Military Dog training for combat
Lackland Air Base in San Antonio Texas is the largest Military Dog training facility in the country. The Military Dog training program has expanded in recent years as the program has graduated a number of dogs who are credited with saving a the lives of American soldiers, especially in Afghanistan. The dogs are trained to attack to protect their handlers. They protect entire teams of soldiers and marines by sniffing out hidden bombs and alerting to intruders.
There are now about 700 dogs at the 400-acre training center as the need and desire for these specially trained dogs begins to increase. The Marines reportedly have increased the number of bomb-sniffing dogs in Afghanistan from just nine a few years ago, to more than 350 today, with plans to nearly double that number in the very near future. In order to meet the demand for the dogs there is a staff of 63 who care for the dogs full time. It takes two hours to feed all the dogs a single meal and the dogs are fed twice a day while in training.
For the sick and injured, or wounded veteran war dogs, the Holland Military Working Dog Hospital at Lackland Airbase provides for all 700 dogs physical care. Since the training program has become so popular with all the branches of military and dogs are put in the front lines the Holland Military Working Dog Hospital is the first facility in the country to do research on what might be called canine Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in order to learn the signs and how they can help the dogs or what needs to be done when a dog shows signs of PTSD.
This was interesting. I know these dogs probably save the lives of many soldiers.