He never needed to say a word. That was always the point.
For years, Dogs with Wings Rugby, a Yellow Labrador Retriever with a calm, steady presence, has been part of the daily life of the Be Brave Ranch. As a facility trauma dog and co-therapist, he has sat beside children in individual therapy, group sessions, and family appointments. He has offered safe touch and quiet companionship to kids who needed both. He has joined our clinical team in staff meetings, holding space for the people who hold space for everyone else.
For some children, he has been there in courtrooms too, sitting close, staying calm, just being present while some of the hardest words a child will ever speak are spoken out loud. In those moments, Rugby didn't need a role or a title. He just needed to be there. And he always was.
That's what this kind of work looks like. Not a highlight reel, but a thousand quiet moments. A child who couldn't make eye contact finally reaching out a hand. A family session that started with silence and ended with something softer. A teenager who hadn't let anyone close in years, leaning into a dog who never asked anything of them in return. Rugby has a way of meeting people exactly where they are, and somehow, that has always been exactly where they needed him.
He has also shown up for our staff. Compassion fatigue is real in this work, and Rugby has never failed to find the person in the room who needed him most. He has been a co-therapist, yes, but he has also been a colleague. A quiet, faithful one.
Rugby came to us through Dogs with Wings, shaped by the hands of many people who believed in what he could become. His puppy raisers, the Kawalilak Family. His puppy trainer, Taylor. His adult raisers, the Quesnel Family. His advanced trainer, Veronica. And his sponsor from the very beginning, Stahl Peterbilt, who believed in Rugby's work long before most people understood what a facility dog could do for a hurting child. Stahl Peterbilt has walked alongside Little Warriors for years, sponsoring our Golf Tournament and Be Brave Luncheon, and commissioning the beloved Rugby stuffies that children take home from the Ranch, something soft to hold when they need it most.
It takes a village to raise a dog like Rugby. And Rugby gave that village back, tenfold, to every child who ever needed him.
Behind every good facility dog is the person who brings them home at the end of the day. For Rugby, that person has always been Little Warriors CEO Dr. Wanda Polzin Holman, his handler, his person, and the one who has made sure that a dog who gives so much always has somewhere soft to land. When Rugby leaves the Ranch, he goes home to long walks, lazy days at the lake, and a family who adores him.
Now, having turned 10, it's time for him to rest.
If you'd like to honour his 10th birthday and his retirement, our "10 for 10" campaign, $10 for his 10 years, supports the next chapter of this work, in partnership with Dogs with Wings.
Thank you, Rugby. For all of it.