NEED TO KNOW
- Air Force K-9 handler Tara Cummins and her military dog, Erika, were separated when Cummins got reassigned from a base in New Jersey to a base several states away in Texas
- Fortuitous timing would not keep them separated for long
- Soon after they separated, the military decided to retire Erika, and the canine’s former handler made sure to adopt her
Every dog has its day.
For Erika, an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois, her good fortune came when she was reunited with her former Air Force K-9 handler of nearly two years.
The military dog and Technical Sergeant (TSgt.) Tara Cummins were separated in July when Cummins got reassigned from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
The separation came after the pair completed numerous national security operations stateside and abroad, which included traveling overseas on Secret Service missions as well as being deployed in Kuwait.
However, fortuitous timing would not keep them separated for long, as the military decided a month later that Erika would need to retire due to her showing signs of spinal degeneration and arthritis.
Cummins, who has partnered with six dogs throughout her 13-year military service stint since 2012, adopted Erika upon hearing the retirement news.
“She’s my little princess,” Cummins explained of her decision to adopt. “She was the only female dog that I’ve worked with out of the six dogs that I’ve partnered with, and she was also the smallest.”
“Everybody loves Erika,” Cummins added. “She’s just a light. Just watching her little butt wiggle into the room will bring anybody’s day up.”
Cummins and her wife, another active-duty Air Force member, got to see Erika’s butt wiggle again when they reunited with her on Sept. 14 in San Antonio, where the couple lives with their two other dogs and three cats.
“Huge appreciation to my wife … and the fact that she has a willingness to allow now a sixth animal into her home — I couldn’t do it without her,” Cummins said, before also thanking the retired dog. “And most of all, huge appreciation to this little chicken for keeping me safe for so many years.”
Cummins also expressed her gratitude for the American Humane Society, which facilitated the adoption, and Erika’s former handler, whom Cummins had contacted to see if he wanted first dibs on the retired military dog.
“So I gave him a call and I was like, ‘Hey, listen, I’ve been working with Erika for this long. I really love her, I’m obsessed with her, I’ve loved her since day one. … If you want to take her, absolutely, you’ve earned that right. I would let her go for you,’ ” Cummins recalled.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
She added, “He said, ‘I want her to go to you.’ He told me, ‘I can’t watch them get old, that would be too painful for me … You should have her.’ ”
And that’s how Erika — who had five handlers throughout her seven years of service — finally had her day, retired and reunited with her final handler.
Read the full article here
