Major and Milania’s Mission is volunteering their time to returning military vets, police, fire and EMS suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other medical and emotional disabilities.

Major and upcoming Milania visit military vets and first responders with their families at their home, hospital settings, VA Centers, and other outreach centers offering love and support just to gain a smile and make someone’s day.

The inspiration behind Major’s Mission is my dear friend Major Eduardo Suarez from the “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon” program, Minnesota National Guard. Major was named after him because of his character and integrity and the love and compassion he has for our military troops returning all the way home to their families.

Major’s job is to ease the pain during the reintegration process and bring a smile to someone’s face. On October 12th, 2011, Major passed his Canine Good Citizen test and now certified while pursuing his Therapy Dog International certification in the near future.

MAJOR

MILANIA

Therapy Dog for Returning Military Vets
Photo by: Wild Eye Photos

Major is an oversized long coat German Shepherd dog born January 6, 2011. His father is a certified therapy dog and volunteers regularly to hiscommunity. Major comes from Crooked-River German Shepherd Kennel located in Atwater, Ohio who breeds oversized long coat shepherds. For more information please contact Kelly Nash www.crooked-river.com.  His owner is Cindy Goss who is President of Catch A Falling Star which is a non-profit organization that provides crisis services and case management to emergency response personnel and military veterans and their families.

Milania was born on October 31, 2011 and is a long coat white German Shepherd. Her mother Winnie is a finished UKC champion and her father Bear is a big boned burly 90 pound male who is a big mush. Together this pair produced an outstanding litter of 9 puppies.

When Milania’s breeder, Linda Machorro, saw the work being provided by Catch a Falling Star’s Major’s Mission, she decided to donate a puppy to our program. After 7 weeks of watching this litter and note taking it became clear to Linda that the little pink collared girl was best suited for service work. The temperament testing confirmed this and on December 19th, 2011, Linda called me with the news that she had a pup that had the temperament for service work and plans were made to pick up little Milania. We are so very grateful to Linda and her husband and family for their gracious donation to our program. Milania starts puppy socialization school early January 2012 and will continue towards her CGC and TDI in the very near future.

Milania comes from Noblewood Kennel’s, a small hobby Kennel in Dutchess County, NY dedicated to breeding quality old style German Shepherd Dogs. For more information about Noblewood Kennels please visit them at: www.noblewoodkennels.com.

Love, compassion, Devotion, a shoulder to cry on, a laugh or two, quiet rainy Saturday afternoon watching TV, filling lonely winter nights by the fireplace, loyal companion taking long walks, and good listeners….Major and Milania are special dogs and Thank God everyday for bringing them  to me on this special mission in making a difference in someone’s else’s life.  

For more information about the program or to schedule a visit with Major or Milania or both, feel free to contact Cindy Goss.