Miss Brandi

There are very few things that make my blood boil, but this is one of them.

yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/restaurant-refuses-iraq-war-veteran-and-service-dog-151321791.html

I am a victim of a lot of very horrible things, rape, incest, loss of my little brother to cancer, loss of my Mother.

I KNOW emotional trama intimately. I have been diagnosed with PTSD, among other things, that are none of your frigging business.

A veteran diagnosed with PTSD was not allowed to enter a restaurant with a trained service dog because the dog didn't 'look' like a normal service dog.

My father was a kennel Master in the Navy for 27 years. They trained all sorts of dogs for specific purposes. He had a beautiful Beagle named Katie that did drug searches of Submarines. High-end jewelry stores have trained chihuahuas to not only alert to a burgulary, but also to attack.

This restaurant owner turned this Veteran away because of his dog. These dogs go through extensive training to earn the title of service dog. These dogs can feel a panic attack coming and alert the Veteran. Otherwise, that Vet is clueless, until the panic attack actually hits, then they are lost. They see, hear, feel things that were only real on the battle field. The dogs alert them, calm them, and help them deal with a panic attack.

I don't have a trained dog, but I do have a rescue mutt. She, even without 'proper' training, lets me know when I am in trouble. She will actually lay on my legs to let me know something is wrong. I am a 'cutter'. I self-mutilate when I cannot cope. She is able to tell when I am about to lose it and she helps keep me in control. I'm not talking about scratches here, I'm talking about over 80 stitches m********n. She has literally saved my life on more than one occasion.

That restaurant owner needs to be taught what PTSD is really all about, he would never turn someone away again.

Miss Brandi

I am shaking I am so upset. I have had 3 dogs prior to this one and each of them tried to protect me, love me, warn me. Jody, my full-blooded Dauschund, let me know when my Mother was dying, she bled to death over 10 days from a ruptured tumor. I had to have emergency surgery a couple of months later to remove a tumor that was genetically passed down from her. Jody waited at the door for my Father to bring me home. He stayed with me, in bed, on the couch, whereever I was, Jody was right there. He let me know that I was 'safe'. He died at 16, my two dogs prior to Jody lived to be 16 and 18.

Loki Loc: Georgia

I have lost a dog that I raised from 7 weeks to 11 years. She was poisoned in my yard.

Snoopy

Dear Miss Brandi

I may have your solution!

Please contact www.nsarco.com. or call 866-737-3930

These folks will provide you with valuable information and enable you to
classify your dog as an Emotional Support Animal.

Requirements are: a doctors letter indicating your condition, the dog MUST
be well behaved and have MINIMAL training.

Glad to help.

Sincerely,

Snoopy

bahmer

Thank you for being so honest and by the way welcome to this site, we look forward to your input here. I can hear from your posting how truly concerned you are. I am constantly reminded of the old Indian saying of not judging another until you have walked a mile in his/hers moccasins. I have been in restaurants where people have brought in their service dogs. In all cases those dogs are so well behaved it is truly remarkable. The service dogs I have seen are better trained than a lot of peoples children and I would rather have the service dogs in a restaurant then some peoples kids. Have a wonderful day Miss Brandi.

timmh67 Loc: USA...West Coast

Thank you for posting your feellings. I have a Lab and she is the closest thing to me since my children are all gone and married.We go everywhere together and she will strike fear into anone who try's to harm me or my wife.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

I am sorry that you have some many problems. It must seem that the world is unfair to you.

It is sad, but this is not the only case where service men and women are treated with disrespect. The poor treatment of our military started back in the 50s and was particularly bad in the late 60s to 70s for the Viet Nam returning veterans. They were spat on, rocks thrown at them, denied service, and that is only a small sampling of what they went through. Back in those days, PTSD was considered a myth, a way for "healthy" soldiers to escape fighting. Americans in general has tried to mend the wounds that were inflicted on those veterans, but have come up short. The example you gave shows just how much further we as a nation has to go.

Here are some interesting facts:

General PTSD Stats
•70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives. That’s 223.4 million people.
•Up to 20% of these people go on to develop PTSD. As of today, that’s 31.3 million people are struggling with PTSD.
•An estimated 8% of Americans – that’s 24.4 million people – have PTSD at any given time.
•An estimated 1 out of 10 women develops PTSD; women are about twice as likely as men.
•Among people who are victims of a severe traumatic experience 60 – 80% will develop PTSD.
•Almost 50% of all outpatient mental health patients have PTSD.
•Somewhat higher rates of this disorder have been found to occur in African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans compared to Caucasians in the United States.


Combat
•Lifetime occurrence (prevalence) in combat veterans 10 – 30%.
•In the past year alone the number of diagnosed cases in the military jumped 50% – and that’s just diagnosed cases.
•Studies estimate that 1 in every 5 military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has PTSD.
•20% of the soldiers who’ve been deployed in the past 6 years have PTSD. That’s over 300,000.
•17% of combat troops are women; 71% of female military personnel develop PTSD due to sexual assault within the ranks.


by the way, this is a direct link to the story you presented. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/restaurant-refuses-iraq-war-veteran-and-service-dog-195925395.html

Miss Brandi

No, GinnyT. I do not feel that the world has been unfair to me. Everyone has problems and without the trials we would never appreciate the joys in life. I shared a part of me so everyone would understand the emotional depth that PTSD can effect a person and how important these service animals are.
Oh, btw...I didn't realize my picture was going to come out like that on my introduction, I thought it was going to be a thumbnail. And it was not intended to sound like a dating site profile, I just wanted to be honest about myself. And I h**e moonlit strolls on the beach, in fact, I dislike the beach. I'm a mountain girl.

bahmer

That's OK. Oh and about the picture you are a very pretty young thing and I hope you have a wonderful future as you come across as well educated to boot. I have two daughters and worry for them all the time as well as for my grandchildren. When I was a lot younger I loved the mountains and hunting but now all I have are a lot of memories.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

I am a veteran, my husband was a veteran, and one of my sons is a veteran. My husband, may God rest his soul, and I were Viet Nam, Desert Storm and Desert Shield veterans. I was at the Pentagon on 911. We, spent more than 16 years out of 20 in hostile environments while raising two sons. I am fully aware of the mistreatment of veterans by the general population. I am now retired and I spend my time doing animal rescue so you could say that I have an appreciation for animals and am appalled at their mistreatment and abandonment. It is also worthwhile to note, many on this site are veterans.

Having said that, I realize that people have their issues, no one gets out of life without emotional or physical scares and regrets; it is a personal choice to air them in a public political forum. So, I guess I should say thank you for sharing you oh too personal problems with us, it gives me a keen insight into your disposition and life.

As for your advertisement/Introduction. It was your choice and there is nothing more to say about it.

The Cracker

Not me. I am perfect ! (double grin) "My mother had me tested....."

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

Hey, good morning. When Mum got the results, what did she learn? :-)

The Cracker

On this topic with Mum, "Mum" was the word.

She did start giving me these little green pills daily. (all thirty of them) until I reached eighteen and out of high school, then she sent me out into the low pastures to herd cattle into the cow-pens and send them off to market, and when I returned three days later, she had ran off with the butcher.

Go figure. (grin)

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

TOO Funny! Thank you, I needed that!

oldroy Loc: Western Kansas (No longer in hiding)

I am one of those mid-50s Cold War Veterans as my cap proudly proclaims and well remember how we were treated by many people. If we wore our uniforms into the cities of the northeast, where I was stationed while in school, we wore our uniforms to professional games of all kinds in order to get in free. On the same days, we found ourselves being discriminated against because we had those horrible things on.

I always wanted to go to "Birdland", a great bar in NYC but after attending a Yankee game that afternoon my buddy and I were told we had to stand at the bar because of our uniforms. Some people from our company were there and sitting at good tables. We complained about the treatment and even showed them that we could afford the "expensive beer", the price depended on where you were served. Finally, I broke my bottle and as the beer ran all over the counter was told to "Get Out". My response was "Gladly" and off we went. I hadn't yet learned to deal with liberals.

I see attitudes changing lately in that when people see the old man with the Cold War Veteran on it they all want to shake my hand and that never happened before the recent veterans' problems.