Retired Air Force Staff Sgt. Angela Lowe and Military Working Dog, Szultan, developed an unbreakable bond, even after both of them retired from military service.
“That dog is your patrol buddy, you are with him 12 hours a day,” said Lowe in the recently released sixth episode of AARP’s Studios’ documentary series Reporting for Duty.
Lowe was Szultan’s first handler and had a special relationship with the canine, who she said has his own unique personality and is very temperamental.
“He wanted to do things his way,” she said. “He definitely left a lot of bruises on a lot of people.”
Szultan had the “strongest bite” and even crushed Lowe’s steel-toe boot.
“I did make a deal with Szultan. I was like, ‘Hey, look, man. I know you’re grumpy. I need you to not bite me. Please. I’ll respect you. You respect me. And we will figure this out together,’” she said. “After we did that, we started meshing. I was super proud of him. I absolutely could trust him one hundred percent.
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“You need to know his tiny little quirks,” she explained. “If you miss a little head turn or a tiny li tail wag, that could be somebody’s life.”
Lowe’s body began to break down due to the demands of training military dogs and she began to have problems holding the dogs’ leashes. She was forced to medically retire from the Air Force about four years ago after undergoing two spine surgeries.
“Leaving Szultan was really hard for me. You have your pets at home, and of course, you love them, but it’s different,” she said. “It’s indescribable how bonded you are to your dog. I don’t think I’ll ever have a love for a career like I did with working dogs.”
Lowe often thought about Szultan after she retired, wondering how he was doing. She messaged other service members to ask about him, but after a couple of years lost touch with them and moved to Pittsburgh to continue her education.
Earlier this year Lowe received a message out of the blue from Szultan’s current hander asking if she would like to adopt him after he retired.
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“For some of these dogs, if they’re dog-aggressive or food-aggressive, it makes it difficult, because some people can’t take that home,” she said. “And I was a little concerned that he would get euthanized.”
Lowe jumped at the chance to adopt Szultan, but was told that she had only two weeks to pick him up in Charleston, South Carolina. Stretched thin between work and school, she knew there was no way she could make the 10-hour drive from Pennsylvania She reached out to Mission K9 Rescue, a nonprofit that reunites military working dogs and their handlers for assistance.
“Once the dog retires, no matter where they are, they are not considered a military service member anymore. They have become a pet, not a vet,” said Kristen Maurer, president of Mission K9 Rescue. “The military is not allowed to put a pet on a flight, so they’ll ask us to step in and get the dog.”
The nonprofit has rescued over 1,100 dogs and reunited over 540 working dogs with their former handlers since 2013.
“When it’s a dog we’ve been told has some behavioral issues, we’re very respectful of what we know they’re capable of. I asked Angela if we could fly him on a plane, and Angela felt like, ‘No, not a good idea,’” said Maurer.
So, the team opted to fly from Texas to South Carolina, where they picked up Szultan and drove a rental car with him to Pittsburgh, where Lowe stood outside. As soon as the truck pulled up and his carrier door opened, Szultan walked straight to Lowe.
“I know it’s so scary. I know, big guy,” she told him. “It’s OK. It’s all so new. Welcome to the pack, bud.”
Maurer then wished Szultan a great retirement.
“It’s time for him to be on a sofa and to just get spoiled and loved,” she said. “Angela will definitely do that.”
Days after their reunion, Lowe said Szultan is now more mellow than she had seen him in seven years.
“Having him come back suddenly is like having a piece of the Air Force with me,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the summer, when I can go sit on a patio and have a couple of drinks with my buddy, Szultan.”
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Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.