Drago, the Canine Veteran

with veteran and military working dog handler David Kmosko

In memory of Drago

Readers may remember from a previous post that I am a practicing veterinarian. Intersecting with families during the later seasons of a beloved pet’s life is part of my everyday. It is a special and important part of a veterinarian’s role to provide support, guidance, and medical care during animal hospice care and loss.

I had the honor of meeting veteran and military working dog handler, David Kmosko, as we worked together in the care of his dog, Drago. I was Drago’s veterinarian and am honored to have cared for him through his final season of life and to have assisted in finding his final rest.

The stories I heard from David over the past years about his beloved Drago were heroic and hilarious. David expressed the sentiment to me that the bonds [military working dogs] form are not something [most] people can readily understand and that they are very different from pets.

It has now been six months since Drago’s passing, and David and I continue to keep in touch.

I recently reached out to David to ask if he would join me for an interview for GoodSense. I wanted to ask David more about this bond between working animals and their human partners. Through my experience working with David and Drago, I wanted to share what I learned about working animals, military working dogs, and canine veterans.

In this GoodSense interview, David teaches us all a bit more about the life of working canines and their human handlers, the dangers of active military service for military canines, and the struggles of retirement for canine veterans. I learned so much during this interview - I’m excited for you to listen in to our conversation.

Please listen and let me know what you think with a comment on this post. Thank you so much for supporting veterans - human and canine.

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About Working Animals

The medical profession is not where healing ends. Unsung, unrecognized Healers are numerous. Have you considered Animals as Healers? As a veterinarian, I see animals healing and helping people every day. It’s my honor to care for them in return.

Healers strive to mend something broken - from spirits, minds, bodies, and ecosystems, to relationships, cultural paradigms, and experiences. ​A Healer is an individual who has the ability and willingness to create sustainable, positive change on behalf of others.

Care for the Healer (CFTH) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization built by Healers to stand as an advocate for ourselves, our colleagues, and our communities. 

A working animal can include any animal with a job - from agricultural use to medical-alert animals - animals support humans in many ways, every day. Working canines make up a large percentage of working animals. Other species, besides canines, that you might commonly encounter ‘doing a job’ include horses, birds, cats, and dolphins… the list is long. A canine’s ability to partner with humans as well as their intelligence, speed, and sense of smell - make dogs into very, very special working animals.

Military working dogs are a small subset of the working canine group. These dogs serve alongside their human partners in military service. Alongside their handlers, military working dogs encounter life-threatening situations and become an integral part of the team and unit. Military Workings Dogs (MWDs) can struggle with physical injuries as well as mental injuries from these experiences… just as their human partners do.

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In David’s own poignant words, as you’ll hear in the interview:

“The [military working dog] isn’t just a service animal.

This is not just a working dog. No disrespect to service dogs who are used for medical services, but those dogs don’t get shot at. Those dogs do not have people attempt to explode them.

Then on top of that, you have this experience that is not shared with any other [medical service] animal. That is, we have tapped into their primal drive for survival. A dog that sniffs out when their owner is going to have a seizure will save their owner’s life, but that dog never had to wonder about being killed…There is nothing else in life like having someone try to take your life away.

A canine veteran is a critical distinction because a ‘working dog’ does not bring to mind those traumas, the potential for harm, and the extra level of care that is required for the dog after retirement.

They went through things that take people years of therapy to get over and these animals take it in stride and keep licking your hand.”

With Love,

Josh Good

Curious about other GoodSense episodes?

Check out this article on an experience that completely changed my relationship with myself…