Viral army veteran, golden retriever bring joy to every corner worldwide

Kevin travels to various destinations across the globe with one goal in mind: spreading smiles & hope everywhere!

By Web Desk
August 15, 2025

Viral army veteran & golden retriever bring joy to every corner worldwide

Kevin Bubolz, who is a former Army helicopter pilot, travels the world with his beloved pet Ellie, a therapy dog with an infectious grin.

Kevin is on a worldwide mission to spread joy- one smile at a time, when human life has become so complicated like a cobweb, where we don’t find time and space for ourselves to cherish the little moments around us - that’s actually life!

Kevin and his golden retriever Ellie, together, have aim to brighten the days wherever they go.

Paws, purpose and healing

Kevin’s life changing encounter with the soothing presence of dogs happened during his military deployment, when their unit’s chaplain introduced Zac a calm and gentle black Labrador, bringing comfort to the troops.

Kevin beams with pride about his golden retriever, Ellie, but reflects on a past experience with a black lab, saying, “It was incredible to see how this little black lab could bring people together, get conversations going and just make people smile.”

Kevin after returning home from his military service, decided along with his wife Katie, to welcome Ellie into their family.

At the time, Katie was working at a hospital, and Kevin used to bring Ellie to visit patients.

When Kevin and Katie saw the positive impact Ellie had on patients lives, they decided to turn this into a "Mission" of spreading smiles.

Their philosophy is pretty simple: If they could make just one person smile, it was worth the effort.

Spreading smiles, healing hearts!

What started as local hospital visits quickly expanded to children’s hospitals and military bases across the globe, as evident on Kevin Bubolz’s social media handles.

Now, Kevin travels to various destinations across the globe with one goal in mind: spreading smiles and hope everywhere!