Our Canine Companions
An overview of our Canine Companions
Retired Military Working Dogs (MWD)
Military dog adoption uniquely allows civilians to rehome military working dogs. Military working dogs are also known as MWD, as these dogs are especially unique as they’re retired from serving with the active-duty military. Notably retired from duty, military working dogs are now on a special mission, by all means, to find a forever home. Before 2000, military war dogs were euthanized or given to an allied Army, however, in 2000, President Clinton significantly signed a law approving military dog adoption.
Lost Mountain Group MWD’s may have assisted in law enforcement, helped in agricultural tasks, helped with bomb-sniffing, aided with search and rescue, served as mission scouts, completed war tasks, helped in drug detection, worked as field or training dogs, or been employed as therapy dogs.
Our LMG Founder has K-9 facilities onsite his Delaplane, Virginia farm where he can house up to 10 K-9’s until they are fully vetted, trained, and socialized prior to being placed into their forever homes. Often, LMG rescues will accompany him to work where he spends several months breaking each dog from their previous "working dog" mentality as he introduces them to what life outside of a kennel looks like. He will train and socialize them in “real world” environments as he introduces them to civilians, other animals, children, new environments, social settings, and even something as basic as affection.
For our LMG rescue K-9's it is a bed, treats, pool time, farm life, siblings, and PLAYmates, etc. Once he is confident that the dog is fully rehabilitated, vetted, trained, and socialized prior to being placed into their forever homes. Applications are then accepted, and a Veteran selected for canine companionship!
Lost Mountain Group has been placing retired K-9’s with US Veterans since 2016 and was established as a tax-exempt nonprofit in 2021.
Meet Our Success Stories
(and foster fails)
Maverick & Phoenix.
Meet Maverick & Phoenix! These adorable German Shepherd puppies were donated to the Lost Mountain Group family in September 2022 at the age of 10 weeks with the purpose of being raised as Service Dogs for Veterans who need more than a canine companion.
They are currently residing in Westminster, Maryland, and are being trained and socialized for that purpose over the next several months.
Follow along their journey on our Social Media sites.
Brynn.
Meet Brynn! Lost Mountain Group would like to welcome Brynn to the LMG Family! She joined our Family in March 2022.
Brynn is a 12 week old female German Shepherd who comes from a military working dog bloodline.
Unfortunately, the adoption with the agency that she was to go to fell through, so the breeder contacted LMG to see if we'd be interested in her. Of course, we said yes... Look at that face!
The plan is for her to be raised and trained by our Founder and eventually become available for placement as a canine companion with a Veteran when the appropriate time comes.
**Update: September 2022: Brynn has been placed with a Veteran in Colorado (LMG had a relationship with them) and is continuing her Service Dog training with an experienced K-9 Handler.
Cedro.
Meet Cedro! Cedro joined the Lost Mountain Group family in March 2022. He is a stunning single-purpose 3-year-old (sable colored) German Shepherd MWD, who was recently retired after serving our Country overseas!
He's a big strong guy at 84 lbs, but we are working with him and introducing the retirement life to him.
Applications are now being reviewed for this handsome fella while he is going through evaluations before going to his #FureverHome.
** UPDATE: April 2022- Cedro has found his furever home with a US Navy and current active duty US Army, Maryland National Guard Service Member in Emmitsburg, MD.
Kafar.
Meet Kafar! Kafar came to Lost Mountain Group in January 2022 and is a handsome 5-year-old German Shephard that has worked as a single-purpose explosive detection bomb dog for an "other government agency" overseas. Due to health reasons, this handsome fella was retired from service.
We are currently interviewing Veterans in an effort to find Kafar a “furever” home…preferably somewhere sunny and warm, as he has filed a grievance with the “Retired War Dog Association” as he was promised a retirement home in sunny Florida, and not cold, snowy Virginia!
UPDATE: Kafar was placed as a canine companion with a US Air Force Veteran and her family in Carroll County, Maryland in March 2022!
Denzil.
Meet Denzil aka the Most Well-Traveled MWD to visit LMG! Denzil came to Lost Mountain Group with Kafar in January 2022 and is a handsome 8-year-old male Belgian Malinois who is a single-purpose bomb dog.
Denzil was retired after serving multiple tours in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Nigeria.
UPDATE: Denzil was placed as a Canine Companion with a Veteran in Virginia in February 2022.
Max 2.0.
Max came to Lost Mountain Group in October 2022 and is a very handsome (and he knows it) 8-year-old German Shephard that has worked as a single-purpose explosive detection bomb dog for an "other government agency".
Update: December 2021 -Max has found his furever home with an active-duty Army MP in Carroll County, MD where LMG gets to visit him and receives constant updates!
Max 1.0.
Max 1.0 was just Max until Max #2 came to Lost Mountain Group! Max joined LMG in July 2021 and is a handsome 72 lbs, 9-year-old male German Shephard.
UPDATE: Max 1.0 was officially placed in his loving home in Virginia in October 2021 when he became a foster fail and his hooman adopted him.
Rey.
Meet Rey! Rey came to Lost Mountain Group in October 2021 and is a handsome 6-year-old Yellow Lab that has worked as a single-purpose explosive detection bomb dog for an "other government agency" throughout the United States.
Due to health reasons, this handsome fella was medically retired. Rey will not likely be placed with a Veteran due to his health issues, but he is living a fabulous life as a Lost Mountain Group Ambassador in Carroll County, Maryland!
Tsara.
Tsara means Queen in Russian, and she is just that and is the token female of
Lost Mountain Group!
Tsara came to us in April 2021 and is a stunning 65 lb, 5-year-old female Yellow Lab who is trained as a single-purpose bomb dog. She was retired after serving with “another government agency”.
Tsara lives with our Founder and his family in Virginia and serves as an LMG Ambassador in both Virginia and Maryland.
Tina.
Meet Tina! Tina came to Lost Mountain Group in March 2021 and is a beautiful 7-year-old Belgian Malinois that has worked as a single-purpose explosive detection bomb dog for an "other government agency" in both Washington DC and Georgia. Due to health reasons, this beautiful girl is being medically retired.
Update: We are delighted that she will be able to be adopted by a familiar-faced Veteran once all of the paperwork is finalized in April 2021.
Simba.
Meet Simba aka the Most Handsome Dog to visit LMG! Simba came to Lost Mountain Group in February 2021 and is a handsome 64 lb, 4-year-old male Belgian Malinois who is dually trained as a patrol and a drug detection K-9.
Simba was medically retired from a Law Enforcement Agency in Tennessee in 2020 and came to us through Kat Rollins (@allcreaturescclub) of All Creatures Country Club (@allcreatures.countryclub) in Tennessee where she had been working with him since November 2020.
UPDATE: Simba was placed as a Canine Companion with a US Army Veteran K-9 Handler in Virginia in March 2021.
Momo.
Meet Momo! Momo is an eight-year-old, German Shepherd who is a retired bomb detection dog. Momo came to Lost Mountain Group in November 2020 after he served for five (5) years with the US Marines at the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.
Momo is currently the daily companion of LMG’s Founder as he continues to work on socialization skills and adjusting to civilian life. He’s not fond of other dogs or farm animals, though he tolerates humans— especially when they come bearing treats! We love Momo, especially when he hogs the bed at night!
It is our hope to place him with a deserving Veteran in the coming months.
You can follow Momo’s journey with LMG on our social media pages!
UPDATE: Momo was placed with a deserving Veteran in Pennsylvania in April 2021. We are looking forward to following his new adventures with this fur-ever family!
Ozzy.
Meet Ozzy! Ozzy came to Lost Mountain Group in September 2020, after spending eight (8) years as a Bomb Detection Dog with a US Government Agency.
While with LMG, we found that he loved the water, so much so that you needed a very good distraction to get him out of it. He’s now retired, socialized, and rehabilitated.
Ozzy was placed as a Companion Canine for a Veteran in North Carolina in November 2020.
Bocephus/Toby.
Meet Bocephus, a 7 (soon to be 8) year old, retired bomb detection lab who came to Lost Mountain Group from a government agency, where he was injured by an IED while in the line of duty in 2016. After two surgeries he was medically retired and we've had him ever since.
"Toby", (as we later nicknamed him) was a foster fail and will live his civilian life with our Founder's family - primarily with his oldest daughter, as she has become "his person" and they are inseparable!
Meet Scout! Scout was a Belgian Malinois and came to Lost Mountain Group in 2016, through our partners at Lackland Air Force Base after spending eight (8) years as a Bomb Detection Dog with a US Government Agency.
When Scout joined us, he lived with our Founder's family while being socialized and rehabilitated. Once that training was completed, he was then placed with a TSA handler who worked with him at a Virginia Airport until he was fully retired.
We were recently informed that Scout passed away in the Fall of 2020 but, lived a great life with people who spoiled him.
Scout.
Keahon, K-9’s and Lost Mountain Group
in the News
Andrew Keahon offered firm yet gentle words of correction to Luna, a 4-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever when they visited Fauquier’s Northern Community Park recently. She has yet to outgrow her puppy exuberance and wanted to swim after the ducks, play with other dogs and introduce herself to the people and children in the park.
Meanwhile, 8-year-old black lab Chance was much more subdued. He was content to simply lean against Keahon or lay on the ground, perking up occasionally to look at passersby. As a retired military service dog, the puppy in Chance is long gone. (Chance’s and Luna’s names have been altered for this article, to protect their identities.)
Lost Mountain Group finds 2nd career for retired military dogs as veteran companion pets.
Carroll County Times Nonprofit View
Of the roughly 4,900 canines the United States utilized in Vietnam, approximately 2,700 were given to the South Vietnamese Army, with a staggering 1,600, euthanized. Today, military working dogs (MWDs) are no longer left in war zones like they were in Vietnam, however until 2000, it was legal and common practice to euthanize them at the end of their useful service. That mindset has changed dramatically, thanks to one military war dog named Robby, whose own fate changed the future for MWDs. Robby’s Law, signed in November 2000 by President Clinton, requires that all MWDs suitable for adoption be available for placement after their service, however, there is no public funding for this process.
Hatch became LMG Founder Andy Keahon’s Metro Police Department K-9 companion when he joined the K-9 bomb detection unit of the Metro Police Department in 2012. Hatch was a Labrador Retriever and Veteran of three (3) Afghanistan deployments. On his last tour, he was wounded in action. Fortunately, medical care helped him recover from his wounds and he was transitioned to civilian duty with the MTPD in October 2012.
Meet Hatch.
Makin’ it Happen.
While serving as the Bomb Squad and K-9 Commander for the DC Metro Police Department, then Sgt. Andy Keahon had the opportunity to bring canine war heroes from Afghanistan to the DC MPD K-9 unit. It is something that he’s quite proud of.
"Every single one of the nine dogs that we received from the Marine Corps found bombs in Afghanistan. We have one in particular that found 37 improvised explosive devices that were all buried under the road," said Sgt. Andy Keahon of the Metro Transit Police Department.