The wags insist that staff assigned to Naval Hospital Bremerton didn’t really go to the dogs during National Dog Week, Sept. 20-27, 2022.

Many were already there.

Over 60 dog-owners responded to a request to share an image of their canine companion, with the pictures compiled into a visual photographic display of 34 pages, ranging from beyond big, with NHB utilities manager Andy Decourval’s Chewie, a 4-year old English Mastiff, who tips the scale at 230 pounds, to the pint sized, 5-month old, five-pound Toy Poodle Pedro of Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Joseph P. Nededog.

That’s a 225 pound difference, for those counting.

There was the quintet from Elma Faye Miller’s home which include Georgia, a 1-yr old Olde English Bulldogge; Daisy, a 10-yr old Shih Tzu; Gustovson, a year old Olde English Bulldogge; Olive, a 9-yr old Pug; and Penelope, a 1-yr old French Bulldog. “I love my dogs! They are a huge part of my life,” exclaimed Miller.

The home of Lt. Anthony Meier, Navy Medicine Readiness Training Unit Bangor department head, is the residential romping ground for Argus, an 11-month old German Shepherd “with an insatiable drive for fetching his frisbee,” and Oppi, a 2-year old Leonberger, a “big sweetie, named after Robert Oppenheimer.”

There was guard dogs, such as the notable named Ipswitch Podunk Quinlan, a Great Pyrenes livestock guardian whom watches over the family pigs, goats, chickens and ducks. Known as super friendly and also proven to be a night-barker, which is normal for the breed. “We love her so much,” said Cindy Quinlan, outpatient coder.

There were also two dogs - German Shepherd Harley V Temar and hound Ellie Mae, belonging to Terry Lerma, NHB emergency preparedness manager and Amy Salzsieder, Occupational Health registered nurse respectively – actively involved with the Kitsap County K9 Search and Rescue and National Search Dogs Alliance.

Along with the personal connection with canines for many, the U.S. Navy has also long had an affinity for dogs. Not only do dogs provide specialized services in the Navy such as explosive and narcotic detachments, they also provide security patrols from the routine to crucial operational missions.

Navy commands from ship to shore to squadron have a long history of including canines as official mascots whom have been considered a viable part of their military unit.

That legacy continues on with many staff at NHB.

One wag at a time.

To visit the display: https://archive.org/details/national-dog-week-sept-20-to-27