Military Working Dogs: The Army's Four-legged Heroes
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Military Working Dogs: The Army's Four-Legged Heroes
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Feb. 2, 2007) - Some Army "heroes" serving with Soldiers in the war on terror seldom get mentioned in the media, although they, too, have died in combat while serving America. They are military working dogs, and during the Vietnam War 281 of these four-footed heroes died in action.
One such dog recently returned home to Fort Belvoir, Va., from a tour of duty in Iraq, where she spent six months detecting explosives. Vendi, a 4-year-old German shepherd, is one of many unsung heroes, military working dogs who work alongside U.S. service members.
Of about 500 MWDs currently detailed to the Army, many are working with Soldiers in Iraq, said Sgt. 1st Class Donald Nelson, Fort Belvoir's K-9 kennel master. Deployed dogs can spend up to a year in the war zone and will eventually return to their home posts to resume duties as patrol dogs, specializing in narcotics or explosives detection.
Nelson and his team of 10 dogs and their handlers make up the Fort Belvoir Police Canine Unit, and Nelson anticipates getting four more dogs.
"These dogs are our partners, not our pets," Nelson said. And while they can be their handler's best friend, they can be a foe's worst enemy. When their aggression level is high and they're looking for something to bite, that's when they become "war dogs," and they can be as intimidating and formidable as any armed Soldier. The average German shepherd's bite can exert up to 1,200 pounds of pressure per square inch, Nelson said.
Seven-year-old Arrow, a German shepherd and Belgian Malinois mix, has an impressive record, Nelson said. Arrow assisted the U.S. Secret Service in about 50 missions, including providing security at the 2004 Democratic and Republican national conventions. Arrow and Nelson, his handler at the time, also helped provide security for President Bush and John Kerry on the 2004 campaign trail.
Fort Belvoir's team of German shepherds and Belgian malinois are dual-certified as both patrol-narcotics or patrol-explosives dogs, and are trained to detect a variety of explosives or narcotics. When commanded to search, the dogs are extremely focused and obsessively search for contraband, obeying the handler's precise one-word commands they were taught in training.
The dog teams are held to high standards and are subject to monthly proficiency tests and quarterly validations, Nelson said.
German shepherds and Belgian Malinois are specifically chosen for the type of work they do because of their endurance, speed, strength, courage, intelligence and adaptability to almost any climate, Nelson said. Though their hearing is better than that of humans, their keenest sense is of smell.
"The dogs smell the way we humans see. They can smell an infinite number of different scents in an area, just as we see many different images at once, in one place," Nelson said.
Two-year-old Tarak, the newest German shepherd at the Belvoir kennel, arrived in March from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, where all MWDs are trained. Tarak graduated from a 120-day training course that teaches MWDs a variety of aggression techniques, including methods of attack. The first phase of training involves searching buildings and scouting for "bad guys." The second phase is detection training.
The primary function of a patrol dog team is to utilize the dog's keen senses of hearing and smell to conduct walking patrols around buildings and open areas, "for people who try to elude police," said Nelson.
Patrol dogs are trained to remain alert but calm with unfamiliar people, and to discriminate between threatening and nonthreatening people. The dogs are trained to attack as well as instantly stop the attack when given the command to do so.
Nelson said the Army has the strictest policy concerning the training of MWDs. They undergo at least 16 hours' training monthly, in both detection and patrolling. In narcotics detection the dogs must maintain 90-percent proficiency, and in explosives detection must achieve at least 95-percent proficiency, Nelson said.
The staff at the Lackland Training Detachment, 701st Military Police Battalion, trains all MWDs in explosives or narcotics detection. The program also teaches the dog basic obedience, as well as more advanced skills, such as how to attack and how to sniff out specific substances.
Once the dogs receive their initial training, they and their trainers work as a team. The dog has skills to learn, and the handler has to learn to recognize what the dog is trying to communicate, Nelson said.
Each handler is assigned to one dog and is charged with building a strong rapport with that dog. This results in an effective and trusting team. Handlers are responsible for the feeding, grooming, training and exercising of their assigned partners.
Army regulations dictate that handlers and their MWDs have 45 to 90 days to become certified in narcotics or explosives detection once the team is given its assignment.
While training their dogs, handlers must be patient or the dog will become confused and hard to handle, Nelson said. When a dog performs a desired task, he's rewarded with verbal or physical praise and positive reinforcement. Likewise, with incorrect responses, praise and reward are withheld. Positive training is the key to training dogs to obey, Nelson said.
--Thank you to the hard working German Shepherds that are fighting for our freedom and even more thanks to the ones that did not make it home.
Last Updated (Friday, 09 April 2010 13:45)
German Shepherds helping our military
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 12:32 |
Thanks to the German shepherd dogs sniffing out explosives more of friends and family are able to come home to us safe and sound. BAGHDAD — Neil is a somewhat excitable, dark-haired 18-month-old German Shepherd dog but it has a healthy wet nose which crucially for the people of Iraq has been trained to sniff out explosives. During a demonstration at a checkpoint in Baghdad, Neil scurried around a car, smelling its front and back seats, boot and bonnet, before a handler patted its head approvingly and told a temporarily inconvenienced driver he could go. "We only check the cars we are suspicious of," said an Iraqi police officer, who admits single male drivers are the group most likely to be stopped because they are seen as potential suicide bombers. A recent scandal over a hand-held bomb-detection device which the Iraqi security forces use at checkpoints, but which US and British tests have shown is incapable of detecting explosives, has forced them to look at other options. The use of more sniffer dogs is a direct response. "We have 47 bomb dogs," said Brigadier General Mohamed Mossheb, commander of the K-9 unit at Baghdad Police College, and the officer tasked with building up the war-torn nation's canine capability. The German Shepherds, Belgian Shepherds (Malinois), and Labradors being used in Iraq are typically around one year old. They cost between 8,000 and 9,000 dollars and arrive from the United States or the Netherlands fully trained ahead of an expected 10-year working life. The price is a fraction of the estimated 16,500 to 60,000 dollar cost of the ADE651, the hand-held gadget known locally as the "Magic wand," which despite being banned from exports by Britain, where it was bought, is still used throughout Iraq and around 20 other countries. However, the task facing Mossheb, 48, who trained for five years at Baghdad Veterinary College before joining the police dog unit in 1986, is immense. "We would need 1,000 dogs to cover the entire country," said the officer, whose uniform bears the badge of a German shepherd with its long red tongue hanging out. "We have a plan in place but it will take time." The next steps are to have six dogs at each of 18 checkpoints surrounding the capital by the end of 2011, a further 20 at police stations on the east and west sides of the city, and several in each of Iraq's 17 other provinces. Security concerns are particularly heightened in the run-up to the country's March 7 general election, amid fears of politically motivated violence. The government is also under severe pressure from opponents who say a series of coordinated suicide attacks that killed more than 400 people in Baghdad in the past six months prove it has failed to secure the capital. Mossheb is acutely aware of allegations that the ADE651, more than 1,000 of which were bought by the government, failed to detect bombs that have caused hundreds, possibly thousands, of deaths since it came into use in 2008. "This machine has caused many problems," he said. "But it is a matter for the government to resolve." With bombers using increasingly sophisticated techniques, including hiding explosives in car frames or engines so they cannot be detected by the naked eye, sniffer dogs are considered very reliable. While the dogs arrive in Baghdad fully trained, a team is needed to look after them. Veterinarians, veterinary technicians and handlers are taking separate nine-week training courses at the K-9 unit's headquarters. Trainee handler Ammar Ali Najim, 31, from the northern city of Kirkuk, has spent one week at the police college and is acutely aware of the job's dangers. "Even if there is a bomb and it explodes, maybe my dog and I will die, but we might save the lives of 12 or 15 other people," he said. Cultural concerns over the use of bomb-sniffing dogs, however, have been a worry, given that many Muslims consider them dirty animals. While US soldiers and foreign private security firms have used dogs for years, Iraqis have been reluctant to, because soldiers did not like using them and the local population disliked being searched by them. US military officers, who were the first to question the effectiveness of the ADE651, believe dogs and more expensive hi-tech X-ray vans, which can screen an entire vehicle's contents, offer the best defense. The sheer difficulty of stopping car bombs, however, is apparent on the congested streets of the capital where traffic jams are constant. On Abu Nawas Street in Baghdad, through which an explosives-laden bus passed before the driver detonated its payload outside the Sheraton Hotel last month, killing several people, it was obvious that the police face a stark dilemma. In the two-and-a-half minutes it took Neil to check one car, around 70 vehicles, including several Lorries and small buses, were waved through without delay. So with the hard work of Neil and other German Shepherds hard at work hope fully they can get the bombs be for it’s too late. And make it a little safer for our soldiers. --So I thank you to the heroic German shepherd's for there hard work more of are friend and family coming home. And again thank you
Last Updated (Friday, 09 April 2010 13:45) German Sheperds Helping In The Search And Rescue In Haiti
Sunday, 17 January 2010 13:44 |
In the after math of the devastating earthquake in Haiti on tuesday, an uprecedented number of rescue dogs from around the globe are being deployed to help. Including the specially trained German Sheperds. With there Highly safistacated since of smell they are able to sniff out surviours from underneath the ruble. Including Jason Vasquez and his german sheperd Maverick from Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Jason Vasquez and Maverick from the Los angeles county fire department La County task force 2
Last Updated (Friday, 09 April 2010 13:46) German Sheperd Dogs
Thursday, 14 January 2010 15:57 |
The German sheperd is one of the more popular and versatile races of dog of the world. Born, affectionate worker with the family, excellent guardian, guide of blind, animal of rescue, patient and protector with the children. Bravery, intelligence, self-denial and fidelity are of the so many virtues that characterize this dog. Also it is known with the name of German Ovejero, or Dog Police (due to the use that the forces of security in many countries give them where they even count on specific units denominated K-9). His origins overcome at the end of century XIX, when in Germany a program of raising that gave like result the German shepherd, exposed for the first time in Hannover (Germany) in 1882 began. Fruit of crossings between shepherds of Turingia and Württenberg, was created for guard and protection of the flocks of sheep against the wolves.
Maximilian von Stephanitz, captain of cavalry of the German army, is considered the father of the race, being the first enrolled unit Horand von Grafath, a vigorous animal, of firm character, grayish coat and aspect lobuno. Later, after the appearance of the Friendly Association of the German Shepherd in 1899, a selection of unit began whose crossings improved so much the psychic aspect as physical of the animal. Nowadays, this race is not only one of the most wanted and admired by the lovers of the dogs, but their qualities also have allowed him to work in armies and police. In fact, served during the two world wars won a universal respect and admiration to him. Last Updated (Friday, 09 April 2010 13:39) |
