The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Minnesota Wild announced it has adopted Winnie, a six-month-old Golden Retriever rescue dog from Coco’s Heart Dog Rescue, on a one-year training contract. Winnie will be raised to become a future service dog and joins the Wild as part of the team’s Adopt-A-Dog Program presented by CUB. The program’s mission is to give a local hero a hero of their own.
This marks the eighth season the Wild has adopted a dog from Coco’s Heart Dog Rescue. Breezer, a Labrador Retriever, was the first team dog adopted during the 2019-20 season, Hobey, a Golden Retriever, was adopted for the 2020-21 season; Celly, a Shepherd/Catahoula/Labrador mix, was adopted for the 2021-22 season; Brooksy, a Labrador Retriever mix, was adopted for the 2022-23 season; Hatty and Dino, two Golden Retriever mixes, were adopted for the 2023-24 season and Rookie, a Labrador Retriever mix was adopted for the 2024-25 season. After a year of training with the Wild organization, the dogs then train with Soldier’s 6, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit based in Minnesota that provides honorably discharged veterans, police officers, and firefighters with specially trained K-9s.
Minnesota Wild’s Partnership Fulfillment Coordinator, Brooklyn Godes, will foster Winnie and help facilitate basic obedience training until the summer of 2025. Following his tenure with the Wild, Winnie will pursue a career training with Soldier’s 6. At the conclusion of his specialized training, Winnie will be permanently placed with a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a “Battle Buddy” and will help guide them through the difficult days in life.
Fans can follow Winnie’s journey with the Wild on Instagram and X and at wild.com/winnie.
(info and photo courtesy of Wild)
