Shelter dog to make history on ‘incredible mission' on a Navy ship in California
He's what you'd call a 'morale dog' from a San Diego nonprofit organization named Shelter to Soldier, where rescue dogs are trained to become emotional support animals for military veterans.
And now, he's training to set sail on the U.S. Navy ship, the USS Makin Island next year, a first in the program.
'Raider is a one-year-old lab mix adopted from Labs and More Rescue currently in training with Shelter to Soldier as a shipboard Morale Dog through our Canine Ambassador program,' the Shelter to Soldier program said in a June 26 Facebook reel that highlights Raider's training.
'This initiative is designed to support the emotional wellness, morale, and mental health of sailors and marines.'
The USS Makin Island is the first to partner with Shelter to Soldier, which occurred after the program's director, Nicky Moore, began to bring therapy dogs to Navy ships, NBC San Diego reported.
'Every single time it was like, 'I really wish we had a dog that stayed on board.' Like, 'Can we take this dog on deployment with us?' And so, we just kind of were like, 'Actually, yeah,'' Moore told the news outlet.
And now, providing emotional support to those on board will be Raider's goal.
'Aboard the USS Makin Island, Raider will serve as a four-legged crew member, offering support through structured interaction, presence, and engagement,' Shelter to Soldier continued in the Facebook reel.
'Shelter to Soldier's Canine Ambassadors work across a range of settings to support the military and veteran community. They attend STS veteran applicant interviews, support trauma recovery therapy, participate in group sessions, and visit active-duty service members and their families, offering moments of connection and care when it's needed most.'
More importantly, Raider will help 'improve mental wellness and quality of life' for those in active duty.
'Raider's role aboard the USS Makin Island helps address this crisis by fostering camaraderie within the crew, reducing operational stress, and increasing awareness for shipboard wellness and behavioral health services,' the program said.
Raider's training began in April, and he's set to have his own room on the ship along with five handlers, NBC reported.
'The USS Midway Museum is honored to play a small part in this incredible mission,' The USS Midway Museum, who provided a place where Raider could train and prepare for life on the ship, commented in a Facebook post. 'Raider and his fellow Shelter to Soldier morale dogs bring comfort, connection, and strength to the sailors they serve. We're proud to help support their journey.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Buzz Feed
21 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Teachers Talking About Rise Of Misogyny In Young Boys
Recently, I came across a post on the popular Teachers subreddit that piqued my interest. The post, written by user escrawl and addressed to fellow teachers, was titled, "Have you noticed a rise of misogyny among boys?" "I teach fourth grade, and I'm already seeing it with my boys," escrawl began. "They talk about how women can't be leaders, they don't have to listen to me because I'm a woman, etc. I have boys already following Andrew Tate and other similar influencers. What do you do?" She continued, "I once warned a mom about what a bad influence Andrew Tate could be, and the dad came back at me hard, saying I don't know what I'm talking about." "I'm at a loss," she said. "Do you just leave them be?" "I do not preach my politics to my students," she clarified. "I make it a point to not show where I lean, even when talking about politics in Social Studies. "I brought up the concern up with a parent, not directly to the student. The only thing I push is to be respectful to others. I would also be concerned and address misandry if observed." Other teachers chimed in. "46-year-old man here," one teacher, toddkhamilton, wrote. "When I was teaching in the late 2000s, another male teacher and I noticed the early signs of what has become a very serious situation with this topic." "We taught in a progressive education environment where the administration was very supportive of teacher led initiatives, so we proposed a 'G Day' (guys day) where for an hour and a half each Wednesday (basically lunch and recess), two other male teachers and myself would take the grade 5th-8th grade boys and just kind of hang together. We'd have a topic each week, and then open things up for the boys to ask questions." "It was incredible," toddkhamilton continued. "They'd ask fascinating questions about all sorts of things — people they saw online, situations they were in with girls or at home — and it worked really well. My colleagues and I saw a change in them, especially over the years of doing it." "It worked so well that the administration created the equivalent for the girls, and they felt it was successful too.I left after the third year, but heard they continued it until a head of school who felt it opened us up to liability took over and shut it need healthy men to be able to talk to and share their thoughts with and learn from. Today's male youth seem to only really have toxic men to learn from. Until there are strong positive male voices equally available to them, the toxic bros are setting the agenda." Another male teacher, Leucippus1, wrote, "I have certainly noticed that the algorithm has been pushing overtly misogynistic content to me; I can only imagine what it does to teenage boys." Another user, Jack_of_Spades, replied, "I made one Facebook post that I was feeling sad after a breakup. My feed was flooded with 'the problem with women...' 'real men do___' shit for MONTHS. I'm thinking this AI fed algorithm shit should be illegal.""It should be, yes, wrote user MossSalamander. "A lot of vulnerable people are being radicalized to hate others because of this." "Middle School teacher here," wrote user ImpressiveCoffee3. "The boys watch all of that content, even a lot of the sixth graders. They say they don't take it seriously, but they keep watching it, and watching it, and watching it." "There is also a rise in the idea that they should all be entrepreneurs and not only skip higher education, but refuse to work for someone else. They think they should have 'motion' and that because I am a teacher, I have somehow failed at life because I am paid a salary by an organization." "Glad it isn't just me," wrote teacher lilygirl112; "I heard second grade boys praise Diddy." User poopbucketchallenge chimed in: "I also think these kids are on the internet FAR TOO EARLY and it should be illegal until 18 to access any part of online other than tightly controlled academic and safe-for-work curiosity stuff."Another teacher, _Lost_The_Game, wrote, "From what I remember as a kid, [they're just being] edgy, BUT…eventually it can set in unironically. I remember lots of my classmates starting to say things just to be edgy, and eventually it just became their default state, like how you start saying some phrase or word ironically, and then later it becomes normalized." A male teacher with the username misticspear wrote, "It's easy for me because boys who fall for that don't have a role model who THEY choose and respect, and that's typically my role. I go in hard early. Call Andrew Tate stupid and talk about how he preys on people who don't know any better. Then I lead by example." Replying to escrawl's question about whether she should "leave it be," u/Ranger_242 wrote, "No, you don't leave it be any more than you tolerate racism or other forms of bullying or hate." "If it becomes enough of a problem, start writing referrals and get your union involved. As for parents, make it clear to them as well."High school teacher Helen_Cheddar wrote back, "Unfortunately, misogyny is a lot more socially acceptable than other forms of bigotry. I had my FEMALE principal brush it aside when I brought it up, and she essentially said, 'boys will be boys.'" "I see it in some of my first graders," wrote teacher nochickflickmoments, "especially in boys whose dads are clear with me that they voted for Trump. Or when one of the first graders told me 'that women shouldn't be president.'" User Major-Platypus2092 wrote, "I've noticed this quite a bit. I'm one of the only male teachers in my department, and students will often look to me to validate their Andrew Tate bullshit. I've tried correcting them in various different ways, but usually what happens is they just decide I'm a 'simp' or whatever and not worth listening to. I've broken through a few times, but it's pretty horrifying." u/Brothless_Ramen wrote, "Yeah, it's pretty great how quickly a man instantly isn't a man because he doesn't buy into their garbage, it makes it so hard to pull them out. It's like they think there's this global conspiracy where all women and some men are personally against them and trying to make them fail algebra, and if you question that, you're part of the conspiracy." "My daughter just finished fifth grade, and after the election, she had several boys saying things like 'your body, my choice,' which is kind of horrifying," said user -dudess. User BugMillionaire wrote, "It's because the algorithms are designed to feed young boys alt-right/misogyny content. There have been many studies showing how the algorithm changes depending on age and gender, and how hard it is to deviate away from the alt-right info once you get it." "Yes," u/CharmingAmoeba3330 wrote in response, "This is what I was going to say. I saw a post the other day from a doctor and team who have been studying the growing misogyny in young boys. They said they found that if a kid, 17 or younger, made a TikTok account, within the first 17 seconds they would be pushed alt-right/misogyny content." "I also saw another post about the uptick of young teen boys murdering teen girls in the UK." "It's not just the boys," u/Sad-Biscotti-3034 wrote. " I teach senior girls in my government class who truly think that women should never run for office and claim they'd gladly give up their voting rights if they didn't have to work and could be homemakers." "Yes, I live in a very red county. It's scary because many of them are voting age, and I can only teach them so much in the amount of time I have with them." This behavior is so concerning, I want to hear what you have to say. Tell me all your opinions and first-hand stories in the comments — especially if you're a teacher, parent, or student. This is a necessary discussion to have!
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
The Texas floods washed away their possessions. Volunteers are helping reunite them.
Matthew Rafferty was scouring the flooded riverbanks of Texas Hill Country last weekend when he stumbled on a mud-soaked baby quilt. Rafferty, a Virginia firefighter who was deployed to hard-hit Kerr County to help with search and recovery efforts, folded it up and took it back to his hotel. He rinsed it off in the bathtub. He worried the drain might clog because of all the filth, tree roots and rocks that came out. But the tub survived and, after a trip to the laundromat, the quilt was virtually good as new. He posted a photo of the blanket on a Facebook group where people across central Texas are keeping track of things they've recovered from the devastation: waterlogged clothes, stuffed animals, Barbie dolls, marriage licenses, family photo albums. Rafferty eventually connected with the quilt's owner and hand-delivered it to her. 'I'm a father of 3-year-old twin boys. I know if I'd gone through something like these quilts, I'd want it back,' said Rafferty, 34. Rafferty is part of a loose network of first responders, volunteers and good Samaritans who have fanned out across the region to help reunite Texans with the cherished belongings, family heirlooms and everyday household knickknacks that were swept away when floods ripped through Kerr County over Fourth of July weekend, killing more than 130 people and leaving at least 100 missing. This week, NBC News spoke with people in the region about the objects that have turned up in the floods' aftermath — and why they matter. In some cases, seemingly trivial items have taken on far greater emotional significance in the wake of the deadly floods. These are some of their stories. The jewelry Patty Hyatt was inside her mobile home with her 8-year-old grandson and her new beagle puppy early July 4 when her son called. The floodwaters were rising fast and they needed to get to higher ground as soon as possible, he told her. Hyatt, a 67-year-old retired teacher, loaded everyone into her Toyota Tacoma and headed to her son's house, leaving most of her things behind. When she returned to the Old River Road RV Resort the following morning, her 42-foot Forest River home was gone, washed away by the floods. She was heartbroken. 'I just lost stuff, not loved ones,' she said — but most objects in her home were associated with special 'memories' and she was sorry to see them go. That's where Dondi Persyn stepped in. Persyn, 54, posted a photo of some of Hyatt's jewelry on 'FOUND on the Guadalupe River,' a Facebook page she created that she runs with the help of friends. The jewelry had turned up in Center Point, roughly 10 miles from Kerrville. Persyn, who used to own a vintage store, spent a night untangling and cleaning Hyatt's necklaces and bracelets by hand, restoring some of their luster. It turned out that during the flash flooding, Hyatt's orange clamshell necklace and other pieces had been fortuitously held together by a pink string — a bracelet that a student had made for Hyatt more than a decade ago. In that, Hyatt saw rich symbolism. 'The children have always held me together,' Hyatt said. 'They're still holding me together.' The totem pole Ten years ago, Shelby Johnson bought something on a lark from a merchant in San Antonio: a hand-carved and painted totem pole. She named it 'Oonka Oonka.' The totem pole was a highlight of her annual spring break parties, and it stood proudly on the back porch of her boyfriend's house, located on a secluded stretch between Center Point and the town of Comfort. Flash-forward to the chaos of July Fourth: Johnson, 53, and her boyfriend, J.R. Haas, fled to higher ground in their trucks before the floods deluged his house. When they returned, they discovered most of their possessions were destroyed, the house reduced to a 'disgusting, muddy mess.' They found the remains of one of her three cats, a kitten named Fancy, and realized Johnson's Volkswagen Jetta had floated down the road. Apparently, so had Oonka Oonka. The totem pole was found off a riverbank in Comfort by Cory Nicholson, a 40-year-old volunteer searcher and roofing contractor who posted his discovery on the Facebook page. The wooden sculpture had emerged intact and mostly unscathed. 'It was in close to perfect condition,' Nicholson said. Oonka Oonka has been returned to Johnson, who sees her 10-year-old purchase in a different light. 'He's turned into a symbol of survival now,' she said. The camp sign Brandon Hamrick and his wife, Shanndel, volunteered to help search for bodies just a day after raging waters tore through the region. They were combing through a riverbed near their home in Center Point on July 5 when they found a 2-by-2-foot wooden sign in the shape of a heart. It was a remnant of Heart O' the Hills, a summer camp for girls in the flood-battered community of Hunt. Hamrick, 47, wiped mud off the face of the sign. The white paint was torn and chipped in some spots, but he could make out inscriptions from campers — including one apparently dated 1992. 'I could see the names of all these girls on there. I felt joyous, in a way, because I knew I could bring it back to them,' Hamrick said. He believed returning the sign to Heart O' the Hills could bring a small measure of solace to a community mourning the loss of Jane Ragsdale, the camp's co-owner and director, who died in the floods. (The camp was not in session during the disaster.) Brandon and Shanndel, who build custom pickup trucks for a living, found children's toys along the riverbed, too — a tiny doll with long blond hair, a 'Paw Patrol' stuffed animal. They gathered up as much as they could. The Hamricks plan to drive out to the camp to hand-deliver the sign to the surviving owners. The memorial bench Four years ago this month Patricia Jernigan's daughter Shannon died from breast cancer. She was 50. The two women lived together in Texas Hill Country. They enjoyed their lives in the area; Shannon was a material program manager for the supply chain at A7 Defense & Aerospace and in her spare time admired Kerr County's population of white-tailed deer. In honor of Shannon's life, Patricia installed a commemorative bench at Lehmann-Monroe Park, a 27-acre patch of land west of the Guadalupe River. The park was thrashed during the floods, and the bench was apparently swept away to nearby Louise Hays Park. That's where it was discovered by Orlando 'Orly' Ayala, a 38-year-old volunteer searcher. Ayala was digging through piles of debris when he spotted the bench at the base of a cypress tree on the night of July 10. 'I cleaned it off and I realized, 'Wow, this is really something,'' said Ayala. Patricia, 77, said she wants the bench to be reinstalled in Kerrville after the area is cleaned up. The plaque that had been affixed to the bench has gone missing, but she hopes it is found. That way, passersby and animal watchers can read the poem under Shannon's name — five rhyming lines Patricia wrote in her daughter's memory: When it comes to God's critters big or small she wanted to feed them one and all But when it came to deer, such gentle souls she loved to feed them with hands and bowls Forever we will love the heart of this baby girl. This article was originally published on Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Colossal cleanup effort allows summer camp to reopen after Texas floods
Just days after the devastating Texas floods killed 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, another summer camp has reopened its doors 30 miles downstream. A colossal cleanup effort from the surrounding community enabled Camp Camp, a residential program serving youth with disabilities, to welcome visitors again this summer. 'Our campers will be able to enjoy our riverfront activities much sooner now,' said Ken Kaiser, the director of facility operations for the camp. 'In the midst of heartache, we got to see the best of humanity through these volunteers who came from all over Texas and beyond.' Camp Camp is located in Centre Point, Texas, and offers a series of five-night sleep-away sessions in the summer for children and adults aged five to 55 years old with mild to severe disabilities. Related: The long road to tragedy at the Texas girls camp where floods claimed 27 lives The camp welcomes more than 800 campers each summer, and every visitor is given a 1:1 counsellor ratio to accommodate their needs. It has been in operation for 46 years and hosts the same activities as regular camps, including horseback riding, swimming, sports, archery and more. The herculean rehabilitation of the area where Camp Camp is located, a 55-acre property nestled in the Texas hills along the banks of the Guadalupe River, all began with a Facebook post on 8 July from an Austin real estate agent, Cord Shiflet. Debris had covered the landscape, destroying the waterfront and crucial amenities for the camp, including picnic benches for the children to eat at, had been ruined. Shiflet made a plea for 'money, manpower, and machines'. By the following day, 250 volunteers arrived. The numbers doubled by Friday, with people braving the mud and conditions to haul food supplies, excavators and chainsaws to the area. Some workers who came down to help reported meeting as many as 1,500 people while they were there. 'The energy at Camp Camp was focused, focused on the mission of making it beautiful again,' said Colette Kerns, who drove down with her husband, Jason, to volunteer at the cleanup. 'Everyone had a job to do and worked seamlessly together to get it done.' Colette's husband spent five hours a day using a chainsaw to clear fallen trees and debris, while she organized the kitchen area and helped load logs into trucks to be hauled away. The couple, who are parents of two children with special needs, said they understood how vital this camp is to the families who rely on it. 'It's more than just a place,' said Colette. 'It is a space where children are embraced, understood and celebrated.' Another hero of the rehabilitation project was Rusty Bourland, who, in numerous Facebook posts about the cleanup, has been praised for his hard work, resilience and determination. Bourland was at a wedding in Dripping Springs, Texas, when he began receiving calls from people seeking assistance in the aftermath of the floods. Having helped with relief work during Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Storm Bill, he had experience in rebuilding. Still, he had no idea when he packed one change of clothes that he would actually be down there for six and a half days. He told his wife he was loading a machine and driving south. 'Driving down it felt unknown,' Bourland said. 'We were all being told to not just self-deploy, but nothing compares to this in terms of human devastation.' Bourland, who owns a landscape construction business, said there were days when about 70 machines were on the property. He recalled that the energy was somber as volunteers witnessed many bodies being recovered from the surrounding area. He plans on seeking professional help now that he's home. 'I told everyone, 'Look, we're basically faced with the most difficult situation imaginable,' but as Texans, we try our best to thrive on adversity,' he recounted. 'I compartmentalized and tried to keep people positive.' The death toll from the flash floods, which started on the Fourth of July holiday, has now climbed to 135 people. With more than 150 people still missing, authorities are warning that the number of casualties could continue to rise. The floods are being described as one of the worst natural disasters in Texas history. The Guadalupe River rose 26ft in 45 minutes, and according to a preliminary estimate by the private forecaster AccuWeather, the economic toll of this could range from $18bn to $22bn. The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has since stated that he would allow debate in the Texas legislature on the state's flood warning system, but has given no guarantees on how the outcome will unfold. For Gigi Hudnall, whose son Kenny was able to attend Camp Camp again this year, the camaraderie in the reopening has been remarkable. This is the 11th year Kenny will have visited, and Hudnall believes the work they did to make this happen was nothing short of miraculous. 'It gives these kids something they don't usually have – freedom,' she said. 'When we heard about the floods, our hearts broke, for the lives lost and for the camps. It makes me proud to be among people who care and will give to help kids like my son.' Solve the daily Crossword
