The College of Veterinary Medicine’s Vets for Vets program at MSU offers many different types of treatments for retired service dogs suffering from ailments such as arthritis or joint disease.
Courtney Griffin, a second year student in the Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine program, said Vets for Vets, a program targeting retired military service dogs in need of rehabilitation, began as a class project for the CVM’s class of 2018.
“I was like this is a great idea for a class project because we didn’t have anything at the time. So the class kind of took it and ran with it,” Griffin said, “and we were able to raise enough money for Maci and Iva to start the 10 session package here.”
German Shepherds, Maci and Iva, are two retired military service dogs that are undergoing therapy sessions through the program.
Iva’s current handler, Columbus Air Force Base Tech. Sgt. Dustin Weeks and Kennel Master at the base, who also deployed with her to Afghanistan in 2013 said she has transitioned very smoothly to a simple house dog, but that her training is still heavily embedded in her.
“I don’t think she knows she has those problems because you can take a tennis ball and throw it, and she’s running as hard as she can,” Weeks said. “You can tell sometimes she’s uncomfortable when she goes from standing to sitting because she specifically sits on one side of her body.”
Griffin said the program is cost prohibitive to those that might be interested in getting their dogs involved.
“The school got really excited about it and they’re the ones who actually started the funding. So now we’re able to accept donations through the MSU Foundation, which is really nice,” Griffin said. “If people want to make a donation, it’s all tax deductible and they’ll get recognition for making a donation through the school.”
Griffin said the program’s goal for now is to begin branching out beyond Mississippi and Alabama to attract more service dogs to programs similar to this one because there is such a limited number of service dogs in this region.
“One thing we’re looking into is, hopefully, partnering with other vet schools or other certified rehabilitation clinics in other areas of the country,” Griffin said. “So if there are other dogs that could benefit from this we could, hopefully, help fund them as well.”
Griffin said the program initially was meant only for physical therapy, but upon encountering other cases where different needs were required it was decided they would not limit their options to just physical therapy.  
“There’s a lot of different directions we could go with it which is what we’re kind of excited about, is just getting the word out about what we’re working on now,” Griffin said. “It’s proved to be a bit more challenging than we thought because we kind of anticipated there would be more retired service dogs in the area, but they’re pretty spread out.
That’s why we’re working on expanding into different facets of Vets for Vets.”
Weeks’s retired service dog, Iva, was deployed overseas four times to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and twice to Afghanistan. Her job was explosive detection by looking for roadside bombs and weapons caches. Weeks said Iva retired due to small signs of hip dysplasia and arthritis build up in her joints.
“If you’re not paying attention to her she’ll make you pay attention to her,” Weeks said. “You can pretty much always tell what she’s thinking.”
Weeks said when he first encountered Iva she was not easy to train, but her explosive detection was solid.
“They had already put enough training into her to pass their certification standards. Then once we get them we have to advance their training and just make them better for the field, for actual police work, or being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan,” Weeks said. “She was a knucklehead.”
Ruby Lynn Carter, who does canine rehabilitation at the CVM, said there are numerous reasons for dogs to require rehabilitation, and part of her job is teaching dogs that have neurological issues impeding their ability to move their legs, to walk again.
“The muscles forget what they have to do, which is one of the good things about the treadmill is it’s constant motion, so it does help retrain muscles to do what they’re supposed to do,” Carter said. 
Carter said each patient seen at the CVM has its own set of protocols designed for their specific issue; which may include using the water treadmill, the free swimming pool, laser therapy, electrical therapy, hydrotherapy, and therapy ball work.
“Pretty much, if it can be done with a human, it can be done with a dog,” Carter said.
Carter said laser therapy is used nearly every day, and is a good treatment for improving blood flow and decreasing pain. This treatment is how the first part of Iva’s therapy sessions begin, targeting her hips.
“I think it’s the most rewarding job in the hospital because you get to see the results, and you get to see these wonderful patients,” Carter said. “Our patients love coming in here for the majority because they get pampered and we spoil them, and when you start seeing improvement it’s a great, great feeling.”