BUFFALO, N.Y. — The record and the way the year has gone for the Buffalo Sabres, it really just feels like a dog-eat-dog world. Maybe it's time to take a w-a-l-k for some even though everyone at KeyBank Center is trying to be a good boy. 

Do the Sabres have that 'dawg' in them? Well, they have Audie, official Sabres dog and service dog-in-training, who's been out on the concourse for fans to give pets.

"It's great for the socialization part of the dog, getting them used to everything and not really anything that's going to happen is going to happen here, noises and screaming," said Audie's handler, and Pawsitive for Heroes, founder Chris Kreiger. "This is our fourth Buffalo Sabers dog that we will be producing for the Buffalo Sabers and the Pawsitive for Heroes program."

Kreiger founded 'Pawsitive' under the WNY Heroes umbrella back in 2013 after deploying oversees in Iraq.

"Realizing the difference it made for me. I contemplated suicide day in and day out after coming back from Iraq, that's when I knew if it worked for me. It's got to work for everyone else," he said.

'Everyone else' in this scenario includes a small number of incarcerated individuals in several facilities across the region who help train dogs for veterans.

"What we're teaching these individuals here is how to build a relationship," he noted. "Get the dog to trust the inmates back. And it's about teaching them what our veterans are going to need once the dogs are officially turned over at the end of the 10 months."

Training includes special privileges and time spent with Chris and John Knopf in their rec area with a handful of special pups and The Sabres' secondary mascot.

"Distraction training, on my list, is number 1," said Knopf. "You take the dog into public? Distractions. The dogs here? Distractions. Everywhere you go, we call it environmental stress."

The isolation of prison helps with regular commands but drill in here make a huge difference back on the outside.

"Positivity here is working that handler and that dog. They're getting to know how to do obedience and when we take Audie out there," Knopf added. "With the obedience, we're teaching her she's out in the Keybank Center and not a crazy dog."

So during her 10-month stint in prison, every couple of weeks Audie gets to come out and play with the Sabrehood. Of course, just as she's learning how to be a good service dog, it will be another task once she graduates and joins her veteran.

"Now we have to teach the handler and the do's and don'ts and the dos and the don'ts are a big part of whether they're going to succeed as a team or not," said Kreiger. "We have all the faith in the world and the dog. It's now we need to gain that same faith in the veteran to become a team."

Until then, it's train, cheer, and in some cases, be a support animal for a fanbase desperate for the playoffs, with Chris and company looking to get more dogs in the hands of veterans and team jerseys.

"You know, we're looking at doing the same program with the Buffalo Bisons, potentially in the Buffalo Bandits. And we're still fighting to get the Buffalo Bills on board," he added. "So if you're out there and any of those teams want to get on board and get a team done through positive for hero support, supporting 1,000%."

An important distinction whether you see Audie or any other service dogs out in public - if a veteran or patient's dog has a working vest on, it's a clear indicator not to come up to the dog for pets and attention. When Audie and the fellow Sabres dog alumni come to town for events, if the vest is off, they're there for fun.