Todd knows a few things about invisible wounds. Now he helps a rescue dog with his own anxieties learn to love and trust the person who saved him.

There is no try, only do

It was a foregone conclusion that Todd would enlist in the Army.

“Joined the Army in 1998 mostly because I wanted to,” he says.

Todd completed both basic and advanced training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Over the course of a dozen years of service he was stationed stateside in Forts Lewis, Hood, and Bragg, and overseas in Bamberg, Germany and Korea.

Todd’s military career included combat deployments as well—once to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan, where a 2008 injury led to his medical retirement in 2010.

Despite the gravity and danger he faced, Todd recalls a somewhat humorous memory from his military experiences.

“Once told my drill sergeant I was trying,” he recalls.

“Big mistake.”

When you need a friend

These days the former soldier works at a health and rehabilitation center for the elderly as a maintenance technician.

But Todd felt something was missing at the end of each day: a friend to welcome him home.

The combat veteran sums up what he longed for in a single word.

“Companionship.”

So Todd visited Louisa Humane Society where he learned about our companion pet adoption program for veterans and families of the fallen. Since 2023, the shelter offers members of our program deeply discounted fees when they save program-eligible dogs and cats.

It was early September 2025 and just a day after being approved into our program that Todd met Vince, a large, young hound mix with the most majestic speckles and big floppy ears.

At the time Todd did not know that Vince—since renamed Rocco—was suffering with invisible wounds of his own.

“He wants to be loved”

It did not take long for the Army veteran to realize that Rocco would be a work in progress.

“My dog has more anxiety than I do,” he says.

Todd himself is no stranger to trauma, chief among them the injuries that led to his medical retirement from the Army. Perhaps it was fate that led him to adopt Rocco. A shared understanding that sometimes life is brutally hard, but there is hope and recovery for those who seek it.

And the combat veteran knows better than anyone that healing takes time, plus lots of love and patience as well. Rocco is proving worthy of his efforts.

“I got him less than a year ago and it’s been a process to get him to trust me and the family,” he shares.

“He wants to be loved, but is still unsure about things. He was never socialized as a puppy and may have been physically abused.”

Todd may not have enlisted to save a pet with high anxieties of his own, a dog whose history remains a mystery.

But just as those closest to him stood by his side as he transitioned from the battlefield to the home front, he remains steadfast in helping Rocco on his own healing journey.

The Army veteran has sage advice for anyone thinking about adopting a companion pet. It is a solemn responsibility, a promise to care for that animal not just in the moment, but for life.

“Just make sure you’re ready for a commitment.”