by Meg Olmert, Official Advisor, The Comfort Dog Project
In September 2019, I made my first trip to Africa to visit The Big Fix in Northern Uganda. Big Fix President Sarah Schmidt and I had been virtual colleagues and friends ever since the day she called me to talk about my book, Made For Each Other, The Biology of the Human Animal Bond and to tell me that this evolutionary force was healing the most broken hearts and minds in Northern Uganda.
She was talking, of course, about The Comfort Dog Project and how partnering severely traumatized Ugandans with severely traumatized Ugandan dogs was healing both and saving their lives.
Because I study the neurochemical agents that are released when people and dogs enter into nurturing relationships, these socializing anti-stress effects were not surprising. For a decade I have worked with Warrior Canine Connection—a trauma treatment program that teaches U.S. veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder how to train service dogs to support veterans with psychological and physical disabilities. This program and other service dogs programs in the U.S. that incorporate dog training into their protocols, have been shown to be highly effective at helping wounded warriors find happiness and peace and re-engage with their families and communities.
What took me utterly by surprise was that this transformative power was being awakened in people and dogs that have come to fear and loathe each other! Northern Ugandan dogs are not “pets” as we know them. Mange, ticks, fleas, and stink do not make a cuddly dog. And then there’s rabies—a very real and very deadly end for the thousands who have been bitten and untreated. Everyone in Northern Uganda knows someone who has died from rabies.
Dogs, as a result, are largely considered useless or worse. BigFix has dared to take on the mission of making Ugandan dogs healthier and teaching people that their own health can be improved when they learn to live with and love dogs. So, that is what I went to see for myself in Sept of 2019.
Each day I had my eyes and mind opened wider as I witnessed the impossibly hard life of the people and their dogs. And the transformation of the lucky few who found their way into The Comfort Dog Program. The most profound experience came when I assisted in the “surgical ward” during one of BigFix’s field clinics where they provide rabies vaccination and free neutering services. This day, over a thousand people came with their dogs to be vaccinated and hundreds waited as three volunteer veterinarians operated on dog after dog for 12 hours non-stop. With no running water or electricity, the last of these procedures were performed under the light of an iphone.
My job was to watch over the recovering patients, laid out on tarps in various states of consciousness. I checked their breathing and gave tick and flea treatment and new collars to each one. It was like a game of wack-a-mole trying to capture weaving, drunken dogs who thought it was time to go home. It was in that last dim light that two delirious young dogs came to our attention. They had no new collar and I had not seen them before. No one had. It was then that Sarah learned they had just arrived tied up on a motorcycle and were not anesthetized, but in shock. When their owner learned it was too late for them to have surgery he attempted to pick them up and take the home. Sarah scooped up the ginger colored one and held tight telling the man that the dogs were in no condition to travel (especially hanging off a motor cycle) and would not be release to him. He tried to grab the white one who viciously tried to tear his hands off. It was something to behold. The man nervously laughed and acted surprised his dog wouldn’t behave. I pointed out that the dog clearly hated him. Sarah told the man both dogs were coming back to Big Fix with us. Then we had to figure out how we were going to get this wild, biting creature to safety. Happily we did without injury to anyone.
It was almost midnight by the time we got both dogs back to the Big Fix compound. Sarah brought them into the guest house where it would be quiet and more comfortable and we could keep a close eye on them. We (I) named them Sarah for the darling girl who Sarah saved and Bitey—for well…
In September 2019, I made my first trip to Africa to visit The Big Fix in Northern Uganda. Big Fix President Sarah Schmidt and I had been virtual colleagues and friends ever since the day she called me to talk about my book, Made For Each Other, The Biology of the Human Animal Bond and to tell me that this evolutionary force was healing the most broken hearts and minds in Northern Uganda.
She was talking, of course, about The Comfort Dog Project and how partnering severely traumatized Ugandans with severely traumatized Ugandan dogs was healing both and saving their lives.
Because I study the neurochemical agents that are released when people and dogs enter into nurturing relationships, these socializing anti-stress effects were not surprising. For a decade I have worked with Warrior Canine Connection—a trauma treatment program that teaches U.S. veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder how to train service dogs to support veterans with psychological and physical disabilities. This program and other service dogs programs in the U.S. that incorporate dog training into their protocols, have been shown to be highly effective at helping wounded warriors find happiness and peace and re-engage with their families and communities.
What took me utterly by surprise was that this transformative power was being awakened in people and dogs that have come to fear and loathe each other! Northern Ugandan dogs are not “pets” as we know them. Mange, ticks, fleas, and stink do not make a cuddly dog. And then there’s rabies—a very real and very deadly end for the thousands who have been bitten and untreated. Everyone in Northern Uganda knows someone who has died from rabies.
Dogs, as a result, are largely considered useless or worse. BigFix has dared to take on the mission of making Ugandan dogs healthier and teaching people that their own health can be improved when they learn to live with and love dogs. So, that is what I went to see for myself in Sept of 2019.
Each day I had my eyes and mind opened wider as I witnessed the impossibly hard life of the people and their dogs. And the transformation of the lucky few who found their way into The Comfort Dog Program. The most profound experience came when I assisted in the “surgical ward” during one of BigFix’s field clinics where they provide rabies vaccination and free neutering services. This day, over a thousand people came with their dogs to be vaccinated and hundreds waited as three volunteer veterinarians operated on dog after dog for 12 hours non-stop. With no running water or electricity, the last of these procedures were performed under the light of an iphone.
My job was to watch over the recovering patients, laid out on tarps in various states of consciousness. I checked their breathing and gave tick and flea treatment and new collars to each one. It was like a game of wack-a-mole trying to capture weaving, drunken dogs who thought it was time to go home. It was in that last dim light that two delirious young dogs came to our attention. They had no new collar and I had not seen them before. No one had. It was then that Sarah learned they had just arrived tied up on a motorcycle and were not anesthetized, but in shock. When their owner learned it was too late for them to have surgery he attempted to pick them up and take the home. Sarah scooped up the ginger colored one and held tight telling the man that the dogs were in no condition to travel (especially hanging off a motor cycle) and would not be release to him. He tried to grab the white one who viciously tried to tear his hands off. It was something to behold. The man nervously laughed and acted surprised his dog wouldn’t behave. I pointed out that the dog clearly hated him. Sarah told the man both dogs were coming back to Big Fix with us. Then we had to figure out how we were going to get this wild, biting creature to safety. Happily we did without injury to anyone.
It was almost midnight by the time we got both dogs back to the Big Fix compound. Sarah brought them into the guest house where it would be quiet and more comfortable and we could keep a close eye on them. We (I) named them Sarah for the darling girl who Sarah saved and Bitey—for well…
Sarah comforting Bitey on the night they were rescued
It took time for these dogs to overcome their trauma. But they took good care of each other. Underneath their suffering were two beautiful dogs and Sarah soon blossomed, put on weight, and developed a shiny coat. Her recovery was so complete that she was transformed into a Comfort Dog that could teach lessons of love and resilience to her Guardian, Nancy. Here they are below.
Sarah now comforts her Guardian Nancy
Bitey’s journey was slower and harder. Besides her psychological abuse, she had a severe urinary disease that kept her in the hospital under treatment until recently. And yet, her story also has a fairy tale ending. Bitey--against all odds--is now healthy and happy and on her way to becoming a full-fledged Comfort Dog spreading her healing to her Guardian Alex.
Bitey is all ears when her Guardian Alex instructs her
Bitey and Alex comfort each other
I’ve spent over two decades studying the brain systems that make us social creatures able to bond and bring health and happiness to each other. But this story is the greatest living proof that we are social creatures that must connect or die and that, while we can try to deny that all-powerful urge, it is always just a smile away. That’s the Big Fix!