Two Dog Tales

I read this wonderful story on the front page of the Wall Street Journal last week about a bomb-sniffing dog who found a new home with the family of a fallen Marine. And it’s not just a story of how the unconditional love of a dog is helping a mother and father through the grief of losing their 22-year-old son in Iraq.

“Shell-Shocked Dog of War Finds a Home With the Family of a Fallen Hero” tells how Gunner–a yellow lab who’d been declared “excess” and mustered out of the Marines for failing to perform his duties–came to live with Deb and Dan Dunham, whose son gave his own life to save his comrades in an insurgent ambush. You usually hear stories of how dogs have helped heal hurting humans, or of people who have saved and rehabilitated a traumatized pup, but rarely are both sides so desperately in need of saving.

The article includes a video and slideshow. Read about PETS2VETS, a local organization that places shelter dogs with war veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, in my Aug. 21 and 25 posts.