For about two months, Frank Gordon and his dog Casey have been in intensive training.
Casey is training to become a qualified service dog, and Gordon is training to use him to cope with what doctors have diagnosed as severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD 创伤后应激障碍).
And that alone is a huge step for Gordon, who says he feels trapped in the real-life nightmare he endured during his military service. After having lived with invisible wounds for more than 30 years, he's now got Casey, a new solution to a problem as old as war.
Casey and many other dogs at Wags for Warriors, a non-profit organization in northeast Ohio, are trained to sense when their veterans (老兵) become anxious, and to pull them out of panic attacks. That's what a dog named Sophie was doing as she sat next to her owner and Wags for Warriors co-founder Frank Delorenzo. Sophie reminds Delorenzo to take his medication, pulls him out of crowded areas, and wakes him up from nightmares.
Army veteran Olena Fergurson, who had a brain injury in a plane crash, says,“Before I got my dog Vata and started my training, I could not attend an appointment. ”
Since October of last year,Delorenzo and his wife have been training and providing service dogs to these veterans free of charge. They hold training classes between three and four days each week.
“Some veterans say that it improves their quality of life, but we haven't been able yet to determine whether these dogs provide a medical benefit to veterans with mental illness,” says Mark Ballesteros, a spokesperson for the U. S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
Dr. Heather Axtell, a clinical psychologist, says, “I believe that service animals provide a lot of comfort. They make people feel more secure, but they can't take away what happened. Service dogs give veterans companions, and unconditional love. ”
【小题1】How many dogs are mentioned in the passage?| A．One | B．Two | C．Three | D．Four |
| A．It is a non-profit organization based in southeast Ohio. |
| B．One of its founders had a brain injury in a plane crash. |
| C．It provides service dogs to veterans with PTSD for free. |
| D．It offers veterans with PTSD medical treatment and training. |
| A．By improving their quality of life. | B．By getting medical benefits. |
| C．By receiving free training. | D．By leading them to attend appointments. |
| A．A Mental Health Disorder-PTSD | B．The Medical Benefits of Service Dogs |
| C．The Benefits of Having an Animal Companion | D．Service Dogs Help Veterans Heal Invisible Wounds |
