President's Special Project, U.S. Kennels
Department President VaNette Jones with Chris Hardy and Brody
from U.S. Kennels, VaNette's Special Project.
Chris Hardy began training dogs in Afghanistan in 2006. Even though he has PTSD, Chris has kept his passion to use dogs to help others. In 2014, Chris and his wife, Mirela, founded U.S. Kennels with the goal of matching rescue dogs to disabled veterans. In 2017, the training facility opened. Chris finds suitable dogs at Delmarva shelters and matches them to a Veteran. They become a team that works with the USK trainers for a year or more until the dog is a fully trained service dog. Even though not every dog or veteran is able to finish the program, Chris pushes on to help the next person that comes to him for help – inviting them to be a part of the U.S. Kennel’s family.
