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Veterinarian Stuart Callahan, a volunteer with Leashes of Valor; (at right) with Richmond Flying Squirrels mascot Nutzy and service dog in training Ski
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Callahan and partner Jessica Hart with their dog Bentley
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Callahan with Hart and his mother, Robin Callahan, with service dog in training Afton
Patience and forgiveness are two virtues that veterinarian Stuart Callahan has learned from the dogs he treats at Mechanicsville Animal Hospital.
“They are just so easy to forgive. Some dogs have been through tough situations, and they come in and love everybody,” he says. “I see characteristics in a dog that I wish I could have more of.”
Those traits also make dogs ideal companions for some injured military veterans.
Callahan, 35, is a volunteer with Leashes of Valor, a nationwide nonprofit organization based in Fredericksburg. The group provides trained service dogs to veterans at no cost to help with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other unseen wounds of military service.
The organization was founded by retired Marine Corps Capt. Jason Haig in 2017 while he was suffering from PTSD and a traumatic brain injury.
“Someone recommended a service dog, and that dog changed his life,” says Kristin Davis, communications director for the organization. “He founded the organization to give trained service dogs to other veterans so they can get help the way he was helped.”
For the past year and a half, Callahan has provided a foster home for puppies in the Leashes of Valor program. He takes the dogs, which come from shelters and other rescue organizations, to group training classes to learn basic manners, house training and how to be a service dog.
“We get them out into the public while they are in obedience training. We give them real-world socialization through the whole process,” Callahan says. “We immerse them in all sorts of environments and situations.” He even takes his trainees to work with him at the hospital. “That way the dog gets exposure to noises and different stress levels,” he says.
Callahan always had pet dogs when he was growing up in Hanover. His neighbors had horses, and there were cows across the street; interacting with them during his childhood helped him realize he was “always drawn” to be a veterinarian.
To that end, Callahan spent years in undergraduate and graduate school at Hampden-Sydney College and Virginia Tech, eventually graduating from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. He’s been at Mechanicsville Veterinary Hospital for five years, managing the office since 2022. That’s where he learned about Leashes of Valor.
The volunteers rotate their canine students after four to six months so the dogs get used to different homes. “It makes for a dog you can take anywhere and [it will] be comfortable,” Callahan says. “That dog has to be the main source of calming and comforting [for its future owner].” After volunteer training, the dogs are paired with veterans and the duos attend classes to solidify their bond. Since its founding, Leashes of Valor has provided 34 successful pairings and now averages eight pairings a year.
Though he does get attached to his foster pups, Callahan tries to keep the bigger picture in mind.
“This dog has a bigger purpose: to help someone who has had certain situations taken away from them,” he says. “We owe it to the service members and the dog to make them the best dog they can be.”
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