About Us
Our Mission is to provide a forever home to our Nation's fiercest canine heroes. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving as many retiring Military, Contract and Law enforcement K9's as we can care for. We specialize in dogs that are usually not able to be adopted out to the public because of behavioral or medical reasons.
We give our dogs an opportunity to find their inner dog again, whether it's through making new dogs friends, relaxing in the sun to watch the cows next door, or if they are physically capable, giving them the chance to learn great new "jobs" like swimming and dock diving. One of our extremely young Navy washouts went on to earn his IPO1 Title, and our own MWD Zorro P793 was the first retired Military Working Dog to earn an invite to NADD dock diving nationals in 2019!
Most of our dogs were within days of being euthanized because an experienced, safe home could not be found for them. The military has made leaps and bounds in the progress they have made in regard to the adoption program, but there is such a small percentage of homes out there that understand the difficulties that some dogs will have due to training, and medical issues.
Our dogs come to us usually through handlers that cannot adopt their own dog because of small children at home, still deploying, other dogs, or inexperienced family left to care for them. Handlers and kennels want to try to find the best options they can to give their partners a great retirement.
Most of our dogs were within days of being euthanized because an experienced, safe home could not be found for them. The military has made leaps and bounds in the progress they have made in regard to the adoption program, but there is such a small percentage of homes out there that understand the difficulties that some dogs will have due to training, and medical issues.
Our dogs come to us usually through handlers that cannot adopt their own dog because of small children at home, still deploying, other dogs, or inexperienced family left to care for them. Handlers and kennels want to try to find the best options they can to give their partners a great retirement.
Needed Items
Monetary donations are always greatly appreciated as our medical costs are extremely high due to the type of work these dogs performed for many years.
Heavy duty toys like KONGS (Wobblers, balls and Wubbas), GoughNuts, Ruff Dawg toys and Benebones are always a popular necessity here at the Pack!
We also go through a fair number of beds :) Kuranda's, K9 Ballistic beds and Costco Round beds are favorites
Our future plans include, adding more play yards, building a pool, and bringing in some much-needed items like a Theraplate system, and some FitPaws equipment. We will be looking for grants and possibly corporate and private sponsors as we get closer to that goal.
Heavy duty toys like KONGS (Wobblers, balls and Wubbas), GoughNuts, Ruff Dawg toys and Benebones are always a popular necessity here at the Pack!
We also go through a fair number of beds :) Kuranda's, K9 Ballistic beds and Costco Round beds are favorites
Our future plans include, adding more play yards, building a pool, and bringing in some much-needed items like a Theraplate system, and some FitPaws equipment. We will be looking for grants and possibly corporate and private sponsors as we get closer to that goal.
We also have an Amazon Wish List, and a Chewy Shelter Partner Link!
Follow Us!
Guardians RestMy husband and I purchased 6 acres in beautiful East Texas in hopes of making this dream come true. My husband is retired Navy, after almost 23 years of service. I am a prior Navy handler, serving from 2006-2011, then worked for the Dept of Army as a Civilian Veterinary Technician from January 2012- February 2020.
Our property has become lovingly known as "Guardians Rest". We are home to burros (one is a BLM burro rescue from Las Vegas), horses (including a BLM Mustang), emus, goats, guineas, our first bottle calf, a rooster and lots of cats and several dogs, outside of the MWD's. |
How To AdoptDue to our Dogs past history and the relationship we have built in the working dog community, our dogs are with us for life and can not be adopted out for liability reasons. We do, on occasion, foster dogs for some of our great friends! So feel free to reach out to see if we know of any in our area or have a foster available!
We encourage anyone interested in adopting their own Hero to reach out to: Mission K9 Rescue https://missionk9rescue.org/ Did you know that the Military has it's own breeding program? Not all of them can make the High standards to make it to the fleet, and sometimes they just don't agree with the military lifestyle, so check out the awesome dogs of the Mal-ffunctions Disqualified Working Dog Rescue!! http://ourmal.org/ Reach out to your Local Military Installations to see if they have any MWD's coming up for adoption that need a home! |
Great OrganizationsGreat Organizations are out there helping us and our K9 Hero's!
A fantastic program that is out there reminding all of us about the ultimate sacrifice our handlers and our dogs are making, and that is currently working with our Active Duty Kennels is the Feed The Dawgs Project. http://thedawgsproject.com/ Our sincere desire is for the War Dog Memorial to honor the devotion and selfless sacrifice of all war dogs and, be a place of reflection for those who have served with and whose lives were saved by these amazing “heroes with fur”. For generations to come, this Memorial will stand to honor the War Dogs that are truly, our “Forgotten Heroes”. https://wardogmemorialcolorado.org/ An organization that means a lot to the historical significance of the Military Working Dog Program is the Military Working Dog Heritage Museum. They are taking on the monumental task of preserving our working dog heritage. About MWDHM – Military Working Dog Heritage Museum and Handler Center (mwdheritagemuseum.org) |
Our SponsorsWe cannot thank the US War Dog Association enough for always being there, not only for our retired Military Working Dogs, but our active-duty Dog Teams as well. It is thanks to them that we were able to take MWD Doky to Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in March of 2017 for his Cancer work up, and their prescription program has been a significant reason we are able to help as many MWD's as we can. They also have the great program that got MWD Baiky and MWD Mark their wheelchairs.
In 2022, the United States War Dog Association has awarded the Ddamien Project with two grants that have covered the annual exam, vaccines, heartworm medication and food for all of the dogs that qualify for the War Dog Prescription Program! https://www.uswardogs.org/ |
Krystal TronbollExecutive Director/Founder
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501(c)3 tax exempt (April 2014)
EIN# 47-1664853 The Ddamien Project is a division of Mission K9 Rescue (www.missionk9rescue.org), the leading non profit organization providing the most support to our retired working dogs that have served not only our country, but world wide. From transport home to prior handlers at time of retirement, rescue from shelter or kennels, medical care, rehabilitation, adoption opportunities and life long sanctuary for those who need it. |
Photo Gallery
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Donate NowYour generous gift will help us fund our mission to care for our Retired K9 Veterans. Together, we can make a difference. |
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