I think the military dogs are wonderful. However, I ponder the logic about Marines and Labs? I get the idea that Labs have good noses but because they are non-aggressive? Non-aggressive to whom? Don’t you want a dog that can defend the soldiers or Marines over one that will lick you to death?
Maybe they had a problem with the German Shepherds being overly protective of their masters with other US personnel. I doubt they want the dog to attack the enemy.
The Labs are absolutely unsurpassed at hunting out hidden stuff. My oldest dog, a small (38#) and demure Chocolate Lab, will find you a downed cock pheasant in the middle of an overgrown 3 acre field, no problem. She'll wind it before she gets off the road. She once found a duck nobody else could locate -- it was in the middle of a 20 foot long 18" drainage culvert. She DOVE into the culvert, flushed the duck out the other end, whoa'ed on command while it was shot, then retrieved it.
And Labs are bred to WANT to find hidden stuff in the worst way. You just direct it to pheasants, or mallard ducks, or explosives.
On the other hand, while they are not attack dogs, they will defend when the chips are down. My Choc once stared down a stray dog that was stalking us . . . and she has gotten between me and what she perceived as a threat many times. And those long jaws built to hold mallards and Canadas are just chock full of sharp teeth . . . .
Not saying anything against the Malinois and Shepherds, which (when well bred) are superb at patrol and guard work. But the Labs are best at what they do.
I believe they use a couple of different breeds depending on the mission. They use Belgian Mals, which are well-suited to the work you describe. Dogs are specifically chosen because basically they’d rather bite you than do anything else. If they’re hesitant to bite they get kicked from the program. I call them Search & Destroy dogs. These are *intense* dogs.
WASHINGTON — Marines were on a foot patrol last fall in the Taliban strongholdof Marja, Afghanistan, when they shot and killed a lethal threat: a local dog that made the mistake of attacking the Marines’ Labrador retriever.
Capt. Manuel Zepeda, the commander of Company F, Second Battalion, Sixth Marines, was unapologetic. If the Lab on the patrol had been hurt, the Marines would have lost their best weapon for detecting roadside bombs — and would have called for a medevac helicopter, just as they would for a human. An attack on the Lab was an attack on a fellow warrior...
http://www.retrievertraining.net/forums/showthread.php?t=70742
BTW, the story I’m told is that the dogs have earned such an awesome reputation for sniffing out mines that the brilliant terrorists have figured out they have to bury the mines deeper so the dogs can’t smell them. Which basically renders the mine ineffective since they’re having to bury so deep. Pretty great, huh?
Non-aggressive, maybe, but I pity the poor soul that threatens my wife or son or me. My black and my chocolate will have none of that. Speaking from experience. They are also extremely intelligent.