Air Force dogs often jump in tandem with their handlers, while Marine canines are more likely to travel aboard ships and then, to get from ship to shore, aboard amphibious assault vehicles. Regardless of its assignment after training, dogs and handlers travel together to their target destination, using the conveyance of choice for their specific branch of the military. The cost of training a single animal can be $20,000 to $40,000, depending on its specialization. The biggest difference today is the price tag to get a dog prepared for battle. Modern war dogs follow a similar regimen. Although most were not out-and-out attack dogs, all received instruction in what the military calls "controlled aggressiveness," which requires a dog to attack an enemy soldier upon command and to attack, without command, someone threatening its handler. Others learned to become scouts or how to sniff out mines and bombs. Those that did moved on to more intensive training - and the opportunity to acquire specialized skills. Of the 19,000 dogs procured between 19, about 45 percent failed to pass basic training. Not all dogs rose to the challenges of military life. The final component of basic training was a once-a-week demolition exercise in which dogs were exposed to small arms fire, as well as exploding shells. Handlers would also work with their animals to suppress barking, which they would need to do in situations calling for combat silence. This phase consisted of teaching dogs to respond to both basic verbal commands and hand signals. When the dog felt comfortable with his partner and the new routine, formal obedience training would begin. They would hang together in camp, go on hikes and participate in exercises. Īs soon as they were paired up, a dog and his handler would take a week to become familiar with each other.
Some of the earliest canine companions were young men who lived on farms or owned pets before they enlisted. At the outbreak of World War II, defense officials didn't necessarily apply a rigorous process when selecting handlers. The job of taking a dog on this journey falls to someone known as a handler. And yet war dogs must master the basic commands we drill into our pets before they can move on to more difficult, military-focused tasks. It's another thing entirely to train an animal not to bark in a combat situation, which might reveal your location to the enemy. It's one thing to teach a dog to sit, heel and roll over.