Military Working Dog Support Organizations

Military working dog & handler resources & support organizations

Links for additional resources (deployed military support, pet resources & adopting pets from Afghanistan & Iraq, military service dogs, therapy dogs & companion pets and books & movies about military working dogs) are all listed above.

Books about military working dogs (for adults & kids) - LINK

Scroll down to learn more about these resources:

Adoption, rescue

Breeding program

Deployment support

Other resources and information

Adoption, rescue

Department of Defense Military Working Dog School

https://www.facebook.com/DoDMWDBreedingProgram

https://www.37trw.af.mil/units/37traininggroup/341sttrainingsquadron/

Official adoption website of the DoD military working dog

The 341st Training Squadron provides trained military working dogs (MWDs) used in patrol, drug and explosive detection, and specialized mission functions for the Department of Defense (DoD) and other government agencies. Conduct operational training of MWD handlers and supervisors. Sustain DoD MWD program through logistical support, veterinary care, and research and development for security efforts worldwide.

Gizmo's Gift

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Gizmos Gift is dedicated to helping our military working dog heroes. Our goal is to empower them to return to civilian life with dignity and independence.

Gizmo’s Gift was founded on 29 January 2014, after a push to get the military to reclassify Military Working Dogs (MWDs) from “excess equipment” to “K9 service Member of the Armed Forces” and to help get MWDs Medical Benefits after retirement. Gizmo’s Gift is a nonprofit organization that takes donations to help cover those medical costs after a MWD, CWD, and Police K9’s retire, so that tax dollars aren’t used. We also have an adoption program for those heroes who need help finding their forever home.

K9 Hero Haven

http://www.k9herohaven.org/

K9 Hero Haven is a 100% volunteer organization. K9 Hero Haven is dedicated to serving the military, veterans, and first responders by providing working dogs a home for retirement. The K-9s employed with the military and first responders are the best at what they do. They are expected to work in the most toughest of environments and face the harshest of conditions. At any moment, they are expected to selfishly give their live to save ours.

K9 Hero Haven helps to transition dogs to retirement. If at all possible, we want to re-unite a dog with its handler. We give preference to provide veterans and law enforcement with retired working dogs in honor of their sacrifices. We strive to educate the public on the roles that these dogs place in our world, and to highlight the level of training which goes into to these dogs never to forget the dedication to their service in keeping us safe from danger.

We work hard to find good homes for our dogs. We also work to provide dignity and respect to the dogs who need some additional work to prepare them for their journey to retirement.

Mal-FFunctions Disqualified Military Working Dog Rescue

http://ourmal.org/

A Mal-FFunction is a Belgian Malinois bred for the U.S. Department of Defense Military Working Dog program managed out of Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland who is now available for adoption due to being disqualified from the program after its initial puppy fostering.

While these are generally high-energy dogs, in the right environment and home, these puppies can make wonderful additions to a family.

The Mal-FFunctions Disqualified Military Working Dog Rescue organization is a 501.(3)c organization established to serve as a resource for adopters of puppies and dogs disqualified from the MWD puppy program.

Our purposes are:

1. To provide support to DMWD's and their adopted families.

2. To rescue, foster and rehome DMWD's as needed

3. To provide resources such as owner education, assistance with dog training and veterinary care as well as an online community where owners can find support and encouragement from other DMWD owners.

4. To educate the public on the breeds used in this program and the requirements to successfully provide a home for a dog bred for work.

5. To partner with other NPO’s focused on Military Working Dogs and with local shelters.

Our organization is in no way affiliated with the US Military, the Dept. of Defense or the MWD Breeding program.

Save-A-Vet

https://www.saveavet.org/

The MWD School at Lackland Air Force Base has a wonderful program to help as many of these dogs as possible be adopted out to loving homes -- sometimes even with their former handlers. Many law local enforcement agencies make every effort to do the same for their K-9 partners.

Nevertheless, many military and law enforcement K-9’s are unable to be placed for adoption due to their attack training, field experiences, or injuries suffered in the line of duty (including the same PTSD that afflicts many of our fellow human veterans). These canine veterans need to be rescued or they are put down. This is the Save-A-Vet mission -- to rescue these "other forgotten soldiers."

Save-A-Vet takes Military & Law Enforcement working dogs deemed unsuitable for adoption by their agencies for a number of reasons including health, training and work history. We then place them on secured facilities owned by Save-A-Vet throughout the country and hire disabled veterans that meet our special criteria to live with and care for these other forgotten soldiers. We DO NOT take any animals from civilians. All Save-A-Vet dogs come directly from agencies ONLY.

Breeding program

DoD Military Working Dog Breeding Program (Lackland AFB)

https://www.facebook.com/DoDMWDBreedingProgram

Worldwide need for detection dogs has increased dramatically. The DoD Military Working Dog Breeding Program breeds to meet the growing requirement for security at home and abroad. A large part of the success of this program is dependent upon volunteers to provide temporary homes for developing puppies from 12 weeks to six months of age.

If you live within two hours of Lackland AFB near San Antonio you can help!

Deployment support

K-9 Soldier Treats (Support Our Troops)

www.supportourtroops.org

Operation K-9 Soldier Treats™ enhances the morale and welfare of troops worldwide who handle America’s K-9 soldiers, by providing them with dog treats to reward their K-9s, train them, and just plain have fun together with their best friends during down time.

Mama Cindy

http://www.mamacindy.freeservers.com/photo2.html

I have created a new program of sending care packages to our Military Working Dog Teams stationed in Afghanistan. I am working with a member of the USAF. He is the kennel master and distributes them to all of his teams encompassing the Army, Air Force and the Navy. I ship healthy meals, snacks, treats, grooming brushes and pull toys to support the morale of our Military Working Dog Teams. Monetary donations are needed to purchase supplies and for shipping. You can send a donation to: Mama Cindy Soldier Program, 5002 Old Bald Hill Road, Hemlock, New York 14466.

Military Missions in Action Fill the Footlocker Program (North Carolina)

https://www.militarymissionsinaction.org/fill-the-footlocker

Fill the Footlocker consists of two programs.

The first program supports active-duty service members and military working dogs serving in combat zones.

The second program supports our ever rising number of homeless veterans.

Working within the community, MMIA collects items for both programs. Once items are collected, a community pack-n-ship event is held to prepare items for shipment overseas. Items collected for homeless veterans are distributed at the numerous homeless veteran stand-downs held within the state.

Military Working Dog Team Support Association, Inc. (MWDTSA)

www.mwdtsa.org

The Military Working Dog Team Support Association, Inc. is a non-profit organization that supports Military Working Dog teams with a variety of means: care packages, handler recognitions, Hero Dog Awards, veteran dog handler cause support and support for memorials.

Old Dawgs and Pups

http://www.war-stories.com/odap/ws-odap-index.htm

Thailand Dog Handler’s “Old Dawg & Pups” program helps support deployed MWD Kennel Masters, Trainers, and MWD teams while providing deployed kennels with supplies, such as dog cots, doggles, retractable leashes, first aid equipment, and other items that you might need during their tours in Southwest Asia.

As an organization, we’re Vietnam era K-9 veterans and “Friends of K-9” that strongly believe in the K-9 mission and especially helping you get through this tour. Our goal is to team you up with one of our “Old Dawg handler” and/or Friend of K-9 to exchange e-mails, photographs, and what ever else comes along to try to make your tour a little more pleasant.

We make every attempt to team you with someone from your home state (or at least someone close) or the base from where you are deployed. We have supported more than 120 kennels, 450 MWD teams (Air Force, Army, and Navy) deployed to over 11 countries since our creation in 2005. We have supplied more than 2,300 pieces of equipment totaling more than $100,000.00.

The exchange of “war stories” has just been great. We’ve learned a lot about all of you and we have shared our experience as handlers from the past – Old Sentry and Patrol dogs.

Packages from Home

http://www.packagesfromhome.org/

Packages From Home's mission is to send care and comfort packages to deployed American military heroes who are stationed in active duty theaters around the world, as well as to facilitate activities that elevate morale of all veterans. We are proud to extend our current program to include our Military Working Dogs.

Project Paws Alive

https://projectpawsalive.org/

Project Paws Alive is a nationwide non-profit organization that provides lifesaving K-9 equipment such as bullet & stab-proof vests, first aid kits, vehicle heat alarms, cooling vests, and pet oxygen mask kits to law enforcement, fire, search & rescue, EMS, and military nationwide.

Spike's K9 Fund

https://spikesk9fund.org/

Spike’s K9 Fund aspires to ensure every K9 receives exactly what they need every time. We purchase gear to keep them safer and for peak operation, and we pay for critical medical treatment to help them return to work or live their retirement days in complete health.

Support our Soldiers - Sgt Paws K-9 Program

https://supportoursoldier.com/support-soldiers-programs/

Our Sergeant Paws K-9 program supports K-9 soldiers by providing care items like, collars, bathing products, chew toys, treats for training, grooming tools, water bowls and more. They work with our troops to keep them safe and assist in many areas of their duties. Why your support matters: There are more than 1500 military dogs in the U.S. many deployed around the world. They use both male and female dogs and are highly trained for operations, rescues, detecting explosives and drugs, and keeping bases safe. Multi-purpose canines even help special forces, navy seals, and army rangers.

Support Our Troops - Operation K-9 Soldier Treats

www.supportourtroops.org

Troops Direct

www.troopsdirect.org

TroopsDirect supports our front line troops exclusively at larger unit levels with the objective of making them the healthiest, most energized and highest spirited Marines, soldiers, aircrew and sailors that we can. We function as a non-profit ‘back line’ of supply for units based in Afghanistan, Africa, at sea and other in other ‘hot spots’. We communicate with the front lines daily and provide -in bulk- detailed hygiene, nutrition, gear and K9 support.

Contrary to most groups providing smaller and seasonal care packages for individual soldiers, TroopsDirect ships in bulk every week in battle proven cartons manufactured to our exacting specifications. Furthermore, TroopsDirect support is the most timely, accurate and adaptable amongst known support organizations.

Operation Military Care K-9 (US War Dogs)

https://www.uswardogs.org/

Our Military Canines Teams who have been deployed to the Middle East desparately need our help with supplying them with items listed on the website.

Vietnam Dog Handler Association

http://vdha.us/

The VDHA was organized in 1993 by a group of six veteran war dog handlers that served during the Vietnam Conflict. One of their original goals was to search for and re-unite veteran war dog handlers and honor the memory of their war dog partners.

Other resources and information

Combat Canines: The Ddoc Foundation

https://theddocfoundation.wordpress.com/

Combat Canines: The Ddoc Foundation is a non-profit organization based out of Fayetteville, North Carolina dedicated to helping our retired Military Working Dogs (MWD), Contract Working Dogs (CWD), and Law Enforcement (LE) K-9's live a higher quality of life after retirement.

MWDs, CWDs, and LE K-9's can be retired for a number of reasons such as old age, hip dysplasia (HD), Canine Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), severe allergies, degenerative myelopathy (DM), or cancer and can often require frequent and costly visits to the veterinarian.

We believe that by helping with the financial side of the house, we relieve the added stress that families may feel and let them enjoy their new family member.

Gizmo's Gift

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Gizmos Gift is dedicated to helping our military working dog heroes. Our goal is to empower them to return to civilian life with dignity and independence.

Hero Dog Awards

www.herodogawards.org

The Hero Dog Awards were created by the American Humane Association to celebrate the devoted relationship between dogs and people. The annual national competition searches out and recognizes America’s Hero Dogs – often ordinary dogs who do extraordinary things, whether it’s saving lives on the battlefield, lending sight or hearing to a human companion, or simply the tail-wagging welcome a pet owner relishes at the end of a hard day.

K 9 Pride

http://k9pride.wordpress.com/

Honoring working dog teams protecting us worldwide.

K9 Veterans Day

https://www.facebook.com/NationalK9VeteransDay/

March 13 has been set aside as K9 Veterans Day. March 13, 1942 is the official birthday of the United States K9 Corps, and so it seems only right to annually honor their service on that date. They served to save, and they deserve to be remembered.

Military Working Dog Teams National Monument (JBSA - Lackland)

https://myairmanmuseum.org/military-working-dogs/

The National Monument for the Military working Dogs and their Handlers honors their service and sacrifices saving American lives for the past 70 years since WWII.

Mission K9 Rescue

http://missionk9rescue.org/

Mission K9 Rescue is a non profit organization dedicated to the service of retiring and retired military working dogs and contract working dogs.

We have offices in Houston, San Antonio, Colorado Springs and Los Angeles. From these locations we provide assistance and support for Working Dogs worldwide. Our organization’s purpose for existence is to serve retiring and retired military working dogs, contract working dogs, and other dogs who Serve as they may fit into our mission and scope.

Spike's K9 Fund

http://spikesk9fund.org/

Spike's K9 Fund raises funds for the care of Working Dogs during their careers and providing a good life for them afterwards.

The United States War Dog Association

www.uswardogs.org

The United States War Dogs Association, Inc. is a nonprofit organization of former and current US military dog handlers and supporting members committed to promoting the long history of the military service dogs, establishing permanent war dog memorials, and educating the public about the invaluable service of these canines to our country.

Our background in military war dog service and our dedication to honoring the memory of the service and sacrifice of the US military working dogs gives us a unique perspective that we can use to educate the public on the history of military war dogs.

Too Cute To Be Equipment

https://www.facebook.com/MilitaryWorkingDogReclassification

Our mission is to reclassify our nation's MWDs and educate and inform the public about the great service to America and the world these dogs give.

Sign the petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/too-cute-to-be-equipment

Warrior Dog Foundation

http://warriordogfoundation.org/

Warrior Dog Foundation is dedicated to serving the special operations community, families, and Special Operation Forces (SOF) working K-9 military dogs. The K-9s employed with these forces are of the top tier in the working-dog world. They are expected to work in the most austere of environments and face conditions that most human beings cannot survive. These are the environments in which these elite warriors operate. The K-9 units are vital in ensuring the success of every mission and operate in all conditions.

Warrior Dog Foundation helps to transition dogs from an operational environment into our state-of-the-art kennel facility. We strive to educate the public on the importance of K-9s in the combat environment, and showcase the level of sacrifice these dogs give in support of our troops. We care for each individual SOF K-9 with dignity and grace, including both mental and physical rehabilitation for the rest of their lives.