Dogs and humans have forged a special relationship since the first domestic breeds shared the frozen tundra of the ice age with our ancestors.
Since that time, dogs have remained faithful companions to humans both in war and in peace.
Dogs have been a companion in war as far back as the Roman Empire, when large breeds wore armor or spiked collars and attacked enemies. During the 20th Century, dogs did everything from dragging wounded soldiers out of harm’s way to carrying messages across a battlefield to pulling wagons of weapons and ammunition.
By contrast, dogs have always been a companion to humans in peace, their serene effect on humans recognized as far back as in ancient Greece. In the 19th century, Florence Nightingale noted the positive effect dogs had on patients and Sigmund Freud apparently used dogs to help calm his patients.
The dogs that can be found at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst fill both ends of this companionship spectrum.
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Air Force Staff Sergeant Tara Cummins and Erika have a very special relationship.
Cummins is with the 87th Security Forces Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. She has been in the Air Force for 12 years, the last seven as a specialist in training dogs.
Erika is a Military Working Dog partnered with Cummins. Erika is one of a number of Military Working Dogs living at the Joint Base kennels. She is trained for patrol, suspect detention, VIP protection and detection of narcotics or explosives. Dogs with this kind of training continue the tradition of war dogs – they are frequently sent to the most dangerous places on the planet.
Erika is a Belgian Malinois. The breed looks like smaller German Shepherds. They are considered among the most energetic and hardest working dogs, and they have a tendency to forge an unbreakable bond with their human partner.
The bond between Erika and Cummins is unmistakable. It is obvious Erika lives to please as she unhesitatingly obeys Cummins’ every command.
“All they work for is kibble and toys,” said Cummins while Erika sits calmly but alertly at her side. “The dogs are service members too and they are the most selfless and loyal service members you will find anywhere.”
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Caitlin Ishler served in the Air Force for five years. In January 2023, when her service concluded, she started Pawsitive Therapy, an all-volunteer organization that visits, among other places, military bases to help alleviate the stress of military life.
Ishler started her enterprise by putting out a general call, asking people if they had a dog, they thought would be a good fit to be a therapy dog.
She got quite a few responses.
“But the certification process is not easy,” said Ishler. “We look at dogs to see what characteristics they display when they are exposed to people. Are they comfortable or do they show fear, aggressiveness or anxiety? Only 14 of our first 144 dogs qualified.”
In starting her business, Ishler received a lot of help from Jason Penwell, an Air Force veteran who operates Allora Dog Training in Browns Mill.
“With therapy dogs, breeds don’t always matter,” said Ishler. “It is the characteristics and the personality of the dog and how well it socializes that matter.”
Ishler explains that once her therapy dogs are certified, the handlers bring them to units at JBMDL to see how they react.
“Sometimes the dogs need a little time to get used to what is a new environment for them. After a few weeks they usually find their groove.”
Ishler says her dogs need to be at least one year of age but there is no upper age limit. She said the dogs are trained in some basic commands, but the overall message she conveys to the dog is “your job is to be social.” Ishler said the dogs are happy to do the work.
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The 87th Security Forces at JBMDL not only handle all of the security needs on the base, but they are also frequently called to support local area law enforcement. Dogs such as Erika are often deployed to help local law enforcement locate suspects or missing persons. Some of the dogs wind up with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
For Military Working Dogs, training begins when they are puppies. This training takes place at Lackland Air Force Base (now known as Joint Base San Antonio) in Texas. The dog breeds trained there are mostly Belgian Malinois, German Shepherds or German Shorthaired Pointers.
If dogs do not take to the training at Lackland, they are put up for adoption. If they pass the training, they are sent to military installations on an as-needed basis where their training is enhanced.
On a rainy afternoon at the Joint Base kennels, Cummins is putting Erika through her paces with the help of U.S. Navy Master-at-Arms Joseph Setters who also specializes in handling and training military dogs.
Setters is playing the role of a suspect about to run away from Cummins and Erika. Setters is wearing a protective outer coat to safeguard him against the power of Erika’s bite. The bite of a Belgian Malinois is measured to be 195 pounds per square inch, one of the most powerful in the canine world.
This training session begins with Setters approaching Cummins and Erika. Cummins gives Setters a firm command to halt. Instead, he turns and begins to run. Cummins shouts a last verbal warning to stop. When Setters fails to comply, Cummins lets Erika loose. The swift canine is on Setters heels in moments then she leaps in the air to the height of Setter’s shoulder and locks her jaws on the protective coat. Between the dog’s speed, power and precision, a human has no chance to get away.
The scenario is replayed, and Setters begins to run again, only this time when Cummins releases Erika, Setters voluntarily comes to a halt. The dog’s training is so precise that because Setters stopped running, Erika merely stands next to him while Cummins arrives to recapture him.
“The dogs are not trained to be aggressive,” Cummins said. “Our training taps into a dog’s instinctive desire to hunt and chase.”
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One of the places Pawsitive Therapy visits each week at JBMDL is Sean’s Room, a recently established mental health facility where anyone on the Joint Base can come if they are dealing with mental health issues or just need a place to occasionally decompress.
Sean’s Room is a unique facility. It was started by airman of the 305th Air Base Wing to help those on the Joint Base dealing with mental health issues and it opened only months after two young airmen serving at McGuire died by suicide within five weeks of each other.
Sean’s Room offers peer-to-peer counselling, in many cases, by those who first visited the facility to get help with their own issues.
“I could not understand why there were no therapy dogs on the Joint Base,” said Ishler. “I spoke with one of the airmen who was instrumental in establishing Sean’s Room, and he enthusiastically agreed that the dogs should come there. After that, many people at the base talked to me about having therapy dogs visit and you could tell by their attitude that they wanted to be near the dogs.
“We visit units on the Joint Base with the commander’s ‘OK,’ so we know we are not interrupting the mission. We allot 5 to 10 minutes for interaction with the dogs at each stop. It doesn’t seem like much, but it is enough time to help change the way a person feels about the day. We get such a positive response. The dogs love the attention, and the handlers love it too.”
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When a Military Working Dog at the Joint Base reaches retirement age – which varies according to the type of service rendered – handlers get first choice to keep their canine companions. In most cases, handlers opt to keep them.
Because these dogs are subject to the same risks and dangers as the soldiers they serve, Military Work Dogs at JBMDL are also given retirement ceremonies just like their human counterparts.
In another recognition of their contributions, the NJ Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Museum unveiled the War Dogs Memorial in the garden of its Holmdel property. The memorial, erected by the United States War Dog Association in 2006, features a Vietnam soldier and his dog. The memorial is intended to honor all the military working dogs and their handlers.
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While they are not service dogs (which are trained differently to assist humans with particular disabilities), Isher says therapy dogs can do more than soothe.
“Dogs have the ability to tell you something about a person that people can’t,” said Ishler.
“The dogs can detect certain smells emitted by the human brain and they can detect chemical changes in the human body that signals the human is not feeling well.”
Dogs will then alert their handlers either by standing next to the person with the problem or by nudging the handler’s hand.
“We visited one unit where one of our dogs gave us a strong alert about a person in the group,” remembers Ishler. “It turned out that person had just lost a family member and had not told anyone and was grieving.”
Ishler believes the reason therapy dogs are effective is because “they focus just on you. Dogs never judge a person and when you are with the dog, that is all you see at that moment.
“We had one person come into Sean’s Room and just sit on the floor with one of the dogs. She got so relaxed and comfortable that she began to talk about why she had come and the issue she was dealing with which she later told us she was not planning to do. Dogs just make people feel better. That is very powerful.”
For more information about Pawsitive Therapy, click here.
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