Our Lackland Air Force Base Washouts
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MWD (washout) Ice
DOB 12OCT2021 German Shepherd Dog We welcomed MWD(W) Ice into our program on 08MAY2023! For those that may not know, that "W" stands for washout. Ice is the youngest dog we have ever taken in at a very young and happy age of 1.5yrs old. Yep. 1.5 yrs old. He heartbreakingly is coming to us for hospice care. Just like his only slightly older 'sister' Saci, Ice is also in Liver Failure. His current life expectancy is 6-12 months. (I don't know if they are actually related, they were at Lackland at the same time, and live here together now) Ice is a very friendly, very happy boy, who is known to love pets and cuddles, and will be missed by his great friends down at Lackland AFB. Thank you to everyone down there for allowing us to bring Ice home, and let him enjoy his time as normal dog on the farm, hopefully making lots of friends along the way! |
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PANNI B334
Panni - Explosive Detection Dog DOB 10JUN2017 Belgian Malinois Panni was at Lackland AFB at the Dog Training School with the hopes of becoming a certified MWD someday! She went into the program in early 2019. During the certification process, she started showing signs that the fleet may not be in anyone's best interest, as she is very possessive of her toys, and if you take it, she will remember you later, and she does hold a grudge. She was removed from the program for everyone's safety, but then she sat in the kennels for almost 2 years, waiting for a potential adopter. But there are very few experienced adopters waiting for a dog that was defensive, not a working candidate, and not meant to live in a traditional home in her current situation. There are some fantastic people at Lackland AFB that were trying to go above and beyond with hopes of saving Panni and giving her the chance at finally finding a home. When I had the chance to visit Lackland in August 2021, I had the chance to meet with MAJ Roache, Lackland's only Behaviorist DVM and MSGT Landrau, the Course Chief of the Military Working Dog Course. They were so amazing to spend the morning with as we talked about dogs, concerns with some of the issues we were seeing on the retirement side, and of course sharing the stories of some of the more legendary dogs that we had been sent at their recommendation (cough, cough, Hatvan). Before we left, the MAJ had one more request, if we could AT ALL, POSSIBLY PLEASE.... can we go look at 2 dogs that had been sitting for almost 2 years that they KNEW could be great in the right place? The dogs were starting to be talked about for euthanasia, for quality-of-life reasons. We went out to the kennels and were introduced to both Panni and Dexter. Panni was a squirrely female, petite and beautiful. MSGT was hoping I would consider her for a possible sport dog candidate with some time and work. As soon as I seen her, I knew she would be perfect. it was love at first sight. She was brought home a couple weeks later. She is in decompression phase and working on trust and food rewards for right now as we get to know each other better. |
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DEXTER B043
Dexter - Patrol/Explosive Detection Dog DOB 03AUG2017 Belgian Malinois Dexter was at Lackland AFB at the Dog Training School with hopes of becoming a Military Working Dog in early 2019. He even made it through the detection course! But fate was not going to send this handsome happy boy to the Fleet. During the protection phase, significant outing issues began to present themselves, and it leaked over into detection, washing him totally out of the program. At some point during training, outing became an issue, and it became such an issue for Dexter he started urinating when people approached him with his reward. which then turned into urinating when he was on odor knowing his kong was coming, knowing the out was coming... that is a big no-no. So, he was eliminated from the program, to sit in the kennels in hopes that someone could find a way around the peeing problem. It grew into an OCD issue with him struggling to function without a toy in his mouth, even getting to the point he started showing some frustration aggression if he couldn't get to his toy. Dexter is a Lackland favorite, and much-loved boy! when his kong is with him. He is happy, loves attention (he will pee when you pet him) and just wants to be busy. We are hoping to get Dexter decompressed from the different environment of Lackland and try to reset his brain a little bit in hopes of getting him able to be adopted to an active home! We are expecting to be in a training reset for several months, or for as long as it takes. He isn't a fan of being crated and loaded in vehicles, so we are going to really try to change that too. Dexter was one of the 2 dogs that we were asked to please consider taking and giving a chance to. He absolutely deserves it! Not every dog is cut out to be an MWD, but they selected for the program, and they deserve the chance at a different lifestyle! If you ever wanted a ridiculous dog that will make you laugh, this giant ham is the guy... |
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IZA D384
Iza D384 DOB 12MAR2020 Belgian Malinois Iza arrived at Lackland 341st in April of 2021 to begin her training to become a Military Working Dog. By November of 2021, Iza began to show signs of a chronic cough when she was being worked. After a couple months of treatments and work up, Iza was found to have tracheal collapse due to collar trauma. She was removed from the program and placed in excess to find a home in January 2022. With her great attitude and no behavior issues, Iza was able to find a home in March with a very nice military family. Unfortunately, even though Iza did not receive any formal bite training at Lackland, and no signs of ever acting aggressive, Iza was still a very young Malinois who had been through a lot of changes in a short time. Her new family had lots of kids for her to play with, and she enjoyed going to the dog park. But within 3 weeks of coming to her new home, she found the party over Memorial Day weekend with lots of strangers too much for her to handle so quickly. She was still a young Malinois. Having a dog with a bite history was an unexpected liability her new family was not willing to take on. So, without knowing they had options, they reached out to a local vet hospital for euthanasia. Very luckily for Iza, one of the veterinary technicians had heard of our Program and called us to see if we could save a newly retired MWD that bit someone. I immediately asked the technician to please have the family call us and we would be willing to take her right away. The wonderful staff at the vet hospital had the family call us, and Iza was dropped off to us within a couple days. Iza has done great since her arrival and has become fast best friends through their kennel with MWD Geza. They share toys, treats and play with each other's paws all the time, and take naps back-to-back. She is now fitted to her own harness and is starting to work on her basic obedience. Iza is always happy, and during feeding time, she can be found doing parkour off her kennel wall! We may be trying to introduce her to Geza in the dog yards to see if they can be playmates. |
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Nixe Y034
Nixe Y034 DOB 12JAN2014 German Shepherd Nixe Y034 joined our Pack on 07JAN2023. She has come to us as an urgent owner surrender for medical care and management. Her owners adopted her out of Lackland in 2017. Nixe had been at Lackland for 2 years on medical hold becaues of extensive skin issues, and ultimately was removed from the program after being declaired as an MRSP carrier. She had gone to the groomers in December, and when she came home, her hind right leg was extremely swollen. Her owners took her to the vet, they did xrays and some bloodwork which showed no breaks. She was having difficulty getting around, and it was too much for her family right now. She is a big girl! It's very important to understand that every family deals with things very differently. Her family felt that she needed more care then they could provide, and it's our mission to try to be that help. We have taken her to our regular Veterinarian, and after doing a needle aspirate and finding suspicious cells, it was decided that the best course of action would be to amputate her hind right leg. Nixe was cleared for surgery after doing xrays, labs and ultrasound. The amputation was a huge success, with Nixe walking out of the hospital already feeling much better. Biopsies were sent out and confirmed that the leg was cancerous, a soft tissue sarcoma. There would not have been a way to save the leg, and this possibly removed the cancer completely. Nixe is now enjoying her new dog friends, and LOVES playing with her toys! |