Dogs are truly man's best friend.

A Lakewood Marine is doing his best to honor the soldier that has had his back on and off the job. 

Richard White-Pickett, a contractor for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, has spent his last year working and living with his partner, bomb-sniffing canine, Abel. The team serves their country by helping clear and sweep areas of possible explosives to ensure the safety of all.

You better believe when a man and his dog work in such a high-stakes and precise field, they develop an unbreakable bond. The trust must be absolute when it comes to this kind of work, and White-Pickett and Abel spent a lot ot training time to become an efficient team. 

Abel is such a good boy. Courtesy of GoFundMe. 

And that is why White-Pickett needs our help. They both will be returning stateside soon, and he wants to keep Abel by his side. Unfortunately, Abel is owned by a company that contracts working dogs to the military and other organizations, and White-Pickett's request to take his canine companion home with him to Lakewood was denied. Abel will likely go back into service with another handler.

So White-Pickett decided to raise the funds to pay for Abel, who is valued at about $25,000 due to his highly specific skills, and make the company an offer he hopes it won't refuse. 

"Abel and I have served our country and now that we’re no longer needed we’re being sent back. I’ll go home and make a new life for myself and Abel will go back to the kennel where he would normally wait for my return, but this time, I wont. I will never again get to see the excitement in his whole body when I walk through the kennel door after a disheartening month apart. Unless there’s a change of heart," White-Pickett wrote on the fundraising page. 

White-Pickett started a petition and created a GoFundMe to see if he can garner the support need to persuade Abel's owner to have a change of heart. Any funds raised beyond the purchase price will be donated to the Rescue22 Foundation; if Abel's current owner doesn't sell him to White-Pickett, all the funds raised will go to the foundation. 

"It is my goal to certify Abel as a service and therapy dog, partner with multiple foundations, and share him with as much of the world as I possibly can," White-Pickett said. 

You can donate to this cause on the GoFundMe site.