Audie: From Sabres team dog to ‘lifesaving’ service animal

Audie, the Buffalo Sabres team dog from the 2024-25 season, is now settling into a new home and a far greater purpose.

On Aug. 18, Audie graduated the Pawsitive for Heroes program and entered the service of Marine Corps veteran Chad DuFrane. The program funds service dog training – including the past three Sabres team dogs – and pairs the animals with veterans in need.

The training is conducted at local correctional facilities, providing inmates, including incarcerated veterans, with a skill they can utilize upon their release.

In Audie’s case, training at Niagara County Correctional Facility, plus interacting with fans at KeyBank Center last season, prepared the Great Dane for life as a service dog.

DuFrane, 24, was raised by his grandparents in nearby Lancaster, N.Y., and he joined the Marine Corps at age 18. His battalion, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, was deployed to Afghanistan for a couple weeks ending in August 2021. On the 26th of that month, days before the United States withdrew its final troops from the country, suicide bombings at the Kabul, Afghanistan, airport killed 13 American servicemembers.

“It was my company that had lost the majority of people, so, that's just what I deal with on pretty much a daily basis,” he said. “It was really significant to receive [Audie] this month, because August 26 is the anniversary of the bombing in Afghanistan. So, it was really, really special to receive her this month.”

DuFrane completed his four years of service in July 2023. Soon after, upon arriving for an appointment at the VA and encountering a fellow veteran with a service dog, he learned of WNYHeroes, for which the Sabres are a sponsor.

WNYHeroes, per its mission statement, aims “to provide veterans, members of the armed services, and the widows and children of deceased veterans with access to essential services, financial assistance and resources that support their lives and sustain their dignity.”

One such service is Pawsitive for Heroes. Its interview process, facilitated by WNYHeroes co-founder – and a veteran himself – Chris Kreiger, deemed DuFrane a strong fit.

DuFrane and his wife, Margaret, took the dog home for two separate bonding stints earlier this month. And on Aug. 18, after thorough training by inmates at Niagara County Correctional Facility, Audie moved in with her new owners for good.

“Chris started to bring me into the jail to train with her and start getting her used to seeing me,” DuFrane said. “And it opens your eyes up to realize that a lot of the people in those facilities – yes, they're there for a reason, they did something bad – are really good people that just made a bad mistake. And without those guys, Audie wouldn't be trained to the point that she is. Or the other service dogs that graduated with her: they wouldn't be to the point in training that they are.”

So, how will Audie help her new owner? DuFrane regularly deals with anxiety, but the dog and her physical companionship – licking, nudging, etc. – help alleviate those feelings.

“I believe it's called pressure therapy – it's where, if I'm having a panic attack or an anxiety attack, she will come up and she will either lay on me or put her body weight on me,” DuFrane said. “And it helps slow your heartbeat, because you feel that pressure. … It's called grounding; it helps ground your senses and just bring you back down to where you should be.”

DuFrane and his new security blanket have quickly become attached at the hip, venturing together to grocery stores, restaurants and other public places with, to this point, immeasurable effect.

“It’s really life changing,” he continued. “There's a feeling you get when you go to the store with people that you were in the military with. Your panic and anxiety and stuff is not really there because you know someone's got your back. And when she's with me, it's like that same feeling, because I have an extra set of eyes and ears that is looking out for me.”

Audie’s training, after great strides in the jail, continues in DuFrane’s employ. Kreiger helps lead several more months of training, and beyond that, he’ll visit the household twice a year to ensure Audie and DuFrane’s bond remains strong.

“It's a phenomenal program, and I can't thank Chris and his team enough,” DuFrane said.

“Without the guys that are incarcerated, or the people (Purina) who provide the dog food, or all the sponsors, this program wouldn't work. And I don't know if you or the Sabres realize, but this program is truly lifesaving and life changing for us veterans, and we really appreciate it.”

Visit https://wnyheroes.org/ to learn more about the organization, its services and how you can support it.