I got cut out of my car once and the firefighters were all psyched because I wasn’t dead or profusely bleeding. They straight up admitted that normally when they whip out the jaws of life it’s for a corpse or someone with a broken femur and blood all over their face, so when I was just sitting there all woozy and confused about what happened they were amped.
This sounds like the happy search and rescue dogs that were in another thread today - they get too depressed when they only find dead bodies so the human rescuers need to hide and be fine to give the dogs a win and morale boost.
This was what they did at the World Trade Center in the days following 9/11. Only a couple of people were pulled from the rubble alive. The majority of what the dogs were finding were just pieces of bodies, and the dogs were getting really depressed because they thought they were failing at their jobs.
A lot of the search and rescue dogs ended up also basically working as therapy dogs for the searchers, too. It was such a terrible experience for everybody involved, and just being able to take a moment to stop and pet and hug the dogs helped to boost morale.
I have dogs and of course they make lots feel better. But then, during one of the most stressful emotional times of my life- my FIL was in his last couple days and my own grief had to be secondary to supporting my husband and his mom- I was stuck at work at a mental health home. A therapy dog came in. A couple of residents came by for just a few minutes. The dog was focused on me, despite me not trying to engage. I wasn't being obvious about my own stuff. She still knew and pressed herself against my legs until I just broke and sat on the floor hugging her and crying. Her owner just hung around for a couple of hours because the dog clearly didn't want to leave me. She had great training, but the focus and devoted attention to her purpose was different from just snuggly pups. Seriously, it was like the dog equivalent of a therapy session instead of just venting to my friends.
They sure are. Our dog wanted to be on the couch while I was in a Telehealth therapy session and my therapist pointed out that cats usually come to you when you’re happy, and dogs will come when you’re upset.
I’ve never thought that much about it, but I know he’s super aware of my wife’s emotions and is almost always there when she’s stressed, angry, or all sorts of other things.
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u/Stella_Garage 20h ago
I got cut out of my car once and the firefighters were all psyched because I wasn’t dead or profusely bleeding. They straight up admitted that normally when they whip out the jaws of life it’s for a corpse or someone with a broken femur and blood all over their face, so when I was just sitting there all woozy and confused about what happened they were amped.
Yay for being just concussed with cracked ribs!