The news of the impending transfer unleashed the wrath of the West German Shepherd Association, who then accused the society of insufficient expertise and carelessness. The Association claimed that the border dogs were much too "dangerous" for inexperienced animal lovers. They had been kept "without social contact with humans," they would become more and more "difficult to integrate into families" as they grew older, and they were "scarcely capable of being reeducated for normal daily life. One thousand were so dangerous they needed to be put to sleep.
Dogs that had been raised under stalinism were too "influenced by their environment" to be suited for house pets. These allegations cut the East German dogkeepers to the quick, and for perhaps the first time in history, friends and foes of dogs joined hands in common protest. Experts from East German animal shelters spoke of Western smear campaigns reminiscent of the Cold War. In order to protect the Western purebloods from this evaluation, their Eastern brothers and sisters were being systematically defamed.
Whereas in fact, the East Germans claimed, the poor border dogs were really the "last victims of Stalinism," and as such deserved special care and understanding. Far from being misanthropic, the dogs who had served with the border patrols were actually "very much in need of love" and eager for affection: What's more, the dogs were uneducated and completely incompetent; they couldn't even bite on command. Not a single refugee had ever even been nipped by one of these dogs. On the contrary, every Wall-jumper who had given them a friendly click of the tongue was welcome to pet and scratch them behind the ears.
These purported descendants of the Baskerville hound had only two things on their minds: In fact, one West German buyer even returned a particularly majestic specimen, indignant that the animal hadn't uttered a peep when burglars broke into his house. The East German defenders of the homeless border dogs grew downright alarmed when they realized that the negative propaganda had actually enticed whole flocks of undesirable buyers.
Pimps looking for a "killer beast" strolled up and down in front of the East Berlin kennels; dog maniacs suffering from Napoleonic complexes saw the opportunity to compensate for their small stature by acquiring a gigantic German shepherd.
Nor were prospective buyers from abroad lacking. The head of the East Berlin Border Patrol's Canine service told of a spaniard who tried to acquire several dogs at once for medical experiments, of Koreans and Chinese who were eyeing the animals as major ingredients for tasty culinary specialties from down home. The orphaned dogs' East German wardens grew more suspicious with every passing day.
They began to subject Western clients to oral and even written tests designed to separate "serious" dog lovers from "dubious" ones. Unfortunately only a small number of the German shepherds could be placed in East German homes, due to the well-known shortage of living space. Moreover, forty years of antifascist training had evidently affected the taste of the East German populace, who now preferred house pets that could not possibly be identified as symbols of power, aggression, or domination: The dispute has now died down.
Almost all the border dogs have been successfully adopted, and there's little talk of problems of integration. Many of the new arrivals who first reacted to canned food in all its western variety with upturned noses or even diarrhea have successfully adjusted.
Chilcoat is one of three former military dog handlers who received Pentagon approval in January for a proposed Military Working Dog National Monument. The dog teams have worked with other federal agencies to search all ports of entry in support of the counter-drug operation. See each listing for international shipping options and costs. Turn off email alerts. This could not suit the troops better.
Most have overcome their fear of elevators and escalators. They are no longer afraid of unknown canine species and have stopped running away at the sight of miniature poodles wearing knitted caps and leather jackets. Almost all are proving themselves willing to learn, even to the point of understanding commands in dialects other than Saxon. Remains Of The Wall! But whenever they accompany their new Western masters on walks near where the Wall once stood, they are suddenly deaf to every call and run their programmed beat without veering right or left.
The Wall itself has disappeared so completely that even native Berliners can't always say exactly where it used to stand. France's Dogs of War! It is thought, that France probably has the largest number of War Dogs in use today of any country other than Israel. Training of the French dogs aims at the same objectives as in the British Army system Commands are also very similar, "Cherchez," which may be followed by encourgement "Qui, c est bien," when the dog is fairly on the trail. The Soviet's Dogs Of War!
Editorial Reviews. About the Author. Violetta Kovács has a remarkably unique style. K9 Commando: Police and Army Dogs from New York to Berlin - Kindle. K9 Commando: Police and Army Dogs from New York to Berlin Dogs have much to teach us humans about selflessness, loyalty and incorruptibility.
These were Soviet conscripts, who were members of various dog training clubs located through out the USSR, and owned a suitable animal; the dogs would serve only with them and would return back home, when the conscripts were demobilized. The remaining Soviet handlers would train with Government owned dogs, bred at the school, generally there were approx conscripts in training at anyone time, which gives us an idea of the size of the school. Soviet War Dogs In Afghanistan December - May Soviet Sappers attached to the Combat Engineers used mine sniffing dogs to detect the thousands of our land mines, planted by the Mujahedin freedom fighters during the war.
German shepherds were the breed of choice, and much has been written about their mine clearing duties and the problems, that the Soviets had wiith them dogs working in Afghanistan's hot weather, the fatigue of long journeys by armored personnel carrier APQ , how gasoline fumes dulled the dogs' sense of smell, and other issues addressed in the military press all testify to the attention the Soviets gave to this old but still important means of military support. Usually, an Soviet dog handler was responsible for four dogs; so that when a soldier arrived at a permament unit, he would take over the responsibility for dogs whose handlers had been released from service.
The Soviet Handlers and Dogs, were much like canine units from other countries, and were trained to guard various types of military installations, border patrols, to search for drugs and explosives, conduct search and rescue operations and unique to the Soviets to blow up tanks! Shown above, the Suicide Dog is carrying a pack, that would hold explosives, in its mouth is the trigger, which it would release, once underneath a tank The breed of dogs used are mostly: German Shepherds, and Belgian Shepherds Malinois, a breed with a very balanced set of virtues, a lot of temperament, faithful and they like working.
Dog training begins at the age of one and a half to 2 years old and consists of a six-week basic course, after which, the dogs will enter one of several advance courses, depending on their future use. In the early ninties, the German Army had at least 3, dogs, that were trained at Koblenz; the current number is not known. Like any other country, Germany's military working dogs are deployed to support their bases, air installations, and border security; there's also a small dog unit operating in Bosnia, to support their NATO peacekeeping troops.
In June, , the Republics of Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence from the former Yugoslavia.
The Yugoslav Army, under the control of Serbs, retaliated Nato's Operation Peacekeeping Bosnia - Heregovina Finnish K-9 Check Point Station During the past 6 years, a compilation of soldiers from armies throughout the world have assumed the responsibility of providing a peaceful and stable environment for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but their job would not be possible if they did not feel safe themselves.
Every night, the two K-9 Teams patrol the camp, making sure nothing out of the ordinary is happening, they check bunkers and all of the camp's fighting positions. Their dogs are two certified patrol dogs, both Belgian Malinois, that are experts at detecting and detaining unauthorized personnel. Fortunately, they have not had to prove those skills yet. According to one handler, things have been pretty quite!. They have done a few bomb sweeps on vehicles that have come on the base, but those have been few and far between and were to ensure force protection.
Generally, for the most part, the two handlers spend their free time developing their dogs skills. The dogs have strict training requirements, and being deployed is a perfect time to work on their training. The dogs are trained daily, and everything that the dogs do is documented. Another part of their training, is rapport building. The more personal time they spend with their dogs, the more rapport they build and a happier dog works better.
Although the primarily use of the two dogs is to secure Camp McGovern, they could be called upon at anytime to provide force protection support for soldiers working outside the gates. On several occassions, the two K9 teams have been asked to sweep buildings to make sure they were safe. Both handlers consider themselves lucky to be a part of the Army's military working dog program. When asked why, one answered: Refine more Format Format.
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Items in search results. Magazine Back Issues Format see all Format. All Listings filter applied. Special Attributes see all Special Attributes. Modified Item see all Modified Item. Notify me of new comments via email. January 26 — Springfield Writers' Guild was formed in to encourage new writers and hone the skills of the writing craft. Battlefield in Springfield, Missouri. This article has some great tips for how to get started…. About Springfield Writers' Guild Springfield Writers' Guild was formed in to encourage new writers and hone the skills of the writing craft.
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