In Iraq & Elsewhere, Bomb-Sniffing Dogs Soldier On
Trained to Sniff Out Roadside Bombs, Canines Are Often Soldiers' Best Friend

By Jeff Donn
Associated Press
Sunday, August 12, 2007

SAN ANTONIO -- When he came to, the Marine's arm hung lamely. It was broken by ball bearings hurled so hard from a suicide bomb that they embedded themselves in his gun as well as his body. Yet Brendan Poelaert's thoughts quickly turned to his patrol dog.

The powerful Belgian Malinois named Flapoor had served him as partner and protector for the past four months in Iraq. Now the dog staggered a few steps along the Ramadi street, then stared blankly. Blood poured from his chest.

"I didn't care about my injuries, my arm," his handler says. "I'm telling the medic, 'I got to get my dog to the vet!' "

About 2,000 of these working dogs confront danger alongside U.S. soldiers, largely in the Middle East. Able to detect scents up to a third of a mile away, many sniff for explosives in Iraq. Their numbers have been growing about 20 percent a year since the terrorist attacks of 2001, says Air Force Capt. Jeffrey McKamey, who helps run the program.

In doing their jobs, dozens of these dogs have also become war wounded -- scorched by the desert, slashed by broken glass, hit by stray bullets, pounded by roadside bombs.

Their services are so valued that wounded dogs are treated much like wounded troops. "They are cared for as well as any soldier," says Senior Airman Ronald A. Harden, a dog handler in Iraq.

Their first aid comes out of doggy field kits bearing everything from medicine to syringes. Some are evacuated to military veterinary centers hundreds of miles away, or even to Germany or the United States for rehabilitation. Many recover and return to duty.

On the day of the Ramadi blast in January 2006, Poelaert, trained in veterinary first aid, began care as soon as he and Flapoor were loaded into an SUV. He pressed his finger to the dog's chest to slow the bleeding. .

When they reached the base camp, a medic with veterinary training took over, starting Flapoor on an IV. Poelaert departed reluctantly for his own surgery.

Flapoor would eventually go to Baghdad, where he received additional treatment for his punctured lung and stomach wounds. He would later rejoin his handler and fly in a cargo plane to the United States for physical rehab.

Healing under the California sun at Camp Pendleton, Flapoor is pretty much back to normal: fast, friendly, eager to please. But some things have changed. "He's really jumpy around loud noises now," Poelaert says.

Dogs take their basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, where they learn to tolerate the crack of gunfire and sputter of helicopters. They are trained to sniff for explosives on command, freezing and staring at suspicious objects.

Merely baring their teeth, they can intimidate a crowd. Commanded to strike, they can flatten a big man with one leap, flying like a 50-pound sandbag tossed from a truck.

Smart and strong Malinois and German shepherds predominate, but other breeds are trained, too. Even small dogs are occasionally taught to detect explosives in submarines and other close quarters.

In Iraq, the demand for explosives-hunting dogs has increased. The dogs lead patrols with their handlers in tow, sniffing bags and other objects along the way.

The bombs have bulked up in past months, putting dogs and handlers at increased risk. To protect handlers, some dogs are trained to wear backpacks with radios and respond to remote voice commands.

"As much as I love these dogs, their job is to take a bullet for me," says trainer Sgt. Douglas Timberlake.

The military estimates spending six months and $25,000 to buy, feed, train and care for the average dog. The dogs are tended by 440 Army veterinarians worldwide. They have two physical exams each year. They get blood tests, X-rays and electrocardiograms.

When dogs break teeth, military veterinarians sometimes do root canals. "Here we treat them, because that's part of that dog's equipment: to use his teeth," says Lorraine Linn, a dog surgeon at Lackland.

Dogs have been weapons of war since ancient times. Thousands were enlisted by the United States in World Wars I and II and in Vietnam. Dogs cannot be awarded medals under military protocol, but commanders sometimes honor them unofficially.

Care for wounded military dogs was limited in earlier wars, and the end of a dog's working days usually meant the end of its life. But that, too, is changing.

Since 2000, a law allows many dogs to be adopted by police departments, former handlers and others if the dogs' temperaments are suitable.

Tech. Sgt. Jamie Dana's German shepherd Rex was plenty friendly, but also young and healthy. The military didn't want to let him go.

Rex ended up on an Iraqi roadway when a bomb blew the door off the Humvee he was riding in with Dana in June 2005. His injuries were minor, but Dana nearly died with collapsed lungs, a fractured spine and brain trauma.

When Rex visited her a couple of weeks later at the hospital, she whistled for him and he jumped on her bed. Dana's days as a soldier were over, but she missed her pal.

Friends and family petitioned Congress, and a law was finally signed to allow still-able dogs to be adopted in certain cases.

Now Rex lives on a farm in Smethport, Pa., with Dana, who believes the dog wasn't really meant for a soldier's life.

"He loves everybody," she says. "He sleeps beside my bed."

Other dogs in the war zone aren't so lucky. Though no careful count is kept, Army veterinarian Lt. Col. Michael Lagutchik, who supervises care at Lackland, believes about 10 dogs have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Injuries are common among the dogs. They are cut or scraped, often on their paws. They are bitten by spiders or stung by scorpions. Their eyes and ears are irritated by blowing sand.

The most common injury is overheating in the desert sun, and it can sometimes spur a dangerous stomach condition called bloat.

Handler Jason Cannon, now a Tennessee state patrolman, knew something was wrong when his dog started to act skittish while searching people crossing into Iraq from Syria. He and his dog were flown back to the base, where a veterinarian suspected dehydration and prescribed two weeks of rest for the dog. "We went out and played ball, pretty much hung out," Cannon says. "Mainly, we didn't do any work at all. 'Vacation' is a good word for it."

Less often, dogs on a mission get shot or bombed. Lackland trainer Trapanger Stephens, who served in Iraq, remembers seeing a veterinarian treat a gunshot-wounded dog with a breathing tube right in the field. The veterinarian did surgery then and there.

Cpl. Megan Leavey and her dog ended up back at Camp Pendleton, Calif., when a homemade bomb exploded in Ramadi. She suffered a concussion, and the dog injured one shoulder. The dog underwent a regimen familiar to athletes: icing, heating, stretching and motion exercises.

Dogs may wear bulletproof vests or booties to cushion their paws. They sometimes wear dog goggles -- called "doggles" -- to keep out sand.

Regardless of the dangers, the dogs are fearless. For them, checking a road for bombs means a fun walk, their handlers say. "They like what they do," says Poelaert, who has returned to Exeter, N.H.

These days, he's trying to move beyond memories of the Ramadi explosion, which killed dozens of people, including his best friend, fellow handler Adam Cann.

One image still inspires him, though: the sight of Cann's wounded dog stretched over his body, as if to protect him.