Andrew Keahon offered firm yet gentle words of correction to Luna, a 4-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever when they visited Fauquier’s Northern Community Park recently. She has yet to outgrow her puppy exuberance and wanted to swim after the ducks, play with other dogs and introduce herself to the people and children in the park.
Meanwhile, 8-year-old black lab Chance was much more subdued. He was content to simply lean against Keahon or lay on the ground, perking up occasionally to look at passersby. As a retired military service dog, the puppy in Chance is long gone. (Chance’s and Luna’s names have been altered for this article, to protect their identities.)
Chance and Luna are part of the Lost Mountain Group, a local nonprofit based out of Delaplane. The group’s mission is to rehabilitate retired military working dogs and place them with veterans in need of a companion, at no cost to the veteran.
Andrew Keahon with Luna and Chance, retired military dogs
Keahon, the dogs’ owner and Lost Mountain Group founder, retired as a K-9 handler for the D.C. Metro Police Department in 2018. He has worked with K-9 war heroes across the country and five years ago became a Department of Defense contractor, training K-9s for military and paramilitary personnel worldwide. Keahon said, “In 2015, I became the program manager for a military top K-9 unit specifically working on making sure the K-9 handlers dogs know the homemade explosives where they are being deployed. It’s different in every region because the explosives used are whatever they can find. I get the K-9 handlers and their partners [dogs] before they deploy.”
He remembered, “One of my first students suffered severe wounds. His spouse asked if it was possible to find him a retired military dog during his lengthy rehabilitation.”
This became the catalyst for Lost Mountain Group. “One thing led to another, and I was being contacted by more people asking for a retired service dog as a veteran companion,” he added. Since that initial placement, Keahon has found homes for more than 20 retired military working dogs.
Only recently has Keahon found himself working with Labradors. “Most military working dogs are German Shepherds or Belgium Malinois.” He explained that these dogs are dual purpose and can both bite and sniff, whereas Labrador Retrievers, with weaker bites, are single-purpose drug- or bomb -sniffing dogs.
Luna worked at a government facility, sniffing incoming deliveries and mail, but failed her last recertification. “She just wanted to be a pet,” said Keahon. “There are some dogs that work all the time. I’ve had dogs that at the end of the workday, would come home and sniff all the cabinets in my house looking for bombs; they just couldn’t stop working. Luna wasn’t that way.”
“Chance, on the other hand, was a bomb detection lab who came to us after he was injured by an IED while in the line of duty in 2016,” said Keahon. “He’s been with us since he was medically retired.”
While a working dog, Chance was paired with a new partner every six months. Upon retirement, however, “He bonded very quickly with our eldest daughter, Emma,” said Keahon.
Keahon runs the Lost Mountain Group from his family’s 25-acre Delaplane farm. His wife Dorry and two daughters, Kylee and Emma, each play a role in the organization. “My daughters manage all the social media content production and help care for the dogs. My wife also has spent countless thousands of compassionate hours caring for all the dogs and has fallen in love with many of them. It breaks her heart sometimes to see them go,” said Keahon, who is responsible for rehabilitating the dogs.
The director of marketing and business development, Kati Townsley, lives in Maryland. “She has taken on many roles to further the reach of Lost Mountain Group,” he added.
Finding dogs isn’t a challenge for Keahon. The country’s largest kennel is at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas, where all service dogs for both the TSA and military are stationed, pre- and post-deployment.
It is also where dogs that fail training or are found unsuitable to finish their service are sent to wait for adoption, which according to Keahon, can take 1 to 3 years. In his contractor role with the DOD, Keahon can adopt the dogs straight from their training facility into the Lost Mountain Group program, like he did with Luna.
For injured dogs, like Chance, Lost Mountain Group will cover any medical costs for the remainder of the dog’s life. “We will never pass on expenses to a veteran,” affirmed Keahon.
Keahon is looking to build community partnerships with local groups that serve either veterans and/or animals. “Some of our veterans have small children. We are unable to place some of the retired dogs in homes with children. A relationship with one of our local shelters would help us find the right dog for every family.”