Allison Merrill, who owns and operates SunDog, a day camp and boarding facility in Leelanau County, will pack and ship out over 100 boxes to retired Military Working Dogs (MWDs) in early March.

She says, “These dogs dedicated their life to service; this way to thank them and honor them for K9 Veterans Day which is March 13 — a holiday many do not know about and should!”

Ten years ago, Merrill traded in a career in the finance industry to take over SunDog in Bingham Township, which offers camplike day and overnight stays for dogs. Merrill also serves on the Board of Directors for the Military Working Dog Team Support Association (MWDTSA), the organization behind the military dog care packs.

Merrill says she got involved with MWDTSA soon after, because of “Remmy Boy,” a retired patrol explosive detection dog, war hero, and local celeb credited with saving dozens of lives.

“Remmy lived out his retirement days locally with Doug and Pam Davis. Mr. Davis was a Vietnam-era dog handler. Remmy bunked at SunDog many times and I just absolutely adored him. He was the sweetest soul in his retirement years, not a dog you would want to mess with in his working days! At one point in his time of serving he was on the Taliban’s most wanted Top 10 list,” Merrill says.

The MWDTSA focuses on active-duty deployed military dog teams; it also supports memorial efforts and creates “Honor Boxes” for retired military dogs.

Merrill tells the Leelanau Ticker, “Quarterly we send 200 care packs to deployed dogs overseas in combat zones. And then I also send about 100 boxes in early March to retired dogs who are now home and living the life of retirement, most with a handler they served with. These are my favorite boxes to send and most special to me as these dogs have dedicated their life to service and protecting our service members.”

MWDTSA is fully nonprofit and relies on donations. Merrill currently has a small Amazon Wishlist with items she’s hoping to collect before the Honor Boxes shipment goes out the first weekend in March.

The boxes include toys, treats, grooming, and hydration items for the dogs. The active-duty boxes also have many items for the handler “to deliver some comforts of home.” Merrill says a Michigan-themed box was one of the all-time favorites.

“It’s important to us to help make their deployments a little easier and just let them know we are thinking of them,” she says. “Owning and operating SunDog over all these years has blessed me and given me the opportunity to volunteer, donate, and host all these care pack events.”

Typically, at a pack event Merrill hosts up to 30 volunteers, but because of COVID precautions she is packing the boxes solo, with the help of “my own little army of dogs — German Shephard Dogs and Chihuahuas and a couple of foster dogs.”

She says as with most small businesses, fallout from the pandemic “has drastically hit camp here. Literally in two days last March I saw my entire year fall apart. Camp’s focus was always overnight stays and — poof — no one needed any as everyone was staying home.”

While regrouping, she was also helping feed dogs whose families were struggling.

“COVID may have hit SunDog but I made sure no matter what my dedication to foster dogs, dogs in need, and my volunteer work with MWDTSA would go on. No matter what. It’s helped take my mind off all the struggles of our community, nation as a whole, and the world.”

Contact Merrill through her business website, or for those considering a donation, a link to the MWDTSA Honor Boxes wish list is here. (For a tax receipt, leave a name and address in the note section.)