“Thank you for your service.”

It’s something many of us think and say when we see or meet a veteran, and not at all far off from the gratitude we feel for our beloved dogs, who love us and our families so loyally and freely, some of them (service dogs!) serving literally, as well.

And though their presence in our lives is worth the pain we feel when we must say goodbye, the hurt and loss is very real.

So it was for Joseph, an Army veteran, and his family.

Joseph was stationed at Fort Bragg, NC, as an infantryman. He served two combat deployments, one each in Iraq and Afghanistan, during his three-year military career. His service included time as an airborne soldier, as well.

Now a civilian, Joseph lives with his family in Baltimore and works for the local Veterans Affairs hospital, continuing his service. When not at work, he spends time with his wife, Kelly, and two children, Madalynn and Maximus.

Not long ago, their family included a dog who, after a long life spent as a wonderful companion, began to slip into seniordom, and ill health. The time had come for them to say goodbye, and it was difficult on Joseph and everyone else in the household. They missed their longtime friend and family member and realized the value a dog brings. It was time to adopt a new pup into their fold.

The combat vet began to look at available pets at the Baltimore Humane Society. Since 2013 the shelter has waived at adoption fees for veterans in our program to help the most overlooked dogs, and cats in their care find loving homes.

It was through the shelter that Joseph learned about Pets for Patriots and their partnership with so many shelters across the U.S.

“I wasn’t aware of [the] program until I went to the shelter and saw a sign posted up,” he says. “I read up on it and realized this was for me.”

The bided their time, waiting for the right dog to come along, and on New Year’s Eve of 2016 – she did!

Milan was more than 8 years old at the time, but Joseph and his family were not deterred – even though they had lost their previous dog to the natural thief of old age. They knew the Italian greyhound/terrier mix had lots of energy and spirit left in her.

So many adopters fail to realize that seniors make such wonderful family members! Mature dogs are among the most overlooked in shelters across the country.

Joseph knew Milan was the right choice for his family. Age was nothing more than a number.

“She’s so gentle and sweet,” he says. “She’s a great friend to have. So loyal.”

Joseph and Milan have even created their own special bond. For many veterans, the love shared with a companion pet is reminiscent of the camaraderie they enjoyed during their military careers.And it does not hurt that the Army veteran and his little charge share a favorite pastime.

“She’s an old timer who likes to sleep. I like to take naps, so that helps.”

Joseph is so happy with how Milan’s adoption turned out that he recommends other veterans who are considering pet adoption do so through Pets for Patriots.

“I would recommend it,” the Army veteran says. “It saved me money. The program allowed me to choose the dog I wanted.”

Every pet is special and it is impossible to replace them when they die. But we can honor their memories by saving another four-legged soul. Joseph and his family did just that. Not only did they save a shelter animal, they gave hope and a home to a senior dog who needed it most. For her part, Milan did not disappoint.

“She’s just great,” Joseph says. “Such an amazing dog.”

Six weeks ago, Army Spc. Alec Alcoser, 22, and his working dog, Alex, were on patrol just outside Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan when a young man approached.

According to the San Antonio Express-News, two Afghan and three Czech soldiers stepped between Alcoser and the young Afghan to conduct a search. Alcoser called Alex back, bending down to get a cigarette. Then, a flash. Alex yelped. A firefight erupted. The dog and the soldier stayed together.

“I would yell at him and his ears would twitch, but he wouldn’t look at me,” Alcoser said in the Army Times. He calls San Antonio home. “I think he was in a state of shock. He didn’t growl, he didn’t bark, he didn’t cry. He stayed right there.”

Last week, the pair were reunited at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System’s Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center. Alcoser was emotional. Alex licked his face. The last time they had seen one another they were in Washington, D.C., where both received the Purple Heart.

This time, though, if all goes as planned, the pair will be together for good.

Alcoser was 6.5 months into a nine-month deployment when the suicide bomber attack occurred. On days off, they shared a bed. On duty days, they shared rituals.

“On a day with a mission, we’d wake up, I would give him a doggie treat and I would have some ice cream before we went out, and when we got back, we usually slept,” Alcoser recalled.

“That was a normal day for me and Alex out there,” he said, adding that a taste for sweets was born of his association with troops in special operations forces. “It was kind of their thing to eat a sweet because you never know if that’s going to be your last when you go out.”

The Aug. 5 left Alcoser with shrapnel wounds, broken bones and a mild traumatic brain injury, but doctors say he escaped without any loss in cognitive ability. Alex lost his back left leg. Both are learning how to get around again.

The shrapnel wounds cover about 30 percent of Alcoser’s body, most in his lower extremities. Its emergence is a slow and painful process. Both his arms and legs were broken, among other bones. He uses a cane or a walker. Alex limps sometimes, too.

There are goals to reduce the vet’s dependence on pain meds and in time get him well enough to start work at the Center for the Intrepid at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.

“They’re estimating about four to six months, and so I’m already a month and almost half in, and I’m already walking, so I think I’m going to beat that time,” he said. “Either way, the doctors say I have a pretty good chance of making a full recovery, and that’s all that matters. I’ve got to get back to my dog. That’s the important part.”

Multiple surgeries over the past several weeks make medical memories hazy. There is lots of rehab in his future. Alex, who is 8 and a half, was trained to detect explosives and corner suspects who try to run and hide, doesn’t realize he’s retired.

He tried to search a car after arriving at Audie Murphy VA Hospital.

“When they’re old and retired, they still don’t know they’re not supposed to work,” said Regina Johnson, a retired Army dog handler who works in the Defense Department’s DoD Military Working Dog Breeding Program at Lackland.

Alcoser is not daunted by the frustrations of learning to walk again. He has wife, Misty, and an infant son. His mother, who lives in Houston, drives to the hospital to visit every weekend. In time, he’d like to return to his post at Fort Drum, New York. He’d like to be a Sergeant one day.

He thinks on fallen brothers often. The Afghans and Czechs took the worst of what the suicide bomber brought. Though the former survived, the Czechs were killed instantly.

“There’s no point in being mad or sad or anything like that. I’ve got to live through the people who died for me, so they give me a lot of strength,” he said. “And Alex ain’t complaining, so I don’t think I should, either. His injuries are a little worse than mine,” Alcoser said.

“A lot of people call him a dog, but I think he’s a little more than that. He’s a soldier.”

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Though it has a happy ending, the story is sad on multiple levels.

Disabled Marine veteran Don Bordelon adopted a dog named Diesel from the Temple Animal Shelter in Temple, TX, back on July 3, bringing him home to his Moody ranch. He later learned that the dog actually belonged to a U.S. sailor on the East Coast. The adoption was a mistake.

Per the sailor, her brother had been watching the pup for a few months while she was amid medic training in North Carolina. He surrendered her dog without her knowledge or permission.

When she learned that Diesel had gone to a new family, she launched a Facebook plea that went viral and found its way to Bordelon in Texas. The shelter said the adoption was legit; Bordelon was not obligated to return Diesel, but although he had grown very attached to the 2-year-old yellow Lab, he decided he couldn’t keep the dog from its owner.

Last week, a friend of the sailor’s picked Diesel up. The dog will stay with his family in Houston until his owner’s September graduation.

It was heartbreaking, of course. Just last week he went to the shelter, but found the experience too painful. This past Monday, however, Bordelon decided to give adoption another shot!

Yesterday, he met Scooter – a 2-year-old retriever/Great Pyrenees mix – while visiting the Humane Society of Central Texas.

“(He) immediately walked over to me and laid his head in my lap,” Bordelon told KWTX.

Bordelon added that he’d received offers of puppies and adoptions from all over the country when the story broke, but decided to rescue another local shelter dog instead.

He saw Scooter lying up against a fence.

“I took him out into the walk area and he immediately stuck to me,” said Bordelon. “He’s a very gentle giant, when he trots he looks like he’s walking on air.”

Bordelon will pick up Scooter later this week.

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When a veteran’s SUV was stolen in Indianapolis this week, there was far more at stake than a vehicle. The former Marine’s service dog, Wrigley, was inside.

Indianapolis police asked the public to help find the 2-year-old Rhodesian ridgeback mix, who is trained to sense oncoming migraines and seizures.

“He’s my lifeline right now,” Lana Whitner told WXIN.

Once found, Wrigley was frightened, but police said he warmed up quickly.

And of course, there was no stopping the joyful wiggles when he was reunited with this family.

“This happy ending is brought to you by the community working together,” said IMPD. “Thank you to all who helped.”

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Summer, a yellow Lab, is 8. These days, she patrols Washington Union Station with her partner, Sgt. Micah Jones. It’s a five-day-a-week job.

“When I get up and get ready, put my uniform on, I put the harness on, she knows she’s ready to go,” Jones told ABC affiliate WJLA. But Summer hasn’t always been his partner.

In her previous life, Summer was deployed in Afghanistan with the Marines.

“She’s been in firefights. She’s found IEDs and VBEDs and it’s just an honor to work—that an animal like that saved thousands and thousands of lives,” her partner says.

And now, Summer is up for the American Humane Hero Dog Awards in the military category.

“It would mean a lot to give her the recognition that she rightfully deserves,” Jones said.

Voting for the award is public and today is the last day. To view Summer’s story and vote for her — and peruse the other dogs nominated in the Awards’ various categories, click here.

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Back in 2012, Joe Steenbeke trained to be a Technical Explosive Detection Dog (TEDD) Handler and went to K-9 training in Denver, IN.

That’s where he met Tess.

Months of intense training followed until they were approved as combat-ready.

“You truly never know which car you’re going up to search could have a bomb on it, which could have a bad guy in it that’s going to try and shoot you and your dog,” Joe told WNDU. “You truly just have to go off of your training and your practice and things that you worked on and you have to 110 percent trust that bond that you have with your dog.”

Joe and his wife, Steph, have been trying for years to get Tess back, but she is still deployed. His wife knows how healing it would be for her husband, who suffers from PTSD, to be reunited with his partner.

“I knew I needed to do everything I could to make it happen,” Steph said. “To know that missing piece gets to come home would just mean everything to us and it would all just be worth it.”

They are hoping that soon, when Tess retires, they will be permitted to adopt her. And they’re hoping their story can help spread awareness, so that other retired handlers will be allowed to adopt their soldier dogs, as well.

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A young woman who died trying to save her beloved dog is remembered today in her home state of Virginia and beyond.

Katie Mason, 28, was driving her Toyota Camry on I-95 South when her car ran off the road, striking a guard rail. When she opened her car door, her small, black pug, Stella, ran from the vehicle and into the high-speed traffic. Mason gave chase.

Both were struck and killed by a Honda Civic, the driver of which, say Virginia State Police, was unable to swerve to avoid them. Both Mason and Stella died at the scene.

Mason was a member of the Virginia National Guard who spent time at Virginia Commonwealth University. She lived with her dog and parents in Aquia.

“Katie was always kind, sweet and had a huge personality,” a family friend told News4. “It’s so heartbreaking.”

Fellow service members shared their grief on social media.

“It’s a sad day for the 266th MP family. Rest in peace Katie Mason,” one wrote on Facebook.

Travis Scott is a veteran.

He served for seven years, in Japan and Virginia, as a firefighter and emergency medical technician, during which time a severe injury — Scott broke his back and fractured his skull during a rescue training exercise — sidelined him for a while. He served another five years but retired thereafter.

“It has been a challenge to adjust from military to civilian life,” Scott told the Wichita Eagle. “It was a culture shock, really.”

He has since been diagnosed with PTSD, traumatic brain injury and military sexual trauma, for which he sees a mental health professional, but has struggled.

And so has Ty.

The two-year-old shepherd/husky mix was living in a high-kill shelter before being rescued by K9 for Warriors, an organization that rescues animals from situations including neglect, abandonment and homelessness, then trains them as service dogs.

Now Scott and Ty are inseperable. To the veteran, the dog is far more than a pet.

“Our bond goes through the leash,” Scott said. “When I’m feeling anxious or depressed, he’ll know and can help me cope.”

Veterans, too, must go through training before receiving a service dog, beginning with a formidable application and and 18-month waiting period. Scott, as do all veterans going through the process, participated in Camp K9, a three-week training program down in Florida. During this process, he and Ty bonded, learning to become a team.

“The bonding I have done with my dog has given me a new sense of self,” Scott said. “I needed a unique treatment tool to get me out of my rut, and he is that tool.”

They graduated alongside 10 other warrior-dog teams, and then returned to Wichita, KS, to begin their life together.

“My emotions flow to him and he can recognize if I’m anxious or depressed or having trouble,” he continued.

Trained to recognize and sense these signs, Ty will try to gain Scott’s attention. The aim: distraction from the anxiety.

“He helps me cope with what I’ve had happen to me and he has my back,” he said. “I know I have someone to look to.”

The nonprofit organization provides service dogs to veterans at no cost.

“I can’t say enough good things about K9s for Warriors,” Scott said. “If you’re a veteran and want to or need to perform better in your life, I greatly suggest K9s for Warriors. They want to help you get better.”

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When Geoff Hoffman’s Oklahoma City-area home was broken into last week, they stole the one thing that mattered more to him than anything else: his best friend, 3-year-old rescue pit bull, Bridget.

Hoffman and his friends moved into swift action with flyers, signs and social-media posts and efforts, thankfully, paid off.

Several days later, his giflfriend found Bridget wandering on a country road miles from home.

“Bridget didn’t move a whole lot but, as soon as she saw my girlfriend coming, she started waging her tail,” Hoffman told reporters for KFOR.

Bridget was taken to an Oklahoma City vet clinic for deep cuts on her leg. She was also dehydrated.

Hoffman said Bridget had the phone number on her collar scratched out and her original leash attached, confirming she had been stolen.

He said News 4’s story Thursday night might have helped bring Bridget back home.

“So, the original story you guys aired the other night also went viral. It helped out a lot. I think the key to the whole terrible experience was social media,” he said. “So much exposure was out there that I think the criminal that took my dog just couldn’t handle the pressure of keeping her so, in the middle of the night, he dumped her off on a rural road.”

“It’s been a heartwarming experience. People have really been understanding the pain that someone stealing your dog can inflict on a person,” Hoffman said. “The internet can be nasty place, but every single comment I’ve gotten has been completely supportive and everybody just wants Bridget to come back.”