War dogs have been a part of military operations pretty much since canines were first domesticated. Back in February we reported on the book Soldier Dogs by Maria Goodavage (original story). It’s out now, and the author has recently completed a series of radio and television interviews about the book (like this one on Fox and Friends).
“…The garrison were asleep after an orgy, the dogs alone kept watch and the fifty pickets fell on the enemy like lions; all but one were casualties. Sorter, sole survivor, retiring from the conflict, fled to town to give warning and roused the drunken soldiers, who came forth to battle. To him alone were the honors of victory, and the grateful town…erected a monument engraved with his name and those of the forty-nine heroes who fell.” From an account of the Pelopponesian War cited in War Dogs, Michael Lemish
Soldier Dogs is a very good book, covering a number of different aspects of the Military Working Dog program, though if you’re looking for chapters and chapters about Cairo and canines assigned to USSOCOM you’re going to be disappointed. For obvious reasons there isn’t a lot of information about that side of things. Don’t let that stop you though, even if that was the catalyst for your interest in Soldier Dogs. You certainly don’t have to be a puppy pusher to enjoy it. This is a great read, covering dogs and handlers from the acquisition process to Lackland AFB to the Yuma Proving Grounds to paws on the ground downrange. There’s a full review over on Under the Radar, or you can go straight to the book’s official website and just buy one for yourself.
-DR
