July 12, 2009

Meet Tuesday. "Tuesday is a so-called psychiatric-service dog, a new generation of animals trained to help people whose suffering is not physical, but emotional....Taught to recognize changes in a person's breathing, perspiration or scent that can indicate an imminent panic attack, Tuesday can keep Mr. Montalvan buffered from crowds or deliver a calming nuzzle."

Trained by a convicted killer (now released, and still training dogs), Tuesday was raised through the Puppies Behind Bars program before being placed with Luis Montalvan as part of Dog Tags.

posted by polychrome 14 years ago
  • Having shared our homes, our food and our lives for thousands of years and given their remarkable sensory abilities, it's little wonder that dogs have evolved a certain empathy with and an innate understanding of we crazy humans. Perhaps some of them are able to understand us better than we understand ourseleves. Great story.
  • My dog seems to think I'm nuts. Sometimes he'll try to distract and calm me, sometimes he'll hide under the sofa till it's over, and sometimes he'll tell me to STFU and calm my ass down. "Enlightened self-interest" strikes again.