Inspiring Pictures of U.S. Combat Dogs in Action

They rarely get glory. Their funerals aren’t broadcast on TV. And they’ll never ask for praise. But there are 2,700 of these “soldiers” serving in the U.S. military. Who are they? They’re furry, have long noses, and walk on four legs. They are the military’s canines.

In fact, the New York Times reports that one such dog was involved in the raid on Osama bin Laden, sparking a wave of interest in what is becoming an essential tool in the war on terror.

“In 2007, the Marines began a pilot program in Afghanistan with nine bomb-sniffing dogs, a number that has grown to 350 and is expected to reach nearly 650 by the end of the year,” the Times says. “Over all, there are some 2,700 dogs on active duty in the American military. A decade ago, before the Sept. 11 attacks, there were 1,800.”

The dogs are used for everything from tracking, to search-and-rescue, to bomb-sniffing. While the breeds have traditionally been Shepherds, increasingly the military is turning to Labradors:

Within the military, the breeds of choice are generally the German shepherd and a Belgian shepherd, or Malinois, but Marines in Afghanistan rely on pure-bred Labrador retrievers because of the dogs’ good noses and nonaggressive, eager-to-please temperaments. Labs now accompany many Marine foot patrols in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan,

She just turned out small -- her breeder calls her the "miniature Lab". Her full brother (different litter) is a moose - GrHRCH Joe's Chattahoochee Riptide ("Hooch"). He just finished the Grand for a second time (that's the top of the top in HRC - something I don't aspire to :-D )

I think what's going on is that the breeding was a profound outcross -- a short, stocky, blocky conformation champion father and a tall, lean, leggy daughter of a National Field Champion (the only Choc ever to take that title). When the DNA was shook up and dealt, Shelley got the leanness (and the birdiness) of her mother, but the short back and short legs of her father. So she's not only small, but lightly built. She is just an inch or so shorter than my other two, but both of them are VERY long in the back and that adds weight. You can really see the difference when they run full out -- Katy and Ruby undulate like porpoises, Shelley just flies along in a straight line like a missile. The bigger girls are faster over a longer distance, but Shelley is a blinding sprinter and can turn on a dime.

I agree with everything you say (listen to him!)

That's why I added the qualifier "(if well bred)" - GSDs like Labs have been overbred and not always well bred due to their popularity. And the AKC conformation folks have had their way with the GSDs just like they have with the Labs . . . with fairly predictable results. Labs don't have the "tricycle gait" problem, but they have others . . . legs too short, muzzle too short, too much bone, overweight, losing the desire to retrieve. The British Kennel Club has the requirement that a dog must have a performance title suitable to the breed in order to qualify as a conformation champion, which helps.

What the Labs have that the GSDs don't that makes them better in the IED detection business is the desire to retrieve. Until you've seen a really keen Lab coming up to the line with her hackles up and her tail fluffled out just because she knows she's about to be allowed to pick up a duck, it's hard to comprehend just how crazy they are about it. My middle dog, Ruby, is just about certifiably insane when it comes to ducks (she's from very high drive field lines, but she takes birdiness to a whole new level. At age almost 5, we are finally getting that drive under control so that she can actually work a hunt test.)

She's just sitting in the holding blind waiting to be called to the line, but the sound of duck calls and shotguns is driving her nuts. Look at the hair along her back, and at the root of her tail you can see her "fluffy donut" - a ring of hair she inflates at the word "duck".

"OMG it's a MALLARD!!!!!" (notice the hind legs are floating a couple inches above the ground)

"GANGWAY!"

My oldest Lab (the wise one) does a "bark and hold". She will also air snap.

All of mine are under quarantine right now for rabies because Animal Control found a sick raccoon in our yard and I couldn't honestly say my dogs were in sight every minute before I found it. But Shelley was doing a bark and hold on it at a discreet distance - about 10 feet - and the others keep behind the leader. She was doing a darned good imitation of a schutzen dog . . . the raccoon was too sick to care, thank goodness.

Very good. Your dogs look like pure champions. I guess my point in questioning the use of Labs wasn’t one of how that breed performs. My question was about the way the article was written and I thought it may have been more “PC” to use Labs. I am all for the military using the proper dog for the proper activity. I just didn’t want them having to use the wrong dog because they look less frightening. You have to admit it: Labs don’t look frightening! They look very approachable. (perhaps that is just me since many of my cousins owned Labs and I am very comfortable around them). Even though I own a GSD, I wouldn’t approach one that I didn’t know. Thanks.

Well, part of that is just the breed's reputation - "Oh, it's a Lab, it won't bite." Most of them won't, of course, but I've known some pretty sharp Labs and even some that are dog-aggressive -- mostly from the high-bred field lines. I can't say I've ever met a people-aggressive Lab, though. My black girl, even though she looks ferocious in the field, is a complete wuss about everything but ducks . . . if you approach her, she'll grin and sit and lick your hands. Just don't get between her and a mallard or you'll get run over.

The military is getting more and more PC, and that's not good, but I don't think the guys on the front line are compromising on safety . . . yet.

“I don’t think the guys on the front line are compromising on safety”

My thought were this: they are allowing openly gay people in the military and that is PC (IMHO). Even though many of the military upper rank individuals said that this could cause a huge problem with our military. I figured that this change may be part of a bigger problem. A change in appearance type of PC. You are right about Labs though. In all my years I haven’t heard of one aggressive one. I know that is probably impossible but I haven’t. Now, I will say that I knew of at least four Yorkshire Terriers that would try to take your hand off. One of them that I knew had a pretty pink bow and painted nails. A disguise, I’m thinking. It was literally a Cujo in a small, cute body. LOL

Oh, I love discussing dogs, their breeding, instincts, and working abilities. Too many in the USA just think of them as “pets”, not as workers who are happiest when they have a job to do.

I just love the middle pic of your working lab.The intensity in her eyes is awesome. You can tell she is really into doing her job, and loves every second of it.

It occurs to me that it is probably more expensive to find a healthy GSD or Malinois who has the correct build and temperament than a good Lab, but I could be wrong.

Also, training these dogs is so expensive, and the training needs to be very specific. A scent trained dog is usually trained for only one type of scent work. A cadaver dog doesn’t do drug work, and a search and rescue dog doesn’t do cadavers.

Coat type must also be considered. The military doesn’t want dogs who have hard to maintain coats, I would imagine, which is why the short-haired Malinois is used rather than the Terveuren, Groenendahl, or Lakenois. These latter require too much grooming to be practical in the field, I am thinking.

But, I am just speculating.

I agree that it's easier (and cheaper) to find a good Lab than a good GSD or Malinois. There are just so many MORE Labs around, and plenty of those are quite well bred . . . I can think of three breeders off the top of my head from whom you could get a pup that with the proper training could go to the highest levels of retrieving work. And a dozen more who would sell you what we call a "meat dog" - not necessarily a top flight competition dog, but a good working retriever for hunting ducks, pheasant and upland birds.

And yes, EVERY dog needs a job! So many little lap dogs wouldn't be so snappy and neurotic if they had work to do. . . my oldest Lab, the Choc, competed in agility until she was 9 - got her AX and AXJ (AKC), AD and AJ (USDAA) titles - and the 4 inch (four inch!) class was hilarious, all those tiny MinPins and Yorkies and what not with their little legs going like sewing machines. The great thing about running a tiny dog in agility is You Can Keep Up. I perfected the rear cross and remote handling because Shelley was so darned FAST.

She takes a sort of humorous approach to her work - including retrieving -- she gets pretty revved up at the line, and she stands no nonsense from a wounded mallard, but you can see that she keeps her cool, unlike my black dog:

She is thinking all the time - my black doesn't necessarily stop to reason things through. When our club provided pickup dogs at a charity pheasant shoot, she did most of the work. She will winkle a bird out of deadfall and heavy cover, isn't at all worried by an angry wounded cock pheasant, and is always steady - never breaks, never creeps out in front of the gun.

On the other hand, she is not real keen on handling to a blind, because she sees herself as the Hunting Retriever Queen: "What? You're trying to tell me where the downed bird is? You with your puny two legs and ridiculous nose? Go get a cup of coffee, I'll find it on my own." This gets her points as a working hunting dog . . . but NOT in a hunting test!

I'm hopeful that my young Yellow Lab, just turned two, will have the black's drive but the choc's steadiness. She's done very well so far, she has her Started title in UKC/HRC and lacks one pass for her Junior Hunter title in AKC.

Never intended to get a third dog, I call her my "semi-rescue" - she was not in any danger and she wasn't being ill treated in any way, but she was just vegetating in the bitch's owner's back yard and not being used for the game. With her breeding it would have been a sin to leave her in the back yard just hanging out and chasing the occasional frisbee. And she is an absolutely beautiful dog - with her father's perfect temperament -- her father lacks one pass for his Hunting Retriever Champion title -- and is absolutely the sweetest, friendliest Lab you'll ever meet.

Have you got dogs right now? Are they working?

Look at that sweet happy smile on your young yellow “semi-rescue”. And, good for you to give her a life beyond frisbees!

I had to make the hardest choice in my entire life last November. It is still a raw wound.

My husband has Parkinson’s, and it was time to move into a “senior community” before he became so fragile that we would be considered ineligible. Timing is everything, unfortunately. You have to get in before you are too incapacitated.

This meant that we had to find a new home for our beloved Malinois, because most “senior retirement communities limit you to one pet, under 30 lbs”. Some refuse dogs, but will accept cats and birds.

I put the call out on the Belgian list, and had folks ready to take them, but my trusted vet backed me up against the wall and read me the riot act. He pointed out the cataracts that both my elderly Mals had, and convinced me that while they could function perfectly well with limited sight in their familiar home turf, they would be lost, heart-broken, and bewildered if sent to a strange place with strange people.

So, I did the harder thing. I miss them so much that I can’t type any more. My children got me a little (under 30 lb) Havanese. Sweet, shy, but not a replacement in my heart for my beloved Hanna and Shadow.

Can’t type any more... tears.

Okay, one more war dog story, and then I'll leave you alone...Quit hounding you , as it were. (Get it? 'Quit hounding you...dogs, hounds-oh, never mind.) Here's the story:

Way back in the 1970s (probably 1976, the bicenntenial year) it was suggested that Congress see to it that a statue was erected to honor the war dogs of WWI , WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam . (I believe earlier dogs with the US military were merely mascots rather than trained canines who served a military function, but I am not 100% sure of that.) One would think that that would be about the least controversial cause Congress ever took up, but no : Some suggested that honoring war dogs "demeaned" men and women veterans of our armed services. Arguing ensued, and then

A Congressman stood up. (No, I don't know his name or even which House he was in (probably the HOR rather than the senate) ; I am pulling this from my memory from reading a book on the history of dogs .) The Congressman described his WWII service "island hopping " in the Pacific. He described hunger, stress, constant fear of death, seeing good friends die and having to kill other human beings...And sleeplessness. How can one fall asleep and sleep restfully when one is in a war zone?

The ONLY time he and the men of his platoon got some much needed deep sleep was when a canine and his handler travelled with them. THEN he and his men could get restorative sleep, knowing they were guarded by the alert senses of the dog.

He suggested putting the wear dog memorial at the entrance to Arlington. The dog could sit there,forever on duty, forever alert, guarding the men as they lay in their eternal sleep.

In a sane country, that suggestion would have motion carried on the spot. The suggestion was just so perfect, so RIGHT. It was the most intelligent suggestion made in Congress throughout the entire 1970s. But no. :-(

But fortunately, a memorial was erected to the war dogs-several, in fact. One is at a veterenarian school in Tennessee, one is in Guam, I believe one or two others have since been erected at other locations.

The War Dog Memorial in Guam

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