Retired master corporal David Desjardins holds Schnitzel, a miniature dachshund being trained as a psychiatric support dog. (CBC)At six feet three inches, retired master corporal David Desjardins sits tall in his wheelchair. At his feet is Schnitzel, a miniature dachshund he's training to jump onto his lap on command.

It might look like ordinary training, but Schnitzel is no ordinary pet. She's being trained as a psychiatric support dog.

After tours in Bosnia, Honduras and Afghanistan, Desjardins was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He couldn't live a normal life, he says.

"I wouldn't go outside," said the former soldier, who injured his hips in a training accident and currently uses a wheelchair. "I wouldn't spend time with my family. There was no structure."

But that started to change after he was told Schnitzel, already a Dejardins family pet, could be trained as a service animal.

'They're not going to judge you'

"The animals, they're non-judgmental," Desjardins said. "You can tell all your problems to the animal. They're not going to ask you a bunch of questions. They're not going to judge you and say you're being irrational or unrealistic."

'When I started working with the animals, there was a glow that came back.'

— Ziggy Bauer, chief warrant officer

Desjardins now brings Schnitzel to an Ottawa industrial complex for training once a week.

He's just one of a growing number of Canadian soldiers and veterans who say some of the best therapy they've received for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder has come from a dog.

Chief Warrant Officer Ziggy Bauer, who struggles with chronic pain and depression, is another. He had initially volunteered to help train dogs for other soldiers but ended up taking a Rottweiler named Maggie home over the holidays.

"When I started working with the animals, there was a glow that came back," he said. "They gave me back structure. They made me get out of bed.

"It's like the dog can feel what's wrong with you."

Creating a team

Chief Warrant Officer Ziggy Bauer trains Thor, a mutt. Bauer brought a psychiatric support dog home for the holidays. (CBC)

One aspect of using animals for therapy is the restoration of structure and order in a soldier or veteran's life, says Jessica O'Neill, an animal behaviour consultant involved in the project.

"What you're doing is creating a team," said O'Neill. "From what I'm told, this is the most social interaction that either of the soldiers we're working with have had since their injuries.

"We're creating a very strong relationship. We're very much like a family."

Desjardins credits the structure with helping him adjust to life after the military.

"You go from a military background, where it's structure, structure, structure — you're up at a certain time, you know you've got to be at work at a certain time, and you go from that to absolutely nothing. It's easy to fall into the habit of 'I don't need to get out of bed so I'm not.' "

But the rigour involved in training Schnitzel has changed that, he says.

"It's given me the routine and structure again. So, you know, I'm sleeping better at night."

The dogs can be also be trained for specific circumstances, such as guiding a disoriented person home or creating space in a crowd for someone who feels uncomfortable, O'Neill says.

"There are tonnes of skills and tasks that dogs can be trained to do," she said. "It really requires a conversation with the individual and their doctor — 'what do we need to do, what are you goals, what can we do to change your life?' "

Pilot project

The use of psychiatric support dogs started in the United States and spread to Canada in the form of a handful of pilot projects.

Animal behaviour consultant Jessica O'Neill is confident the program will be deemed a necessity after review. (CBC)

The Ottawa program was a six-month pilot project. The Wounded Warriors charity provided $35,000 in funding, but the money ran out in mid-December.

"We fund programs that tend to injured [Canadian Forces] members," Wounded Warriors founder Capt. Wayne Johnston says. "This one interested us."

But Johnston, who himself has post-traumatic stress disorder, says the organization "wants to see some real scientific results" before it provides more funding.

"I don't believe we would make that decision unless we would have some medical people there to monitor, properly monitor what is going on," he said.

O'Neill says it can cost $8,000 to $40,000 to fully train and certify a service animal, depending on how much work is required. Still, she's optimistic the government will embrace the program and provide funding for it.

"I believe that upon further review there'll be no question that this is a necessity," she said.

The Canadian Forces says it is prepared to study the effects of psychiatric support dogs.