Dec 13th on Stew and The Nunn.

Tonight on Stew and The Nunn we welcome an old friend, Retired Army Major Chuck Ziegenfuss to the show. Chuck was a career officer, who was wounded in Iraq in 2005. He got first service dog in 2006 (Major) who died in 2012. Raised and trained 2nd Service dog (Halia) in 2012-13.

When going through Army Career and Alumni Program as part of the US Army retirement process Chuck finally gave thought to what he wanted to do in his post-Army life. Then it dawned on him, “I am happiest when I’m with my dog”, so he then thought of all the things his dogs had helped me with. So he looked into service dogs for wounded warriors, and found that the pipeline is most narrow at the intake: more need than capable dogs.

Chuck reasoned that if dogs can be bred for size, hunting, show, etc., then it should be possible to breed dogs that have the aptitude to be service dogs. And that is what he wanted to do with his life after Army, breed labs to donate to organizations that train them and GIVE them to wounded service members and disabled veterans.

So he bought a house, built a kennel, expanded his stock, and bred his first litter.From there, he has nowhere to go but up. So we will be talking with Chuck about his service, this new “after-life” and where he sees things going from here.

Chuck and Stew in Hawaii, 2010.