Shelter dog makes history as first-ever 'morale dog' stationed on a US Navy ship

Shelter dog makes history as first-ever 'morale dog' stationed on a US Navy ship

Shelter dog makes history as first-ever 'morale dog' stationed on a US Navy ship At Shelter to Soldier, 1-year-old lab mix Raider has been undergoing “special training” since April of this year. It’s all for one very exciting job: to become the first-ever “morale dog” to join active-duty Marines and sailors on USS Makin Island. Raider training for his role as "morale dog." Photo courtesy of Shelter to Soldier/Facebook For the past decade, the San Diego nonprofit has trained shelter dogs as psychiatric service animals for United States veterans.  When the training director, Nicky Moore, started bringing therapy dogs to Navy ships for special outings, the crews had one request. “Every single time it was like, ‘I really wish we had a dog that stayed on board.’ Like, ‘Can we take this dog on deployment with us?’ And so we just kind of were like, ‘Actually yeah,’” Moore told NBC San Diego. Raider was the perfect fit. Raider sits on the USS Makin Island. Photo courtesy of Shelter …