Dogs form close bond with their handlers

Published Jan. 12, 2012
By Airman 1st Class Nicole Leidholm
60th Air Mobility Wing

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Airmen are required to pass basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base before they enter the U.S. Air Force. They are carefully chosen to serve in the Air Force based on certain qualifications.

The same is true for the military working dogs at the 60th Security Forces Squadron.

Puppies selected as military working dogs are tested based on trainability, gun shyness and aggressiveness. According to the 341st Training Squadron factsheet, they also get a physical examination that includes a blood test for heartworm and radiographs of their hips and elbows. After they pass the temperament and physical exam they are procured for the program.

The breeds that the military chooses include: the German shepherd, the Belgian malinois and the Dutch shepherd. Most puppies are procured overseas. Some are procured stateside and are usually between nine months and two years of age. Puppies chosen this young are sent to foster homes until they are old enough to go to the puppy program at Lackland Air Force Base, better known as the 341st Dog-Training Section.

341st DTS is boot camp for dogs. Here they train for 120 days on tasks such as controlled aggressiveness, attack and building and open area searches, according to the 341st TRS factsheet. Less than half the dogs that attend 341st DTS make it as military working dogs.

After completing DTS the dogs move to their duty station where they stay their entire career. They work with their handlers at least four hours a day on tasks including the obstacle course, working at the gate as well as patrols.

This builds trust between the dog and handler. It makes it hard on the dog when the handler must make a permanent change of station.

"It's hard on some dogs," said Senior Airman Zahir Mohammed, 60th SFS K-9 handler, "They think, I have this handler, now I have another. The dogs don't move, we do."

"We all have different handling techniques," said Staff Sgt. Garett Thomsen, 60th SFS K-9 handler. "We spend so much time with our dogs we can read them."

Some of the dogs end up having trust issues with their new handlers, others get so attached to their handler that when they leave they start having separation anxiety since they will work together 24/7 when deployed to Afghanistan, Mohammed said.

One of the dogs here is already on his third deployment, this time to Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, with his handler Staff Sgt. Joshua Hayes. They left Saturday.

Brit has been to Iraq and Afghanistan. He attended the Regional Training Center which trains working dogs for deployments. The dogs who attend this course are trained to find improvised explosive devices, complete tactical movements and ruck marches with their handlers as well as missions outside the wire. He used this training on his last mission to Afghanistan to find a 15-pound container of homemade explosives.

After about eight to 10 years, the dogs retire. It ultimately depends on the dog; some have stayed in longer and some retire earlier due to medical issues.

"It really comes down to the question, 'Are they still workable?'" Mohammed said.

According to the 341st TRS factsheet, some of the dogs may end up back at the squadron to help handlers train if they are unsuitable to be adopted by a civilian family.