For this once-surrendered, deaf Dogo Argentino named Axel, the arc from being a foster dog in Florida to a ministry dog within the Michigan National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment sounds like a non sequitur.
But for his owner and handler Sgt. Mollie Karazim, a religious affairs specialist, the transition was one befitting Axel’s soft, happy demeanor.
“Axel is not a tactical asset; he is a force multiplier by means of mental health and soldier readiness,” Karazim told Military Times. “He helps soldiers who are fighting wars sometimes silent and in their own heads by offering comfort to them. By being that icebreaker that allows the unit ministry team to be introduced and help. Dogs are absolutely incredible blessings and I’m so grateful to share him, and it makes me so proud to watch him work and put smiles on people’s faces.”
His deafness, Karazim added, is not a detraction but his superpower.
“I truly do think that his deafness has created a different kind of bond between the two of us,” she said. “I love how willing he is to learn. He always wants to learn. He always wants to be doing new things, experience new things.”
Before adopting Axel from DC DOGO Rescue, Karazim had been specifically seeking to rescue a deaf dog, having previously owned one without the gift of hearing.
“I really appreciate the bond that comes with a dog that cannot hear,” she added.
Adopted as a puppy, the now three-year-old Axel began training with Karazim from the jump and is now readying to deploy alongside Karazim, who has spent more than three years with the 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment, working alongside chaplains to support soldiers throughout the formation.
“I trained all the behaviors in him that I wanted and the things I wanted him to do,” she said. “I exposed him to all the things he was going to be exposed to — to a certain degree. … It sounds funny, like, ‘how do you expose a deaf dog to fireworks?’ But he needs to be exposed to all that stuff, because even though he can’t hear it, he can feel everything, and he needs to not be scared. He needs to trust me.”
But Axel’s deafness does have some advantages.
“He can just shut it down and take a nap in the middle of the office when it’s loud, and things are going on and banging, and he is just knocked out, snoring on the floor, you know? So I really do think that does help him in that sense,” Karazim noted.
Despite knowing she wanted to train Axel as a ministry therapy dog, the soldier had to bide her time to make sure it was the right fit.
Karazim immediately placed Axel on a regimented training schedule and waited… one year, two years — hoping that the years of training would make Axel blend seamlessly within her unit.
That wait paid off in spades earlier this year, when Axel began working alongside Karazim, riding in Humvees, taking in the sights from airplanes and running or rucking alongside soldiers of the battalion during PT tests.
“He ran the two-mile right with everyone, and I can 100% confidently say that everyone ran faster because of him. I know I did,” Karazim laughed.
“He just really loves it,” she continued. “And he knows that that’s his job now. He has his collar that has his name and his rank on it, and he knows that he only wears that when he goes to work. When he sees my uniform, he knows what it means. And when he has his collar, he knows what it means. He really is a different dog at work.”
Since then, Axel’s little black nose and impish, big smile have become a staple within the unit.
“He’ll go into the office and just wag his tail and put his head on you. Just that little bit of comfort to people is a game changer,” said Karzim. “So many times I’ve had people say, ‘Man, just having him walk in just made my whole day. I needed that so much.’ If there are people that he can sense need more time, he will stay in there, and they can just sit there and pet him and love on him.”
Trained as a therapy dog, Karazim developed a system of visual cues and hand signals to communicate with him that includes more than 50 commands and incorporates American Sign Language. And while he is very in tune with his owner, soldiers within the unit have begun learning ASL to communicate with him as well.
“If you watched me interact with him, you would have no idea that he’s deaf at all. And most people are shocked when I introduce him to people. I really do think that’s his superpower. I truly do. I think it makes him very special, and it just makes him more in tune with everybody’s emotions and that’s what makes him a special therapy dog.”
Axel is now preparing to deploy alongside Karazim and her unit, where he is set to circulate with her and other chaplains to meet with soldiers across the battalion.
“He’ll circulate with us, and he’ll travel wherever we go. People can request to talk to us; people request him all the time,” Karazim said.
“When you’re deployed,” she continued, “everything that you have, that sense of home, is taken away from you. This is why I wanted him to start working with us a year before we left so that he was integrated into the unit — that he knew this was his new normal, these were his people, and this was his job, and that people also had the opportunity to get to know him, so that when we do deploy, and we’re downrange, that he is that piece of home for people.”
Claire Barrett is an editor and military history correspondent for Military Times. She holds a master’s degree in military history from King’s College, London, and is also a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.
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