Last year, the Houston Texans and Kroger announced a collaboration with America's VetDogs to name and train a future service dog that will be placed with a veteran or first responder with disabilities.
Named in a fan voting contest, Kirby came to the Texans as a 10-week-old puppy with a purpose ready to play and work. Over the next 15 months, Kirby underwent basic training with his volunteer puppy raiser MacKenzie. He visited Texans players, staff and fans at community events, training camp, meet and greets, and home games which assisted in raising and socializing him to become a confident future service dog.
He competed in the puppy bowl last February, taking home the Most Valuable Pup award. In September, Kirby returned back to America's VetDogs in New York for formal training to learn advanced service dog skills that will help mitigate his veteran's disabilities. Kirby's purpose is to serve those that have served our country.
In December, Kirby finally met his match: United States Army Sergeant Major Kevin Bittenbender who served our country for 34 years. Thank you to Kroger, America's VetDogs and Texans fans who helped get Kirby for his life's purpose.