Capitals' Team Dog Gets Forever Linemate In Retired Veteran

WASHINGTON, DC — Washington Capitals fans were introduced to team dog Captain in 2019 and watched him grow and make memories with the team.

But the pup always had a bigger purpose as a service dog in training to eventually assist a veteran, active duty service member or first responder with disabilities. Captain's new journey has started as he was placed with a retired veteran with disabilities.

Various National Hockey League teams started adding service dogs in training to their rosters in 2019. Captain became the Capitals' dog that year as a 10-week-old puppy, getting to experience the hockey world through community events, practices, home games, and even cuddles with some of the Caps players.

The Capitals hosted Captain while he was being raised with basic training and socialization until he was ready to complete formal service dog training with America's VetDogs in 2020. America's VetDogs area coordinator Deana Stone was tasked with puppy-raising Captain.

"When I puppy-raised Captain, I gave him a really good foundation of many different skills," said Stone in a video released by the Capitals. "My favorite that he did was rest, just put his head in someone's lap and allow them to kind of decompress a little bit."

After puppy-raising concluded, Captain returned to the America's VetDogs in Smithtown, New York, for the formal service dog training. Instructor Kim Stasheff started Captain's training in February.

"We get the dogs back when they come back from the puppy-raisers and we train them with the skills to a higher detail and then we make the match both personality-wise and skill-wise, and then we train the veteran with that dog," said Stasheff in the video.

Captain was paired with retired U.S. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Mark Gwathmey, a St. Leonard, Maryland, resident. The service dog is trained to respond to cues and tasks in response to Gwathmey's disability.

Those responses include retrieving dropped items, counterbalance, summoning assistance, seizure response, positional cues to extend personal space, and PTSD cues such as rest, nightmare interruption and shake.

Gwathmey served in the U.S. military around the globe, including in Desert Storm, Somalia, Rwanda, Liberia and Bosnia. In the U.S., he was part of the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, tasked with cleaning up the anthrax-infected Hart Senate Building and the two D.C. post offices after the anthrax attacks in 2001.

As a Marine he was deployed during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and was injured during a building collapse. During a second Iraq deployment in 2004, Gwathmey blacked out following a combat mission and was evacuated to Germany for medical treatment.

After returning to Iraq and following the siege of Fallujah, he was injured during a combat operation. Gwathmey was injured again during another tour in Iraq when improvised explosive devices detonated. Those explosions worsened his previous injuries, causing a traumatic brain injury and bringing on a seizure disorder.

After over 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Gwathmey's medical retirement in 2011 was followed by a civilian stint in the U.S. Navy as a disaster preparedness specialist. He continues to serve in that civilian role.

Gwathmey said Captain gives him "comfort and security" and assures his family he is taken care of. Captain can press a button to notify Gwathmey's wife in another part of the home if he has a seizure.

On top of that, Gwathmey is a big fan of dogs and is happier with one by his side, according to Gwathmey's wife, Carolyn Gwathmey.

As a pup that grew up in a hockey world, it's only appropriate to say Captain has gained a forever linemate.