Reunion of Retired Military Dog And Handler Goes Viral

A heartwarming reunion between Senior Airman Jenna Canada and her military working dog, Akim was shared on social media. The sweet story started when they were deployed together in South Korea. Jenna admits she wasn’t open to him at first because her first assigned working dog did not work out. But after a traumatic moment, they were bonded forever.

They were still finding their groove when Akim was stung by a bee he’d accidentally swallowed. His severe allergic reaction was life-threatening. “Within five minutes, he started vomiting, and then he became unresponsive,” Jenna said. “In that moment, I didn’t think, I just swooped him up and started running with him and rushed into our vet.”

She made it to the vet just in time with the 70-pound dog in her arms. Akim twice became unresponsive, but fought hard to come back each time. For days during his recovery, Akim could not go home and Jenna did not leave his side. She slept in the kennel with him, just to make sure he was OK. After that experience the two were inseparable.

Jenna said “After that whole medical ordeal, everything just, it seemed right. Like he wasn’t ready to go, and you could see that, and he was a fighter, and I wasn’t ready for him to go either. In that moment, I was like, you’re not going anywhere. You’re mine, you’re going to stay with me. I love you. That’s when I realized I really love this dog. I’m like, he’s amazing.”

The experience caused Akim to lose his sight, though he eventually gained part of it back. Then, as her deployment was ending, Jenna learned that Akim was retiring. She immediately started the process of bringing her best friend home to her. It was an eight-month process to get approval to transport Akim more than 6,000 miles to his forever home in Kirtland, New Mexico, with his loving handler.

With the help of the American Humane Society, the two were finally reunited and the sweet moment was shared. Jenna said “No one is going to care as much about him as me. I just want him to have the best life and, you know, get to see things that he never really got to see because he was out in Korea for so long. He makes me so happy. I love coming home to him every day.”