"I'M GUS. I LIKE BEEF JERKY." - NOWZAD Dogs rescues Soldier's K9 friends in Afghanistan

CADG is a international logistics and construction company working here in Afghanistan.  They have assisted NOWZAD DOGS in rescuing dogs that Soldiers have rescued from Afghanistan.

I am glad to share the good news of how people can make a difference when they try - It made a big difference for Gus and other dogs in need along with the Soldiers who love their 4 legged companions.

" I'm Gus . I like Beef Jerky. "

Gus  the  dog (left), Gus  with  Louise from Nowzad Dogs, her  Afghan  assistant,  and two pilots (right)

Soldiers who work out on the Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) often work for the better part of a year, isolated from family and friends, working in some of the harshest environments in Afghanistan. They are often subject to dangerous or deadly situations that can often take their toll. Soldiers often look for anything to take their minds off of where they are including befriending a stray dog or cat.

Since soldiers have been going to war, they have been befriending stray animals that they find out in the field or wander into camp. It’s a simple act of humanitarianism that has mutual benefit: a stray dog or cat gets food and comfort, and the soldier has a loyal companion. It is a powerful bond. In the Vietnam War, John Laurence, a reporter who covered the battle of Hue found a kitten in the ruins, cleaned the cat up and eventually took him home. Even though the cat was vicious, he couldn’t part with it. He ended up writing The Cat from Hue that became a best seller, documenting how the cat became a beloved family pet.

Afghanistan is filled with stray dogs and cats. They often congregate around the bases because they can pick through the garbage and find morsels of food. The Afghans keep dogs for fighting and often release the dogs who don’t win who then become wild. Go to any of the ISAF bases and you’ll see the animals, running in and out of the gates or rummaging through the garbage, searching for scraps. It’s a heartbreaking situation.

The problem is, after the deployment, the soldier goes home and has to part with the animal under their care. Even if the soldier wants the animal, due to regulations, the military won’t let the animals on the aircraft.

This is where Nowzad Dogs comes into the story. They are an NGO that have one mission: to rescue the cats and dogs that have become the soldier’s or sailors pets, get them medically checked, and send them on to their owners in America, Great Britain, Australia, South Africa; anywhere where ISAF troops or contractors have come from.

Started by a Royal Marine sergeant who wanted his camp dog brought home to England, Nowzad Dogs (Nowzad is the FOB in Helmand province where the sergeant was posted and became the charity namesake) relies completely on generous donations to operate the charity and get the dogs home. The sailor or soldier has to pay a certain amount up front. Then a page on the website is set up to ask for donations for the particular animal. Moving the animals can be extremely expensive and complex and Nowzad is always in dire need of funds.

CADG has stepped in to provide logistics free of cost. We fly the animals from specific military bases to Kabul and deliver the dog or cat to representatives of Nowzad who then clean up the animals and get their transport out of Afghanistan to their new home. It’s our way of providing a service to the ISAF soldiers. They spend the better part of a year with the animal and it becomes a pet, a companion who makes their experience in Afghanistan tolerable.

I watched as Gus the dog was loaded on to the plane in his crate at Camp Bastion with a small sign that said “ I'M Gus. I Like Beef Jerky”. A true mutt, he looks like he has a lot of Border Collie combined with a dash of Corgie and a few other breeds all mixed in. When we landed in Kabul, we had no idea what to expect of his temperament. When the door was opened, he came out, wagged his tail, ate some beef jerky and drank some water out of his bowl. His owner Zach, a sailor who has gone back to the States, will be reunited with Gus in about a month after the dog has been health checked and readied for transport with all the proper documents and certificates.

Gus’ story is an all too common one. But with donations, Nowzad Dogs will continue to care and transport the animals to their owners. And CADG is more than happy to help!

For more information or to make a donation, please have a look at www.nowzad.com

Loyal K-9 Pal mourns his master, US Navy SEAL Petty Officer 1st Class Jon T. Tumilson

I arrived home late yesterday after spend 5 days traveling from Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan to Boston, via stop-overs in Kuwait and Ft. Benning, GA. The relief for my safe return by family & friends is obvious.

Along with the family, my three 4-legged children were overwhelming joyful upon seeing me. They are the truest companions as they show unbridled joy at our daily return home, and know that we miss them when we are gone. Dogs have an inate ability to know our true emotions and they respond in like kind.

Here is another display of loyalty, and it should be no surprise to me our anyone else who values our K-9 pals for all they do to enrich out lives.


Loyal Dog Mourns, Lays at Casket of Fallen Navy Seal - Dogster.com
08/24/2011

The dog of slain Petty Officer Jon Tumilson refused to leave his side during the Navy SEAL’s funeral earlier this week in Rockford, Iowa. The heartbreaking photo taken by his cousin, Lisa Pembleton, shows Tumilson’s dog Hawkeye lying by the casket.

Navy SEAL U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jon T. Tumilson was among the 30 American troops killed August 6 when Taliban insurgents downed their Chinook helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. At his funeral in Iowa, his dog Hawkeye paid his last respects, walking up to the casket, lying down in front of it, and heaving a sigh.

Pembleton wrote on Facebook that Hawkeye was Tumilson’s loyal pet who wouldn't leave his master’s side during the funeral in Rockford, Iowa.

“I felt compelled to take one photo to share with family members that couldn't make it or couldn't see what I could from the aisle,” Pembleton wrote.

Thanks to our friend Maria Goodavage at Dogster for sharing this with us

Going to the Dogs.....How Service Dogs are helping more people

My MILBLOG seems to be going to the Dogs !!!!

As the casual reader might guess, I am keenly devoted to our four-legged friends and all that they can do for us.....

They are "devotion on 4 legs" and only worried about us....they live in the moment and show no concern for their own welfare, only that of their human companions.

I would like to work with organizations that increase the ability to utilize dogs for areas where people need assistance and where the K-9's physical abilities of smell, hearing, sight and presence can aid those who need a 24 hour a day companion. The Dog is a noble creature and one we can count on, just as he has counted on us for many centuries.

latimes.com
Service dogs are beyond fetching

Their use is growing. They help guide the blind, perform tasks for the physically disabled and may even help people with epilepsy and autism.
By Karen Ravn, Special to the Los Angeles Times
July 18, 2011

One moment 15-year-old Glen Gregos was a happy-go-lucky kid riding a motorcycle. The next he was the lucky-to-be-alive victim of a terrible accident, paralyzed from the chest down.

Now 54 and a resident of Woodland Hills, Gregos has built a rewarding life — college, marriage, a successful banking career, a daughter who just graduated from college.

Still, for decades after the accident, Gregos faced challenges every day from simple things most of us take for granted — going to the grocery store, going out the front door. And then six years ago, his life took another dramatic turn. He met Beulah — a.k.a. Miss Bo — a black Labrador retriever who has been at his side, 24/7, ever since — to open doors, carry bags, pull his wheelchair, pick up anything he drops on the floor and cheer up any black mood he falls into.

"It's hard to put into words everything these dogs do for you," he says. "It's physical. It's emotional. It's all-encompassing. You probably have to live it to understand it."

Miss Bo is not considered a pet. She's a service dog, a concept first introduced with guide (or seeing-eye) dogs for the blind, perhaps as far back as the 16th century, though it wasn't until 1929 that the first guide dog training school in the U.S. opened up. By the 1970s, people had started training dogs to help with other disabilities, and that trend has continued.

Service dogs now include dogs that can open cupboards and drawers, alert someone to a ringing telephone, assist someone during a disorienting seizure, help someone keep their balance or get back up after a fall, not to mention dogs that can sniff allergens in the air or low blood sugar on someone's breath.

"Here in the U.S. we have a highly individualistic culture — creative, experimental," says Lynette Hart, director of the Center for Animals in Society at UC Davis. "It's like a caldron for coming up with new things that dogs can do for us. And dogs love to work. It's a very natural marriage for them to help people."

This has been a boon for many who, like Gregos, have had their lives changed by some extraordinary dogs. But potential pitfalls abound. "There's almost no regulation," Hart says. "And everyone wants to do what they want to do."

Sometimes people want to call their dogs service dogs even though they're really not. And sometimes people want to believe dogs can do things even though there's no real proof they can.

Many dogs have a natural knack for providing comfort, companionship and emotional support to their people, who often consider that a pretty big service. But it doesn't make those dogs service dogs. Neither does a capacity for warding off crime by looking or sounding formidable. According to the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act and new regulations put in place in March, a service dog must be trained to perform a service for a person with a disability that is directly related to the person's disability — turning lights on and off for someone who's paralyzed, for example, or alerting someone who's deaf that a smoke alarm is blaring.

Many organizations train one or more kinds of service dogs, and in general their programs follow a pattern set by the early guide dog training organizations: careful breeding followed by puppy-raising by volunteers who begin the basics of obedience and socialization, and finally intensive training by professionals. (Potential human recipients also are carefully screened, trained and matched to dogs.)

Guide Dogs for the Blind, the first guide dog training school on the West Coast, relies solely on Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers and crosses of the two. Training organizations for other types of service dogs often do too. "They have wonderful temperaments," says Katie Malatino, public relations coordinator for one such organization, Canine Companions for Independence, headquartered in Santa Rosa. "They're a good size for the tasks they have to do, and they have an instinct to retrieve, which comes in handy for picking things up off the floor."

Canine Companions for Independence provided Miss Bo to Gregos in November 2005. These days she is always on call if Gregos needs her, which is not to say that she never has any fun. "She has toys," he says. "We play ball. But once she gets vested up" — wearing the vest that identifies her as a service dog — "she knows, 'OK, I'm ready to work.' " (And people who see the vest should should know and respect that too.)

Like any good service dog, when she's working, Miss Bo is unperturbed by loud or unexpected noises ("bomb proof," Malatino calls it) and undistracted by other animals or people — unless Gregos gives her special dispensation. Which he often does.

"I put her in a 'sit' and let people pet her," he says. "I want to create more awareness about these special dogs. I wasn't aware of them myself for a long time. I'd think, 'What can a dog do for a guy in a wheelchair?' "

The Americans With Disabilities Act says service dogs get to go wherever their people go: grocery stores, restaurants, libraries, amusement parks, boats, buses, trains, planes and no-pets-allowed hotels. New regulations issued this spring establish two exceptions (which would surely never apply to Miss Bo): Service dogs can be banished if they get out of control or if they transact certain business indoors that should have been seen to outside.

Not everyone knows the rules. Gregos once spent several hours convincing officials at a hotel with a no-pets policy that they were obligated to let Miss Bo in. "One side of me thought, 'I don't want to stay here anyway,'" he says. "But the other part thought, 'They've got to be educated.' "

Even beyond the issue of ignorance, service dog use is not without controversy. One problem is cheaters.

"A lot of people try to skirt the system," Gregos says. "I see it all the time." Some will claim that their pet dogs are service dogs that help them with disabilities they don't really have — and they can get away with that, because the law doesn't require people to present proof of their own disability or their dog's capacity to deal with it. (It doesn't help that service dog vests are readily available online.) Proprietors may deny entrance to dogs that arouse their skepticism, and that's fine if they're right. If they're wrong, it can lead to a fine of a very different kind.

Another problem is that there are no industry-wide standards for trainers or dogs, leaving disabled people on their own to determine how much they should trust an organization's claims. "Guide Dogs for the Blind — they're very reputable," says Dr. Melissa Bain, chief of the Behavior Service at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. "If they graduate a dog, OK, I trust it." But not every organization has the same long history of success.

Of course, some claims are easier to validate than others. It's easy to see if a dog can pull a wheelchair or open a refrigerator door. But seizure prediction? "The trouble," Bain adds, "is if people rely on the dog and nothing else, that could be dangerous."

Sometimes the question isn't whether a particular dog can perform a task but whether some tasks are even canine-ly possible. Take seizure detection again. "Is that legitimate?" Bain says. "Maybe."

In 1999, a British epilepsy specialist and a behavioral scientist/animal trainer reported that by giving dogs a reward every time their owners had seizures, they had been able to train some dogs to warn of oncoming seizures as much as 15 to 45 minutes before the seizures occurred. Their paper in the journal Seizure inspired a demand for such dogs.

Today, the Epilepsy Foundation says on its website, "while some people have been very pleased with their new canine friends, others have been disappointed." The foundation "recommends that people take great care in reviewing trainer claims and results, especially when thousands of dollars are involved."

More questions arose in 2007 when four of the seven seizure-alert dogs in a study in the journal Neurology were found to be warning people of psychological, not epileptic, seizures. Psychological seizures, caused by mental stress, can often be eliminated through counseling — without drugs — making warnings beside the point. And in one case in that study, a dog's "warning behaviors" were found to set the seizures off.

Service dogs for children with autism have inspired a debate all their own, with some districts reluctant to allow the dogs into their schools because, they argue, the dogs cause too much trouble — other children may be scared or allergic; child and dog may require extra supervision.

But, in fact, the value of service dogs to children with autism is less controversial than it is for seizures. "One of the main things our dogs do is provide safety," says Kati Rule-Witco, executive director and placement specialist for Autism Service Dogs of America, a training organization founded in 2002 that's based in Lake Oswego, Ore. "Often children with autism will run off. Parents have trouble just going to the grocery store. Our dogs provide a way for families to go out safely."

A 2008 study in the journal Qualitative Health Research looked at what happened when service dogs were brought into 10 families with children with autism and found that they did, indeed, enhance safety and facilitate public outings. When the child and dog go out into the community together, the dog is tethered to the child but also connected to the adult caregiver since that's who holds the dog's leash. Autism service dogs are also trained to keep their cool no matter what their young charges do (hug, squeeze, lie on top of the dog) and to take positive steps to cope with negative behavior (nudge or lean against the child, maybe even stop the child from hurting himself).

All of this costs money, a lot of it. That's true for training any service dog. Some organizations — like Guide Dogs for the Blind and Canine Companions — can operate on donations alone. But not all. Autism Service Dogs of America says the average cost for breeding, raising, training and placing one of their dogs is $20,000, $13,500 of which families are required to pay before they are placed on the waiting list for the next available dog.

The website for Autism Service Dogs of America has testimonials from 10 satisfied families who use words like "awesome" and "miracle" to describe their dogs and the jobs they do. They firmly believe that their money was well spent. But not everyone is convinced.

Bain notes that research so far has not compared service dogs to ordinary family dogs, and she suggests the latter might do just about as well. "Maybe a child feels better sitting next to the dog," she says. "There's no way to tell if special training does any good."

Gregos has no such questions about the good that Miss Bo's special training has done for him. But she'll be 8 in August, and the time is coming when she'll need to retire and he'll need to get a new service dog. Then Miss Bo will change from service dog to pet dog and spend the rest of her days with the man who says that having her has been "magical since Day One."

Good Dog, Eli. Semper Fi

The bond between this Marine and his K-9 Battle Buddy in Afghanistan was unbreakable and "Eli" ran to PFC Rusk when he was struck down. Now, Eli has a new mission - to comfort PFC Rusk's parents.

I am sure he will be as dedicated to this mission as he was to his partner on the Battlefield.

Good Dog, Eli. Semper Fi.

Fallen Marine's Parents Adopt Son's Bomb Dog
Myfoxdc.com

Published : Thursday, 03 Feb 2011, 7:06 AM EST

SAN ANTONIO - The parents of a U.S. Marine killed in Afghanistan are adopting the bomb-sniffing dog who the military says loyally rushed to their son's side when he was fatally shot.

Darrell and Kathy Rusk were expected to take home Eli on Thursday. The black Labrador is being retired from military service following the death of Pfc. Colton Rusk. The military says the 20-year-old Texan died in December during a gun battle with Taliban fighters.

Rusk was the handler for Eli, who is trained to sniff out explosives. After their son was killed in combat, the Rusks asked the military if they could adopt the dog.

The transfer will take place at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. The base is training headquarters for all dogs used by the U.S. military

As Posted

http://www.cpwda.com/k9_handlers_kilod_2010_2019.htm


The Connecticut Police Work Dog Association

Pfc. Colton W. Rusk, 20, of Orange Grove, Texas, died Dec. 6 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

He was fatally shot while searching with his K9 Eli, a black Labrador retriever, along with six other Marines in the attack. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on November 2, 2009 and was serving his first combat deployment where he was serving as a K-9 handler. He was chosen to be sent to South Carolina to American K-9 Interdiction to train for Improvised Explosive Device Detector dog handler. Certified on 6-18-10. It was here that he and Eli became a team.

He along with Eli left for Afghanistan on his 20th birthday 9-23-10. His awards include, the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal. Pfc. Colton Rusk was buried on 12/18/10 at Orange Grove Cemetery in Texas where approximately one thousand mourners paid their respects. In lieu of flowers the family has requested donation be made to the Colton Rusk Memorial, C/O Value Bank Texas, P.O. Box 4956, Corpus Christi, Texas 78469.

Support "Military Working Dog Adoptions" - Help find homes for our 4 legged Veterans !

Rode the train home tonight from Boston and had to inform a fellow rider on the value of dogs....not just as our companions & friends but for the value they add to our lives along with thier incredible ability to protect our Soldiers & Marines in the field...

He was trying to espouse support for VICK-THE-DOG-KILLER and I told him that the only thing that stupid bastard deserved was to be staked out for the buzzards....He was not convinced but he acted like a clueless idjit...typical clueless citizen who has never had to see what life is really worth and how much Veterans and our K-9 companions have to do to preserve it.

Dogs, especially those who have served the military in the field are more than just trained animals....They are HEROES, in every sense of the word.....

Here is the story of another hero....a lady making sure our foru-legged veterans get a chance for a new life once they leave the service....Way to go Ma'am.


Retired Military Working Dog Rescued By Borderland Volunteer
By ABC-7 Reporter Gaby Loria
POSTED: 6:45 pm MST January 6, 2011

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- A Las Cruces woman is making it her mission to rescue abandoned war veterans. She says these unsung heroes have some of the toughest jobs in the military...often braving dangerous battle zones to sniff out bombs and save lives. But these aren't your average soldiers-- they're the canine kind!

Debbie Kandoll traveled to Jacksonville, North Carolina to pick up Cleo, a retired military working dog. "This is Cleo's first day as a civilian," she said.

Kandoll explained Cleo is trained to sniff out explosives. The dog has served two 7-month tours in Iraq where handlers would strap her into a vest attached with walkie-talkies and a headset. Kandoll said the dog would be sent to sniff out danger while her handler guided her around a battle zone through verbal commands on the headset.

"She's saved so many lives," said Kandoll. Now Kandoll and the volunteers at her non-profit organization are returning the favor. "Military Working Dog Adoptions" is based out of Las Cruces. They place retired military and police dogs in loving homes across the country.

Kandoll said many retired dogs end up in shelters after they've served their community. Some end up getting euthanized, as could have been the case with Cleo. "I feel certain that her fate would have been euthanasia. It would have been evry difficult to adopt her out because her medication is very expensive," said Kandoll.

Cleo suffers from a stress-related disease. Donations from medication manufacturers and the general public have covered the cost of Cleo's meds for a couple of months. Doctors from the Northeast Veterinary Clinic in El Paso also opened their hearts to their pooch-- thanks to their donations, Kandoll was able to fly to North Carolina to pick her up.

If you're interested in adopting Cleo or learning more about "Military Working Dog Adoptions" just visit their website or give them a call. The phone mumber is (505) 990-8147. Their site is www.militaryworkingdogadoptions.com