another in 12 and 6 o’clock positions.
During candid moments, Recon also demonstrated how he enjoys belly rubs and being petted. Lanahan told the students her dogs are sometimes asked to visit places like college campuses during finals because dogs are known to help relax people by simply being petted.
To learn more about Got Your Six: http://gotyoursixsupportdogs.org/