An Air Force husband-and-wife team traveled the world as military musicians, and are now singing a different tune with their first-ever rescue dog. This is their story, told in their own words.

Hello! We are Dan and Lori from Omaha, Nebraska.

We are both retired United States Air Force veterans who proudly served 26 and 21 years as musicians in the USAF military bands. Our careers took us all over the world performing music for our military members and civilian communities. It was an exciting part of our lives and we are grateful to have served our country in that capacity. 

As you can imagine, the busy life of traveling musicians does not lend itself well to owning a dog. Once we retired, however, Lori and I considered getting a dog, but were hesitant to do so because neither one of us had ever owned a dog before. We have, however, always owned a cat. Our current cat, Daisy has been part of our family for the last 12 years. We were also concerned getting a dog would upset the natural order of things as Daisy is concerned.

Would they “fight like cats and dogs?”

One day while bird hunting with a friend, I mentioned we were considering getting a dog. He immediately told me they were fostering a wonderful German Shorthair Pointer named Cash. After meeting Cash, I called my wife Lori and asked her to drive over to meet him as well. We both fell in love with him and decided to adopt him. 

The Great Plains Pointer Rescue informed us we were eligible to utilize the Pets For Patriots program to help defray the costs associated with adopting a pet.

We are so grateful to both the Great Plains Pointer Rescue and Pets for Patriots for making our adoption of Cash possible! Cash has been a part of our family for the last six months and has brought so much joy into our lives! He loves to go bird hunting with me and looks forward to his daily walk/runs with Lori. He loves to sit in front of the fireplace with us as we watch TV and sleeps at the foot of our bed at night to keep us safe.

Our concerns that Daisy and Cash would not get along were somewhat unwarranted. Although they are definitely not soul mates, they tolerate each other well. We are hopeful there is still a chance they will become buddies as time goes by. 

Again, a big thanks to our friends Scott and Lindsay for fostering Cash, all the folks at the Great Plains Pointer Rescue and everyone at Pets For Patriots for helping bring Cash into our lives. Cash has truly enriched our lives and we are happy he is now part of our family. I highly encourage any veterans out there to consider adopting a pet through Pets For Patriots. You will be so happy you did!

P.S. The financial assistance your organization provides (the reduced adoption fees and the $150 Wag.com certificate) helps relieve some of the financial pressures associated with adopting a pet. To be quite honest, I’m not sure we would have decided to adopt Cash had it not been for the assistance Pets for Patriots provided. Thanks for helping us make a great decision! 

What was your most memorable experience as a first time pet parent?