Dogs have good memories. They’ll remember a familiar face from years before. And that was certainly the case for a Yellow Lab named Pax who was reunited with his trainer.

Pax now belongs to Iraq War veteran Bill Campbell who served two tours overseas. After returning home from the first, he became a biologist at the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Then, he decided to reenlist in 2004 with the National Guard.

However, during that second tour, he suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple concussions along with shrapnel injuries to his brain.

Upon his final return home, Campbell was deemed 100% disabled.

The 47-year-old returned to his home state of Washington with even more invisible injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety.

He was unable to leave his home. That is, until he received some assistance in the form of a 17-month-old service dog donated to him by a non-profit called Puppies Behind Bars. That dog is Pax.

Puppies Behind Bars is an organization which “trains prison inmates to raise service dogs for wounded war veterans and first responders, as well as explosive-detection canines for law enforcement.”

According to their website:

“Puppies enter prison at the age of 8 weeks and live with their inmate puppy-raisers for approximately 24 months. As the puppies mature into well-loved, well-behaved dogs, their raisers learn what it means to contribute to society rather than take from it.”

Since Pax needed to go on walks multiple times a day, Campbell was forced to leave the house to care for him. That slowly helped him reacclimate to the world outside.

Pax is also trained to watch Campbell’s back by sitting or lying behind him and warning him if someone is coming or is in his blind spot. This helps alleviate a lot of his anxiety.

Eventually, Campbell decided he wanted to thank the people who trained Pax and helped him recover. So he and his wife Domenica made a 3000-mile trip from Washington all the way to New York’s Bedford Hills Correctional Facility where Pax was trained.

The minute they entered the women’s maximum security prison, Pax was clearly excited to be in a familiar place.

When he finally saw Laurie Kellogg, the woman who trained him, he couldn’t contain his excitement. Pax sprinted over to her and covered her face in kisses.

Laurie is in prison for murder and she too has PTSD after years of domestic violence. She was given Pax to train just three weeks after the death of her father and he played a special role in helping her mourn.

It was a very emotional moment when Laurie told her story to Campbell and his wife.

While she was sad to see him go at the end of his training, she knew Pax would be able to go out and do some good.

“I knew he would make someone feel safe. He made me feel a sense of freedom in a place I was supposed to feel anything but.”

Laurie was emotional about the reunion and thankful for the opportunity to see her old friend again and thanked Campbell with a hug for making the trip.

“I never thought I’d see him again,” she said. “If they opened the doors and let me out of prison, I wouldn’t feel this good.”

It’s clear Pax is a very special dog.

Be sure to scroll down below and watch the duo’s heartwarming reunion.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: OWN via YouTube, Honest to Paws, Puppies Behind Bars