My Fire Hydrant

I’ve blogged before about Lava, the pup that we (Pet Care) helped get out of Baghdad. He’s in the news again.

Stray pup rescued from Iraq returns the favor three years later.

Seems someone wanted to steal the van that belongs to Jay Kopelman’s wife. Lava heard them, alerted Jay, and the bad guys were arrested.

Is this not a fabulous photo of Jay and Lava? What an incredible illustration of what dogs can do for us and why it’s important for US to give back to the pooches (or the kitties or any other pet we share our lives with).

Jay bonded with Lava when Lava was a puppy. The two of them provided the love and care that each needed to survive a horrible situation (a war). Jay then moved Heaven and Earth to bring Lava to his forever home. And Lava has now shown his appreciation of his home by guarding it well.

I could get all mushy about the symbiotic relationship and the reasons people first partnered with dogs when we all lived in caves, and why the human-animal bond is so incredible…but I bet you already know all about that stuff.

Good boy, Lava!! Good boy!!

I can’t help myself: I’m a groupie!

Jay Kopelman came to Iams last Friday to sign copies of his book From Baghdad, with Love. I had the pleasure and honor to sit with him during the book signing (Kris got us a really good price on the book, part of the money went to the Friends for Life Fund). What an interesting guy! And you cannot doubt his love of dogs–several folks had their dogs with them (it was Friday and we ARE a dog food company) and he made friends with each one–even the silly toy Poodle puppy. I managed to get some photos of Jay with Euka, our Vice President in Charge of Canine Communications (seriously, that’s the dog’s job from 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday).

I am so lucky to share my life with a dog.

Have you ever read a book and gotten so sucked into the story that you had to remind yourself it’s not actually happening right now? That has happened for me. I just finished reading “From Baghdad with Love” (see: Why I love working at Iams. What an incredible book! It is a testimonial to the power of the human-canine bond! (OK, I’m gushing a little–hard not to).
If you don’t already know the story, see: USA Today, Goldberg McDuffie Communications, Amazon, Jay Kopelman.
This book is a very fast read. By the time you’ve finished it you are very clued in on what it’s like to be a Marine in Iraq. It magnifies your feelings of caring for all those soldiers over there, who you don’t really know, yet you want to bring home because no one should have to deal with that kind of crappy situation.
And then there’s Lava. Lava helped the people who cared for him to re-connect to their humanity. Just as the SAR dogs helped the workers at Ground Zero re-connect after a hard day searching the rubble, Lava helped Jay Kopelman (and maybe ever Anne Garrels of NPR) get through his tour of duty in Iraq.
I am so lucky to share my life with a dog.

My friend, Kris (who was on the team that helped get Lava out of Iraq), was able to pay a visit to Lava two weekends ago. He says that Lava seems to have a kind of post traumatic stress disorder–he is very aggressive in guarding the house and yard where he lives. I guess when strangers come up to the yard, Lava does his best imitation of a canine Marine–barking and making like an Iraqi insurgent’s worst nightmare. Sounds like when Katie Couric’s camera team went to interview Jay and Lava, they found the same thing. (Jay and Lava are working on this with an animal behavioralist–see the video).

Anyway, after dinner Jay took Kris over to his house but warned him that Lava might be a bit territorial. Kris says that Lava knew him instantly as his friend from Chicago who first welcomed him to the United States (Kris gave Lava his first American bath) and they pretty much picked up where they left off.

We are all so lucky to have dogs in our lives.

USATODAY.com – Man and best friend have stories to share

Jay Kopelman has written a book about Lava (named for the Lava Dogs–a group of Marines based in Hawaii), the Iraqi dog who we (Iams–specifically my buddy Kris) helped bring to the U.S. from Iraq. The story of this pooch reads like a movie–and I won’t be able to tell it nearly as well. Here’s what I know about how Lava found his way home.

Back in 2004 Kris had just left Iams Consumer Care with a promotion to Iams External Relations. His first task in his new job involved working with John V. from the Helen Woodward Center on the Home for the Holidays adoptathon–which was to take place around the Thanksgiving-Christmas holidays. One day in November of that year, John called Kris–he was trying to find a way to help an American Marine get a puppy out of Iraq. The Marine was nearing the end of his tour of duty and had become greatly attached to a puppy he had found and bonded with in Fallujah. There was also some concern that the puppy (having been a pet of a Marine) might be abused by folks who were not too happy about the American presence in Iraq.

Kris and John tried everywhere to get help–Congressmen, the military, no one came forward to take on the project. For weeks they brain-stormed and discussed what might be done to extract one small pup from a bad situation.

Right about this time, a story went out over the airways that military dogs in Iraq had nothing to eat–dog food was very scarce. We started pulling together product to contribute, and ended up sending it through the Vohne Liche Kennels out of Indiana. This gave Kris one of those “DUH!” moments. Here was a connection to a dog kennel in Indiana that supplies the military in Iraq with trained bomb-sniffing dogs. Those dogs get rotated on a regular basis. What if, on the next rotation, they were able to bring Lava home with them?

By this point, poor little Lava was living with some kindly news hounds. Jay Kopelman, Lava’s Marine, was on the outward bound track for home. Kris got word that the news hounds would also be heading Stateside very soon. Luckily, at the eleventh hour, Lava got his health certificate from the newly-formed Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture, and transportation was arranged–first to Jordan, then to Chicago.

Kris dropped everything to fly to Chicago to meet Lava’s plane. He was joined by John V. (photo, upper right) from Helen Woodward and together the two of them waited for Lava in the cargo area (along with the wonderful folks from Vohne Liche Kennels). Soon, a line of dog crates started to appear on the conveyor belt (those heroic bomb-sniffing dogs!)–and one of them held Lava! (Upper left photo, Lava’s first step into the U.S.)

That night, Lava got his first bath (photo right, with Kris).

The next day, Lava, Kris, and John headed out to California to re-unite Lava with his Marine–Jay Kopelman. They all met up at the Helen Woodward Center in San Diego, and (of course) lived happily ever after.

What an incredible and humbling force is the bond we feel with dogs. For one tender, little puppy people of so many different and diverse outlooks, occupations, and regions worked together to accomplish a goal. This is dog rescue at it’s finest.

Hey Kris–if you’re reading this, thanks for the long hours you spent figuring out how to bring Lava home. I am so proud and lucky to work with you. And I’m looking forward to seeing who they pick to play you in the movie version.