KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After months of trying to adopt his former K-9 partner, a former U.S. Army sergeant and his dog, Diego, are finally back together in Kansas City.
Now, Logan Black and the now-retired Diego are inseparable – as though no time passed since they last saw each other.
“Yup. This is it. He just wants to be loved,” Logan Black said.
At his new home in Kansas City, Diego gets to nap on the couch, chew on rawhide bones, and get his belly rubbed all day.
“It’s pretty much right back to where we used to be,” Black explained.
About a month and a half ago, FOX 4 spoke to Logan Black as he was starting his facebook campaign to adopt his former I.E.D. detecting dog. After that, his cause went viral.
“I initially started out by inviting a hundred friends on Facebook, and now there are over 5,000 people that are constantly asking for pictures or just sending their well-wishes in support,” Black said.
Black asked those thousands of Facebook fans to write letters to the Secretary of the Air Force to expedite Diego’s retirement, and thousands of letters poured in.
A week and a half ago, Black got one happy phone call – Diego would be his. At 8:00 Tuesday morning, the two were reunited in San Antonio. Five years after they last saw each other, it took just moments for Diego to remember Black.
“We walked around for a second and then he immediately started to remember who I was, and it wasn’t long before we were rolling around on the ground and he was licking my face,” Black said.
For this man and his best friend, it’s the beginning of a new phase, a quieter phase. There will be no bombs and no guns, just a life of naps, walks, and belly rubs.
Diego is 8 years old and does have a few health problems, but Black says his personality is just the same as always. Black has PTSD, and he’s hopeful Diego will be able to help him recover. He also plans to have Diego certified as a PTSD service dog to help others.
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