Therapy dogs helping wounded soldiers in Iraq

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While others of their species are in Iraq to guard U.S. military bases and sniff out explosives, Bo and Budge are assigned a different duty.

The two Labradors are Army therapy dogs deployed to medical facilities in Tikrit and Mosul to boost the morale of wounded and injured soldiers by wagging their tails and acting friendly and pet-able. They’re also pioneers: the first dogs used in such capacity.

So far, reports from the front are good: Bo and Budge are considered G.I. from nose to tail.

That’s Budge and his handler, Army Sgt. Duane Sanders, an occupational therapist at the medical facility at Mosul.

Tony Perry, in San Diego