Working K-9 military dogs are an incredible force multiplier. Simply put, they can do things that humans cannot. Besides being faster and more agile, they are amazing at tracking while remaining stealthy. More specifically, the Special Operation Forces working dogs are truly America’s Tier One K9′s.
According to the Warrior Dog Foundation, each entity of SOF employs a Multi Purpose Canine program. These dogs train in nearly every aspect imaginable. The MPC’s have the ability to sniff out IED’s and other explosives as well as pick out the scent of an insurgent from several hundred meters away. These incredible animals are usually the ones helping us, but this time they need our help and this is where the Warrior Dog Foundation comes in.
I’ll admit that before today, I hadn’t heard of K9 Veterans Day. In my research efforts to learn more about this, I discovered that Joe White, the founder of the movement to nationally adopt March 13th as K9 Veterans Day, is no longer with us.
Since 2009, Joe’s wife Sally has continued the effort to get nationwide recognition for this holiday and I’d like to help her spread the word here on ITS. It appears that in 2010 New Jersey officially recognized the date for K9 Veterans Day, but I couldn’t find that any other states had done the same.
I feel that the mission statement from k9veteransday.org best sums up why we need to have national recognition for K9 Veterans Day: [Read More…]
Many people purchase dogs for the purpose of adding to home defense. For some people, dogs are their only defensive measure. Still others plan to only use their dog as an alternate form of a house alarm and then completely discount them after that.
If you have a very small dog, then perhaps their best application is as an alarm. But if you have a large dog that is capable of protection and especially if you plan to rely on this dog for any portion of your home protection plan, then you must train both yourself and your dog for this eventual possibility.
Having a dog as part of your defensive plan and not training with that additional asset is as foolish as buying a gun and keeping it by your bed side and never shooting it at the range. [Read More…]
When deploying your dog in a tactical situation, you want him to succeed and come back to you safely. There is a lot of equipment available to K-9 units to assist with this goal, including bullet-resistant vests, goggles, booties, leads, and harnesses.
At first glance, the Tactical Patrol Harness from Elite K-9 looks minimal, but that’s exactly what you want. If you deploy your dog on a harness regularly then you’ll know what I mean. You want just enough equipment to help you and your dog without it becoming a hindrance or distraction.
The dog’s job is out in front of them, and they shouldn’t be overwhelmed with a “sports bra” that’s strapped around them. To assist with this, be sure to train in the harness you’re utilizing before you deploy. You want to avoid those embarrassing moments when all the patrol guys are watching you take the eight second ride, trying to put a harness on your land shark that has never trained in it. [Read More…]
In our previous articles on Dogs of Defense we discussed the responsibility that each dog owner has to maintain control over their dogs, as well as how training a dog in protection work can actually make them safer if they are properly stabilized.
Next we discussed the benefits and considerations of owning a protection dog. Having options in self-defense is very important. We should not desire to take the life of another unless it is necessary for the preservation of our own, or in protection of another. Dogs give us significant options in our level of force while allowing us to defend ourselves very effectively.
In our last article we discussed different considerations to think through before purchasing a protection dog. Selecting an appropriate breed and trainer will make a significant difference in your enjoyment of the process, level of frustration with results and long term maintenance requirements. [Read More…]
If you have made it this far in our series, hopefully you are seriously considering a protection dog. In this article we are going to address the selection of a dog and the training of that dog.
These are going to be the two most important aspects for you, as the owner, when determining what kind of dog you want and how to prepare both yourself and your dog for home protection. [Read More…]
The first area of concern voiced by practically anyone that I discuss the idea of protection dogs with is safety and rightly so. The news media does a very good job of vilifying certain dog breeds as dangerous simply because they are a specific breed.
Movies also do a very good job of creating images of Pit Bull Terriers and Rottweilers being used by drug dealers in their homes. Often for the sake of reducing the number of bites on fleeing suspects, the police have done a fairly good job presenting certain dogs as highly dangerous too.
This is not to say that specific breeds don’t require certain considerations when deciding to use one for protection, but let us be careful about buying into the media’s version of things. Unfortunately, many of the dog trainers out there today have bought into these misleading marketing plans. It’s important to find trainers that are actually training and not simply sitting behind a keyboard.
With that in mind, let’s consider the most important aspect about dogs when it comes to safety. [Read More…]
This is the first article in a follow-up series to our previous series, Dogs of War. In Dogs of Defense, we’ll focus on dogs for personal protection.
Today we’ll begin by asking if there is a need for trained protection dogs. The next article will discuss whether there’s a danger associated with “weaponizing” a dog, followed by an article that considers breeds, trainers, and the responsibilities of the owner of a trained dog.
Later articles will discuss the safety of those around a trained protection dog and how to maintain that dog’s peak performance. We’ll also illustrate methods of integrating a protection dog into a home defense plan, as well as how U.S. laws relating to service dogs can be used to keep your family safe. [Read More…]
Over the last several articles, we have discussed what capabilities a dog possesses and how those capabilities can be integrated into tactical teams.
One topic that may be of interest to you that I have not yet given any time to is that of the actual equipment used by dogs in this sort of tactical application.
When determining the equipment requirements for any mission, you must first understand the nature and characteristics of the mission. A series of mission parameters must be determined. [Read More…]
In my previous articles about the capabilities of dogs and their application to tactical teams we explored the dog’s ability to fight with humans, their ability to carry specialized equipment into the field for us, and their ability to detect scent.
Today I would like to discuss some of the tactical applications of a dog’s increased hearing capabilities.
A dog’s sense of hearing can be especially useful to smaller teams like the MAC-V SOG teams in Vietnam, or sniper teams who are particularly vulnerable to being overrun by larger units. Detecting an enemy’s approach allows these soldiers to conceal themselves or move to avoid being detected. [Read More…]
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