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Lisa Dunnivan didn't know it would be Hudson's last day. The Labrador had been a
part of her family for over a decade, growing up alongside daughters Ella and Chloe.
When Hudson died suddenly on a summer day in 2023, they were grief-stricken.
Then, within hours of their loss, Lisa received more unexpected news: A 10-week-old
puppy needed a foster family. The young Golden Retriever named Scout had arrived
earlier that afternoon at Leashes of Valor, a Fredericksburg-based nonprofit that raises,
trains, and provides service dogs at no cost to wounded and disabled veterans. Scout
was the organization's newest recruit.
"It was such an amazing moment," Lisa recalled. "I'd never had the emotion of such
grief and also excitement. It was really quite beautiful. That puppy was our hero from
the beginning."
Today, Scout is all grown up. Thanks to the Dunnivans' love and care and that of
other fosters within the Leashes of Valor network, Scout and up to seven more dogs
will graduate with their veterans in 2025. LOV service dogs train for up to two years;
veterans paired with them attend a 10-day, in-resident program to learn how to work
with their new canines.
"I've fostered a lot of puppies before, but this a different experience," Lisa says. "Every-
thing we are doing with these dogs is so they can help a veteran someday. It gives us
such a sense of purpose."
Leashes of Valor is looking for puppy raisers and fosters in the Fredericksburg and
Richmond regions. To learn more, visit www.leashesofvalor.org/foster or email
foster@leashesofvalor.org.
Leashes of Valor Seeks Families Who Can
Help Raise Puppies to be a Vet's Best Friend
