US War Dogs in Action: Q2, 2026
What’s going on, K-9 fam?! It’s hard to believe that another three months have passed us by and – my oh my – what a three months we have had! Our vision and mission are going strong, thanks to the hard work and dedication of lots of incredible people and MWDs, so let’s dig into the details and see what’s been going on across Q2!
MWD Impact
As word continues to spread abut our organization, we continue to see an upsurge in the number of families reaching out to be a part of US War Dogs. It fills us with honor and pride to know that our help is making a difference… these quarterly numbers speak for themselves:
- 30 new Rx sign-ups
- $33,580 spent on Rx program
- $59,047 spent funding emergency and specialized care to 32 RMWDs
- We awarded 17 MWD service medals, in grateful thanks for a job well done
- We supported six families with the cost of end-of-life care and euthanasia through our Rainbow Bridge Assistance program
MWD Beno is one of the newest members of our Rx Program
During Q2, we also announced that we would be sponsoring 23 dogs through Paws of Honor – another incredible organization that works tirelessly to provide support to MWDs and law enforcement K-9s. We have long been admirers of their incredible work and feel honored to enable them to further their support to the military K-9 community.
Rededication
It’s hard to believe that earlier this month spelled 20 years since the US War Dogs memorial was dedicated in New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park. To mark this prestigious milestone, we held a special ceremony to rededicate the monument and reaffirm our commitment to honoring war dogs and their handlers, past, present and future.
The US War Dogs Rededication event in New Jersey on June 13, 2026
The event was attended by veterans, supporters, dog teams and friends of our organization and gave adequate pause to reflect on what the founding board achieved by bringing the vision for this monument to life.
Founding board member Bob Thompson addressed the crowd and reflected on his personal experiences of being a part of the team that designed, fundraised for and unveiled the monument. It was really special to have him with us.
Our dear friends from Red Bank Veterinary Hospital – which is just a short distance from the Memorial – came out in force to support the event. Red Bank hold a very special place in our hearts and history, as they provided over $634,000 of pro bono care to retired MWDs who qualified under US War Dogs’ Specialized Care program. Their deep respect for the US military and their love of MWDs moved the team to such generosity and we were thrilled that they could join us to mark this special occasion.
The team from Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in New Jersey came out in force to support our rededication event
As part of the ceremony, a wreath was laid to honor the service and sacrifice of K-9s and handlers in all major wars since the inception of Dogs for Defense, in 1942.
Our vice president, Chuck Rotenberry, closed the event by reading Guardians of the Night while two serving dog teams from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst faced the crowd and demonstrated the bond brought to life within the words of the famous poem.
Thank you to everyone who came out and supported the event – it was truly special and will be marked forever in our organization’s history.
Shopping to Lend a Paw with Pet Supermarket
We were honored to be selected by Pet Supermarket once again this year, to benefit from their annual Lend a Paw fundraiser, which takes place across their 400+ stores in Florida and the South East.
To celebrate yet another wonderful campaign, retired MWDs and their families have been visiting their local stores to meet staff and customers and enjoy some pampering. The campaign closes on 1 July and we are truly thankful to every member of staff and customer who has supported the Lend a Paw effort this year.
RMWD Speed visited his local Pet Supermarket store, in support of the Lend a Paw fundraiser for US War Dogs
Baseball Dawgs
We love to see our RMWDs enjoying incredible experiences and for two K-9s, that meant visiting some spectacular baseball games to represent US War Dogs. Retired patrol and explosive detector dog (PEDD) Henk and his handler and adoptive dad, Dale, threw the ceremonial first pitch for the Tampa Bay Rays, while multi purpose canine (MPC) Dex and his adoptive dad Max were guests of honor for the Baltimore Orioles.
Both MWDs and their handlers represented US War Dogs and allowed thousands of baseball fans to learn more about our mission and the role of military K-9. We can’t thank you all enough for flying the flag for us!
RMWDs Dex and Henk hit a home run for US War Dogs, repping K-9 at the baseball in Maryland and Florida
Memorial Day
When you’ve lost a loved one in combat, every day is memorial day, but as the annual holiday rolled around, we paused to honor our fallen and remember our Gold Star Families in our thoughts and prayers.
More Fundraising Heroes
We’ve had a flurry of incredible support from individuals and organizations who have been touched by our mission in some way. Operation Shepherds’ Watch held a Ruck March in aid of US War Dogs to raise vital funds for our cause.
After RMWD Boy needed emergency dental treatment, US War Dogs came to his aid, covering his surgery. To express their thanks, owner Josh has set up a special fundraiser to give back to US War Dogs. We were so honored to support Boy and feel truly blessed to have such beautiful souls as members of this very special community.
Retired US Navy drug detector dog, Boy
If you would like to hold a fundraiser for US War Dogs, we would love to hear from you! Drop us an email to k9family@uswardogs.org and we can talk about options and how we can support you to give back to our K-9 heroes with us.
Our Legacy of Honoring MWDs Continues
We are passionately committed to supporting monuments and memorials that align with our mission to honor and raise awareness of the service and sacrifice of MWDs. As we demonstrated by the rededication ceremony of US War Dogs’ first monument to honor K-9, our heritage is rooted in honoring our community in this way and we are thrilled to announce our involvement in two new projects that do just that.
In August, a monument will be unveiled to honor MWDs at the Veterans Memorial Park, Rolla, MO and we have donated $3,000 in support of the project, that is the brainchild of high school freshman and Eagle Scout, Mason Hirtz. Mason has done everything from design the monument, dig the footings for the concrete pad – with the help of his Eagle Scout troop – and fundraise for the project. With such hard work and dedication for a noble cause, we were honored to play our part to help Mason achieve success and help him hit fundraising target.
The team behind the Veterans’ Memorial in Smithville, Ohio, contacted us to ask for support in expanding the tribute that stands to honor those who served our nation, to include MWDs. Their mission to honor military K-9s aligns seamlessly with ours, so when we were asked to contribute to the effort, our board’s answer was a resounding ‘yes’.
We are also honored to help with funding for a new initiative from our Chapter, the Michigan War Dogs Memorial, to unveil a monument to the MWDs who were killed in the Global War on Terror.
We are honored to play a role in these important projects and I will be excited to share more details as they come to fruition, so watch this space!
Thank You!
As we look ahead to Q3, I want to say thank you for being a part of our K-9 family. Whether you have donated to our mission; shared and supported our content online or spread the word about who we are and what we do, we are so grateful to have you here with us. I hope you have enjoyed this update on our mission this past few months – if you would like to get involved with our mission, we’d love to hear from you: k9family@uswardogs.org
Thank you and K-9 leads the way!
