The Making of a Military Dog

BY KAREN ASP

It’s no secret that dogs are man’s best friend. Turns out, they’re also trusted companions for thousands of police and military personnel. Below, Jerry Bradshaw — training director for Tarheel Canine Training in Sanford, N.C., which sends about 50 to 70 dogs into this line of duty every year — details the training these dogs undergo.

What dogs are the best candidates for this line of work?

BRADSHAW: The two most common breeds are German shepherds and Belgian Malinois, namely because they possess the right drive and intelligence. Any dog that does this line of work has to have a prey drive, meaning that they want to chase and catch, and a defense drive, which is the willingness to protect themselves, their territory, and their pack members from threat. Not only do they have these drives, these two breeds can also easily toggle between them. In other words, they can move from prey to defense drive when necessary whereas other breeds, like Border Collies for instance, might do well chasing but don’t handle confrontation well. Best of all, these breeds are innately intelligent and extremely trainable.

Where do police forces and military in the United States get these dogs?

BRADSHAW: What people may not realize is that most dogs aren’t selected for this type of work until they’re young adults. They’re actually bred in Europe — France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, for instance — where there are hundreds of thousands of people involved in dog sport training,which involves elements of controlled aggression work and obedience. Many of these dogs, however, aren’t suited for dog sport training but are perfectly suited for police or military work. Brokers then buy those dogs, spend one to three months preparing them for military and police work, and sell them to private trainers like me or police and military departments. In fact, the U.S. Department of Defense goes to Europe several times a year with a team of trainers and veterinarians, purchases dogs from approved trainers, and then flies them back to the States.

What training do these dogs then have to undergo once they’re brought back to the United States?

BRADSHAW: It depends on what they’re being trained to do. We generally start our dogs, most of which are about 12 to 15 months old when we get them, with a 12-week training period. During that time, we teach them to do tracking on different surfaces; detection, either narcotics or explosives; and controlled aggression. After 12 weeks, the handler comes for another four weeks to learn how to deploy the dog and maintain the dog’s training. The dog and handler then leave and return to their home where they do more training, essentially getting the dog used to its working environment. Overall, from the time we get the dogs, it’s about another four months before they’re assigned a duty. Every year after, the handler then has to go through additional training and recertify.

What are the biggest dangers these dogs face?

BRADSHAW: Numerous situations can be dangerous for dogs — tracking is probably the most high-risk duty for police dogs — but many people are under the impression that we’ll send dogs directly into harm’s way, which isn’t true. We never put these dogs in situations where they’re facing certain death. Of course, dogs have been killed in this line of work, but we don’t lose that many when you consider the number of deployments they’re doing. After all, these dogs are there to keep our police and military safe, and we want to make sure theykeep doing that.

How long can these dogs work, and what happens when they’re ready to retire?

BRADSHAW: Large-breed dogs typically live about 10 to 12 years, so by the time they’re 8 or 9, they’re slowing down. That doesn’t mean they can’t do their job, but a lot of it depends on the dog’s physical condition. Like people, some dogs age better than others. Most dogs, though, retire around 9 or 10, usually based on decisions from veterinarians and trainers. Once they retire, almost all police dogs will be adopted by their handler. The dog is a family member by then, and the bond between handler and dog runs extremely deep. It’s the same with military dogs who are also being returned to former handlers. Yet often, those dogs will have had two to four handlers during their time in the military, so where they go in retirement depends on which handler wants them.