A young Marine recently paid a visit to Arlington Cemetery with a group of fellow Wounded Warriors as part of his mission to heal. His stomach was in knots as he thought of the reality of visiting the grave sites of his fallen brothers. As he came to the stone carved with his best friend’s name, he sat down in silence, overcome with grief. A young Golden Retriever instinctively laid down and put his head on the Marine’s lap.
The Marine was helping to train this Warrior Canine Connection pup and took him along to the cemetery to help socialize the dog for the Veteran who will eventually receive him when his training is completed. The training process of WCC dogs can provide tremendous healing support for our Warriors as they transition back home.
A tourist walked past the Marine as he was sitting with the Golden Retriever waiting for the rest of his group to finish their goodbyes. The tourist looked at the Marine and his dog and smiled saying, “That must be your angel.” He had no idea how right he was.
When the Marine returned the Golden Retriever to the WCC office at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, he shared that the dog had been his guardian angel during the visit to Arlington. He suggested that the naming theme for the new litter of WCC puppies “Holly’s Half Dozen” should be “guardian angels.”
As we prepare to name Holly’s pups, we would love to hear about how a dog has touched your life. Reading your stories about your canine guardian angels will help to inspire the right names for WCC’s Angel litter. We know that there are far more than six Angels in the Dog Bless You community and that we can’t use all the names this time around. We hope you will honor your Angel dogs – past and present – by sharing their names and a brief narrative about their impact on your life. We will be putting all names that into two hats – one for the five female puppies and the other for the male pup. The six names will be drawn from the hats on July 27th. As they begin their journeys, we ask that you help us bless Holly’s Half Dozen with names of dogs who have transformed lives.
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Watch the Service Puppy Live Camera here
Arlington Cemetery
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