It is with sadness that we let you know we lost five Pack Members in March of 2026. We salute them for their service and will never forget their contributions to our country. There was no End of Watch post for March because we lost no Program Members during the month of February.
MWD Eros
Program Member #138
It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share in the passing of Project K-9 Hero Program Member #138, Military Working Dog “Eros” (W457).
Eros served as a Military Working Dog in the United States Army in the greater Washington D.C. area for seven years. During his career, Eros participated in over 80 Secret Service missions, conducting explosives detection sweeps, protecting the President of the United States and other high ranking members of the U.S. Government. MWD Eros is credited with potentially saving countless American Lives throughout his service to our country.
After his service, Eros was diagnosed with several medical conditions that caused him to be on a variety of prescription medications. Eros had no home to go live out his well deserved retirement, until he was adopted by fellow Military Police Officer, Sergeant Paige Lewis.
Paige and Eros served as PK9H Ambassadors during the last five years, advocating for what Project K-9 Hero does for retired working dogs in all branches of Military Service and Police K-9s nationwide. Project K-9 Hero was absolutely honored to take care of MWD Eros and his medical needs at 100% after his faithful service to our country.
In 2021, Eros was awarded with the Project K-9 Hero Explosive Detection Dog of the Year at our K-9 Hero Awards. Please take a moment to WATCH and SHARE the video that covers his story and service.
November 3rd, 2012 - March 10th, 2026
K-9 Bruno
Program Member #348
It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share in the passing of Project K-9 Hero Program Member K-9 Bruno #348, from natural causes. Bruno had excelled at our Project K-9 Hero Rehabilitation & Rehoming Facility, and had done amazing with all of our staff. Several months ago we were honored to find Bruno his forever home with a retired Law Enforcement Officer and K-9 Handler on a beautiful farm in central Tennessee.
K-9 Bruno proudly served with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) within the United States Department of Energy, at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina. Bruno specialized in Explosives Detection, where he certified with the United States Police Canine Association over 10 times in his career.
K-9 Bruno loved pets, to hang out with people, and chew on his ball. In retirement, he found his ideal home with owners that were patient with him and gave him time to adjust to his new lifestyle.
PK9H was proud to continue to support him for life with medical care, prescription food, and end of duty assistance with his new adopted owners.
Please take a moment to honor Bruno for his service to our country. We will ensure that he will never be forgotten!
February 28th, 2017 - March 10th, 2026
MWD Dodo
Program Member #270
It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share in the passing of Project K-9 Hero Program Member #270, retired Military Working Dog (MWD) "Dodo.”
MWD Dodo spent seven years assigned to the U.S. Army's 513th Military Working Dog Detachment in Fort Bliss, Texas as well as an assignment at Fort Lewis, Washington.
MWD Dodo was certified as a Patrol/Explosives Detection Dog that served with the utmost distinction during his career. Dodo deployed in support of combat operations in Syria , as well as a combat deployment to Iraq . In addition to his service overseas, he was attached to the United States Secret Service to protect the President of the United States on over ten missions.
After his last deployment to Iraq, Dodo was medically retired due to severe arthritis that has been increasingly giving him significant mobility issues. He was also diagnosed with Melanoma Cancer and Lumbosacral Disease. When Dodo retired, he went to live with with his still serving active-duty Handler and her family. Dodo was in need of immediate medical attention and was on medication that costs hundreds of dollars a month. This left only two options, which is for his Handler to go into extreme personal debt, or for MWD Dodo to go without help.
Since we at Project K-9 Hero didn't want to see either of those happen, in early 2024 we placed Dodo in our program. From that day forward, PK9H helped cover all of his office visits, prescriptions, surgeries, and medical needs at 100% for the remainder of his life.
Please take a moment to help us remember and honor MWD Dodo. We were extremely proud to serve our third Hero from Fort Bliss, Texas, joining MWD Zera and MWD QQuanah in our Pack who have also both recently passed.
November 1st, 2013 - March 13th, 2026
K-9 Doc Holliday
Program Member #375
It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share in the passing of Project K-9 Hero Program Member #375, K-9 “Doc Holliday.”
Doc served as an Accelerant Detection Canine with the Columbus Fire Department, Arson/Investigations Unit, in Ohio from 2021, until he was medically retired on February 10th, 2026, due to being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.
In his over five years of service, Doc was deployed and worked approximately 500 fire scenes, line-ups, and police calls for service. K-9 Doc has worked with multiple Fire and Law Enforcement agencies, conducting joint investigations throughout the State of Ohio. He was responsible for locking up countless arsonists, after he searched fire scenes to find the accelerant(s) used to start the illegal fires. Once pinpointed by Doc, it was collected and sent off to the laboratory for testing, and later used in criminal court to make a conviction.
Doc was a seven-year-old, Male Labrador/Golden/Newfoundland, who was diagnosed with Splenic Stromal Cell Sarcoma (liposarcoma), on January 20th, 2026, and immediately removed from service. Doc was undergoing a very strict and advanced holistic treatment and therapy regimen, and all of those costs had become the responsibility of his still actively serving Handler/firefighter in a monetary amount of hundreds of dollars a month, which would be a financial burden on any first responder.
Due to his very immediate medical needs, we placed K-9 Doc Holliday into our program so we could cover all future office visits, medications, supplements, acupuncture, diagnostic testing, and surgeries at 100%, for the rest of his life. We only wish we could have helped him much longer!
Please take a moment to help us honor K-9 Doc Holliday for his service to the State of Ohio and surrounding communities!
January 3rd, 2019 - March 13th, 2026
MWD Teri (X174)
Program Member #135
It is with an extremely heavy heart that we share in the passing of Project K-9 Hero Program Member #174 MWD Teri (X174.)
Teri was a retired U.S. Air Force Military Working Dog from Anchorage, Alaska. Born on Valentine's day in 2014, Teri entered our program in 2021 in need of an expensive hernia surgery, which we covered at 100%.
Since then, we've been honored to assist Teri with all of his medical and retirement needs. We are thinking of his family at this difficult time and were honored to care for him for nearly five years. He will never be forgotten.
February 14th, 2014 - March 22nd, 2026