Girl Walking 2 Sad Dogs At Park Sees Man In White Get Out Of Car, Knows He's Their Actual Owner

Jan 16, 2021 by apost team

Veterans have faced more hardships than most of us, and coming home after duty can be quite a struggle. On the Animal Planet reality show "Pit Bulls and Parolees," hosts and renowned dog trainers Tia Torres and Mariah Torres understand that. That's why they made an effort to reunite a war veteran named Joshua and his two pets in Los Angeles back on an episode of the show that aired in 2015.

A lot of veterans depend on their pets to help them to feel normal again. Dogs can be great for emotional support. Joshua, an Air Force veteran, was like most after returning from active duty while serving in Afghanistan.

It was very difficult for him to adjust to normal civilian life again, as he explains in the video. Nightmares plagued him daily. He sought isolation as a fix and also suffered from other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. He admits that when you become a civilian again, you feel completely detached from being in an active war zone. He states that he feels alone and cut off from the world. But Joshua found comfort in his dogs. His two dogs, Momma and Panda, are companions that provide him with the constant support that he desires and needs more than anything.

Joshua ran into a problem when he decided to make a move. He thought that a change would be very beneficial to him. He decided to move to California from Louisiana.

The sad thing is that Momma and Panda were not able to go along with him while traveling. Joshua knew that he would have to deal with temporary separation, and he was OK with that, but it still hurt even for just a short amount of time.

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He recalls that waking up without them snuggled up under the blankets next to him was quite a strange feeling. And he really missed the act of walking them every day. “Every day I wake up without them snuggled up underneath my blankets is a strange day,” he admitted. “Every day I don’t have to walk a dog is a wrong day.”

Finally, after two months it was time for the three of them to be reunited. Although it was time for Momma and Panda to take residence in their new home, Joshua was not able to bring them there without help.

This is when the show "Pit Bulls and Parolees" stepped up. They were able to do exactly what Joshua needed.

Mariah Torres heard about Joshua’s story and his needs. She did not think twice about it and offered to bring his dogs home. She expressed that she had no idea how the reunion was going to go but hoped that it would be a happy one.

Joshua was able to express how much he missed his two pups through speech, but they weren’t able to do the same. 

Although they can’t speak, they let it be known that something was wrong. They ate very little and had lost a lot of weight during the two months they were separated from Joshua. Mariah Torres says that the stress of being away from their dad had affected the dogs’ appetite.

But when the dogs saw Joshua, they completely forgot about how unhappy they had been.

“I was a little nervous if they were not going to remember me,” Joshua said. “I am sure anybody who has ever had to walk away from their dog is always terrified about that. The veteran says that Momma and Panda are more than just his pets — they are his family.

Joshua says that the transition from being in a warzone to coming back to civilian life can be a very isolating experience. “You feel totally alone. You feel cut off from everything,” he said. “My dogs were the only “people” that were there for me,” he said, fighting back tears.

Joshua said that for the first seven months since his move, it was especially difficult for him. When he got Momma and Panda, things started to get better, but it took time. Joshua admitted that he even slept in a closet to help him deal with his post-traumatic stress disorder. He said the small size of the closet made him feel safe. “When you wake up, you kind of feel like an idiot. And you feel scared,” he said. But his two best friends never leave him alone. Joshua said that he gets nightmares from things that he has seen and done while overseas but wakes up with the comfort of knowing that Momma and Panda are there to make it all go away. “And you open the door and there are four little eyes staring at you. Because they are there. And they don’t care.”

They are now a happy family of three again and are finally joyous in their new home all thanks to Mariah Torres. Mariah Torres was moved to tears by the emotional reunion and said to Joshua that she has never seen the two dogs behave that way before. “You can’t break the bond that someone has with their dog,” she said. Even though the journey from Louisiana to California was a long one, she would do it 20 more times back to back if this was going to be the result.

The video tugged at the heartstrings of people who had seen it. On YouTube, the video has accumulated millions of views, thousands of likes and more than 100 comments. One commenter on YouTube wrote, “Seeing dogs reunite with soldiers is the best thing. It always chokes me up.” Another person suggested that Joshua could get Momma and Panda registered as therapy dogs so that they never have to be apart ever again. “I hope he can get them qualified as therapy pets, that way he can bring them everywhere and never be separated from them again.”

Joshua said that he is just ecstatic that Momma and Panda are back with him again. “I feel complete,” he said. “I really do. I feel like a person again.”

What a heartwarming story!

Companionship is the best gift. Where would we be without our pups and without those war veterans who have done so much? Do you have a similar story about a veteran? Please let us hear about it in the comments section — and don't forget to pass this wonderful story on!