— A black Labrador puppy named after U.S. Army Sgt. Derek McConnell, who lost his legs in a 2011 IED explosion in Afghanistan and died this past March while recuperating, is learning the ropes when it comes to his training as a service dog for wounded veterans, and is doing "wonderfully," according to his trainers.

U.S. Army Sgt. Derek McConnell sits with his fiancee, Krystina Dressler. McConnell, who lost his legs in Afghanistan in July 2011, was found dead in his bed March 18.

Molly Morelli, director of the dog program at Warrior Canine Connection, said the puppy Derek is learning the foundation skills for a service dog such as turning on lights, tugging open doors and basic obedience.

"He is also spending lots of time out in the community being socialized to all kinds of sights and sounds," Morelli said.

Janet Lally, who serves as a "puppy parent" to Derek during his training, said the puppy Derek has been doing great with visits to the firehouse, restaurants, schools and the beach and has already learned many obedience commands. The puppy also been responding extremely well with learning non-verbal commands, Lally said.

Puppy parents are responsible for raising the dog from the age of three months to two years, and help provide training and intense socialization for the animals by taking them to public settings such as fire houses, restaurants and schools. After that, the dog is paired with a wounded veteran.

Siobhan Fuller-McConnell said the puppy has been registered as "No Luck, Only Sacrifice," which was her son's personal motto, but the dog will keep the name Derek McConnell for life.

"The Warrior Canine Connection is amazing, and Janet (Lally), Derek's puppy parent, is a doll," Fuller-McConnell said. "She's very sweet, she keeps me up to date on pretty much what he's doing daily."

Life for the soldier's mother, however, hasn't been easy since

.

In a post on

Wednesday, Fuller-McConnell said she had a "tough couple days ahead" as she was headed to a memorial service at Fort Drum in New York, a New Jersey run for the Fallen and a Gold Star Family day on Sunday.

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Gold Star Families is an organization for individuals whose family members have been killed in the line of duty.

"

Last year, I thanked God I had escaped gold star status," Fuller-McConnell said in her Facebook post. "Now I earned it. This is a sorority no one wants to pledge. Thank you for your continuing support."



The soldier Derek McConnell's namesake, though, lives on in his service to others, Lally said.



During one particular outing, Lally said, a father brought his son, who has special needs and was confined to wheelchair, over to Derek the puppy.

"The dad took his son's hand and moved it along Derek's head, neck and back gently stroking him for a few minutes," Lally said in an email. "Derek remained extremely still during all of this...no squirming. The dad thanked me and left. A few minutes later, a lady came over with tears in her eyes and thanked me for picking Derek up and allowing her son to be able to touch Derek. I will forever treasure that moment and I know for certain that Derek is going to continue to do great things and touch everyone he comes in contact with in some small way."