It’s been a busy summer for our incredible organization and as well as surviving the ferocious heat, our team has racked up some fantastic achievements to make sure we are providing the best possible support to the K-9 community.

A team of volunteers gathered at our Maryland headquarters early in August to prepare almost 200 care packages that were sent out to deployed dog teams across the world. We were also able to fulfil special gear requests to teams in Japan, Korea and the Middle East, which means that we’re not only taking care of both ends of the leash while teams are away serving our country, but US War Dogs is actively enhancing our K-9 capabilities, which makes me extremely proud.

As well as supporting our deployed K-9s, we have also signed up 60 new retired MWDs to our Rx Program since the start of the year – a number that will only grow as we spread the word about our mission to the K-9 community. You can help us do that by letting K-9 friends and colleagues know about us. We are here to help as many K-9s as we can and I am very proud to see our Rx numbers continue to grow. And to help us manage that growth is new US War Dogs care coordinator and former US Marine Corps dog handler, Kent Ferrell. We are thrilled to have you here and thank you for your service to our retired K-9s.

In the spirit of growing awareness of US War Dogs, we are thrilled to welcome on board our new social media manager, Kim Roberson. Not only is Kim an active duty K-9 trainer with the US Air Force, she is also a whizz online, creating our first ever TikTok account which already has over 3,000 followers and 19,000 ‘likes’. If you’re a Tiktoker, be sure to give @uswardogs_official a follow!

Providing help to more K-9s is at the heart of what drives US War Dogs, so the board and I were thrilled to confirm a package of financial support that will benefit retired MWDs at The Ddamien Project in Texas. Krystal and her husband Matt have spent the last decade taking in MWDs with life-limiting illnesses or behavioural issues that mean they can’t live a normal civilian life. This package of care will see US War Dogs support 12 retired MWDs on the ranch and help to relieve some of the burden on the non-profit. The passion and commitment of Krystal and Matt is unmatched and I am honored that US War Dogs can be a part of their story. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be introducing the dogs that we are supporting and I can guarantee, you will fall in love! Keep an eye on our socials for more.

July also saw Pet Supermarket’s fundraiser for US War Dogs. The month-long initiative encourage pet owners to purchase a branded bandana from one of the chain’s 300 stores. We are so lucky to have Pet Supermarket as a supporter and look forward to receiving the donation check later this month, which is being collected by War Dogs board member Alex Schnell and his retired multi-purpose canine, Bass. A huge thank you to everyone who supported the campaign and shared photos of your dogs sporting our bandana!

As a retired US Marine with 17 years in K-9, staying connected to this community gives me a huge amount of strength and satisfaction. On a trip to Texas for the National Support Dogs annual conference (where I was honored to be one of the keynote speakers), I took the chance to visit Lackland Air Force Base and the dog teams of the 341st military working dog training squadron. I spent a number of years as a young Marine Corps dog trainer at Lackland and it felt great to be back there to spread the word about US War Dogs. I even got to watch some of the teams in training. 

I was also fortunate enough to reconnect with some of the active service members when I coordinated a week-long joint training package that saw four branches of military service come together to share skills and put the dogs through their paces with some cutting-edge training methods. To help deliver the training, I was joined by former Marines James Sabol and Sean Hemphill. James and I worked closely when we served together in the IMEF MWD Platoon at Camp Pendleton, CA and MARSOC. Former MARSOC dog handler Sean deployed five times in eight years with his multi-purpose canine, Ziggy. It was a pleasure to have two experienced professionals by my side and we all really enjoyed the coming together to train dogs again.

Finally, I would like to thank you for your continued support for our organization. By engaging with us and sharing our posts on social media to spreading the word about our mission within the K-9 community, you are helping us to reach more MWDs who need us and – vitally – supporting their owners and handlers too.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to our mission, you can do so via our website. Every donation directly helps to support active and retired MWDs and to raise the profile of K-9 to the public. 

My sincerest thanks – we appreciate you more than you know.

K-9 leads the way!

Chris Willingham

President

US War Dogs Association