Tim McGraw performed in Kent, Wash. outside of Seattle for the Audacy Throwdown concert on July 8, and the hosts of 100.7 The Wolf's Morning Wolfpack had a bit of a surprise for the singer. Not only did they rename the town of Kent to "Tim Town" for the day, but they introduced McGraw to his namesake: an adorable service dog named McGraw.
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During a pre-show interview, the radio hosts explained that the puppy is currently in training with the The Battle Buddy Foundation, which trains service dogs for service-disabled combat veterans. They brought puppy McGraw out to meet the real McGraw during the chat, and it was love at first sight for the singer. While he admitted that the Australian Labradoodle didn't look like a "tough dog," McGraw immediately took the pup onto his lap and the two bonded for a while.
While the singer held the pup, radio host Matt McAllister explained that the foundation has trained over 200 service dogs for wounded veterans, and they've not lost one veteran to suicide in that amount of time.
Watch here at the 7:45 mark:
"It's a wonderful program that does so much for so many people," McGraw said, while holding the pup. "It gives everybody so much hope."
McGraw gave the puppy one last kiss before handing him back to the Battle Buddy staff.
During the interview, McGraw also chatted about the process of creating his upcoming album, Standing Room Only. McGraw worked with writers like Lori McKenna and Tom Douglas on the project, who help him bring his song ideas to life.
"What happens is I have these ideas of the kinds of themes I want and the kinds of sounds I want for a record," he says. "I start writing songs according to those ideas. [Then] all of a sudden all my favorite songwriters start sending me songs. I'll get songs that are thematically similar to what I've been writing and the ideas in my head and I'm like 'Shoot, that's what I was trying to write, and that's way better.' So, mine gets knocked off the list."