The most popular member of the crew aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) for its marathon deployment to the Middle East was not Ike’s commanding officer Capt. Christopher “Chowdah” Hill, despite his social media clout, chocolate chip cookies and support for Taco Tuesday. This crew member had a leg up on Hill. Actually, he had two.
That distinction goes to Captain Demo, a golden retriever/labrador mix, a multi-talented expeditionary facility dog tasked with everything from comforting sailors during therapy sessions to general morale improvement.
Thanks to a partnership with the Virginia Beach nonprofit Mutts with a Mission, Demo is one of three dogs currently attached to warships. A fourth dog is preparing to deploy with the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) later this year.
Like his 5,000 shipmates on Ike, Demo spent all nine months on the aircraft carrier during the deployment, which was marked by combat actions in the Red Sea. While on board, he slept on a large dog bed in a stateroom shared with one of his two handlers, Hospital Corpsman Kindal Kidd told USNI News aboard the carrier. He had two heads, as well, where he could go to the bathroom.
Most days, Demo spent time with his handlers walking around the ship and visiting sailors. Their faces would light up when they saw the dog coming, Kidd, who is one of the handlers, said.
“You can hear people from across the galley yell, ‘Demo! Come here, Demo! Can I pet Demo?’” Kidd said. “It’s always good to stop and have people come up and pet Demo and see the smiles.”
More Paws-itive Ship Life
Kidd began her days with Demo by taking him on the second deck with a stop by the carrier’s coffee shop. As she walked the 3-year-old pup, sailors would come up to her and ask to pet him.
Kidd usually did about 30- to 45-minute walks with Demo each day, she said. When sailors found out about the two extensions that kept the carrier in the Red Sea, Kidd took Demo on more walks to give sailors a reason to smile.
Sailors could also book appointments with the dog. Often that meant an entire unit of sailors would get to spend time alone with the dog, giving him pets and belly rubs. Sailors with higher stress jobs, like aviators or sailors running the nuclear reactors, requested more appointments, Kidd said.
Handlers are primarily Navy chaplains or those with a health-related billet, Lt. Alex Fairbanks, spokesman for U.S. 2nd Fleet, said in an email. Kidd was recommended for the job because, as a surgical technician, her billet is mostly required for emergencies, leaving her schedule free to take care of the dog, Kidd said.
Kidd and the other handler both looked after Demo, with Kidd cutting his nails while her counterpart cleaned his teeth. They switched off escorting Demo around the ship, with Kidd taking the areas on the ship’s second deck and the other handler bringing him around officer spaces.
Caring for Demo also required the handlers to walk him on a treadmill and playing tag, Kidd said. She would take Demo to the Five Star at 11 a.m., when it was empty, to exercise the dog. which gave the sailors on security duty extra time to visit with him.
People would tell Kidd how much a couple minutes with Demo meant to them, and that it could help them with a bad day.
“The ultimate goal with Demo was probably just [to] improve morale, and he did exceptional,” Kidd said.
At the end of the day, Demo would hang out at the media center, where he got to play and be a dog. And, just like other sailors, Demo got days off.
“The Navy is very happy with the feedback from sailors and is excited to be able to provide sailors a different level of care while deployed at-sea,” Fairbanks said in the email.
Preparing to em-BARK on a Ship
The partnership between the Navy and Mutts With A Mission began with 2022, director Brooke Corson told USNI News this week.
The wife of then-commanding officer Capt. Dave Pollard, of the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), reached out to Mutts With A Mission to see if the nonprofit could bring dogs aboard the ship, she said. Prior to the ship’s deployment, Mutts With A Mission brought dogs aboard weekly.
Other ships started requesting dog visits. After an October 2022 visit on amphibious warship USS Wasp (LHD-1), the ship’s executive officer and deployed resiliency counselor asked if it would be possible for a dog to deploy on the amphibious ship.
There is a long history of dogs aboard ships, although in a more personal capacity. Capt. Frederick Sherman brought his black cocker spaniel named Admiral Wags on his ships, according to “Dogs in the Navy” from the Naval Institute Press. Admiral Wags’ tales became fodder for a children’s book written by Sherman’s wife.
Aviators also brought a stray dog named Scrapper Shrapnel – “Scrappy” for short – aboard their aircraft carrier after finding the airedale terrier wandering the Pearl Harbor docks in 1943.
But there had not been an official program that used dogs as working animals to assist with mental health needs. Dogs, and other animals like horses, are known for beneficial effects on people. A 2022 meta-analysis in scientific journal PLOS One found that veterans benefited when placed with an assistance dog, while a 2023 study of Australian veterans and emergency services personnel found that those with an assistance dog had decreases in stress and depression.
Corson began working with Wasp and the Department of Defense’s Human Animal Bond Program to allow a ship to deploy with an expeditionary facility dog.
The first such dog-equipped ship was USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), which left for the Mediterranean Sea with Sage, a labrador retriever, aboard, Corson said. Then Demo went with Eisenhower. A lab named Ike is now aboard Wasp.
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Mutts With A Mission loans the dogs to the Navy as part of the memorandum of understanding, Corson said. Following a deployment, each dog will go back to the nonprofit for checkups, she said.
Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic oversees the MOU between Wasp and the nonprofit, Cmdr. Dawn Stankus, a public affairs officer with Naval Air Force Atlantic, told USNI News in an email. Under the MOU, there must be designated handlers for the dog. It also covers legalities, guidance for the dog’s care and necessary equipment, Stankus said.
While the partnership focuses on mental health, the dogs are not just therapy, Corson said. They are trained to do more than the typical therapy dog, such as alert to medical conditions or provide deep pressure therapy.
Mutts With a Mission raises and trains the dogs from puppyhood. All dogs receive service dog training, with ship-specific training starting for dogs around 14 to 18 months, Corson said. Dogs that were those that were more social in a large group of people were selected for ships. Mutts With A Mission provides dogs to wounded warriors, veterans, law enforcement officers and federal employees focused on national security, according to its website.
Ship-specific training is for the dogs and their handlers, Corson said. Pups will learn to use a “porch potty,” or turf mat that simulates grass, and go up ladder wells. Handlers are trained how to care for the dog and navigate them around a ship.
Training happens at the Mutts With A Mission Facility and on the ship ahead of deployment, Corson said.
When the dogs deploy on a ship, they do so with a job and a rank. Demo and Sage both have captain ranks, while Ike is a lieutenant commander.
Eisenhower may be back home in Norfolk, Va., but the partnership with Mutts With A Mission continues.
Demo is currently with Mutts With A Mission finishing his post-deployment check-ups, Corson said. She said she hopes that by the end of the month he’ll be back with his handlers.
Life in a shipyard brings its own challenges, she said, and Demo will continue to assist sailors as they transition to life on land after nine months abroad. After all, Demo may not have enlisted in the Navy, but as a working dog, he still has a job to do, no matter how ruff.
