RA

Dogs as Working Animals – Key Vocabulary

Instructor & Professional Background

  • Stephen E. Cassle, D.V.M.
    • Rank/Corps: MAJ, VC, USA (U.S. Army Veterinary Corps)
    • Current position: Aquatic Animal Health Resident, University of Florida (e-mail: scassle@ufl.edu)
  • Education and Career Timeline
    • 2002: Colorado State University (CSU) graduate
    • Clinical Internship – Department of Defense (DoD) Military Working Dog (MWD) Veterinary Service, San Antonio, TX
    • Chief, Fort Leonard Wood Branch Veterinary Services, Fort Leonard Wood, MO
    • Chief, Army Veterinary Services, Navy Marine Mammal Program, San Diego, CA
    • Command Veterinarian, Area Support Group-Kuwait, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait
    • Graduate, Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS
    • Attachments/consultations: Orange County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit; Defence Animal Centre, Melton Mowbray, UK

BLUF (Bottom Line-Up-Front)

  • Dogs = indispensable working assets
  • Possess unique challenges & medical conditions
  • Critical role of the human–animal bond (HAB)

Historical Overview of Working Dogs

Early Antiquity

  • Egypt (≈ 7000\ \text{BCE})
    • Religious symbolism: mummification practices & Anubis iconography
    • Earliest sighthound: Saluki
  • Mastiffs
    • Utilised in Egypt & later across Europe
    • Famous handlers: Alexander the Great, Britons versus Caesar’s armies, Napoleon’s sentinels in Alexandria
  • Dalmatians
    • Origin: Croatian province of Dalmatia
    • Historic & modern role in intruder detection (example: Indigo, 2006)

Modern History Highlights

  • 1835 – 2^{\text{nd}} Seminole War: U.S. initiated organised canine deployment
  • 1865 – American Civil War: ad-hoc messenger & guard dogs
  • 1884 – World’s first formal Military War Dog Training School (Europe)
  • World War I
    • Search, rescue, ambulance, messenger and “cigarette” supply dogs
  • World War II – “Dogs for Defense” program
    • First official U.S. armed-forces recognition of war dogs

Why Dogs? Biological & Behavioural Assets

  • Heightened special senses
    • Olfaction:
    • Anatomy: frontal sinus, turbinate bones, olfactory epithelium, hard/soft palate design
    • Enables detection of explosives, drugs, disease markers, invasive species, etc.
  • Loyalty, companionship, and strong HAB facilitate training
  • Trainability & versatility across diverse tasks
  • Natural deterrence presence
  • Species/breed diversity allows mission-specific selection

Principal Categories of Working Dogs

1. Specialized Search Dogs

  • Sub-types: Search-and-Rescue (SAR), tracker dogs, Brown Tree-Snake detection, termite detection, etc.
  • Operational attributes: off-leash capability, rapid area coverage, high drive/prey instinct

2. Assistance Dogs (per Assistance Dogs International, ADI)

  • Guide Dogs – aid blind/visually impaired
  • Hearing Dogs – aid deaf/hard-of-hearing
  • Service Dogs – mitigate other disabilities (mobility, seizure alert, PTSD)
  • Key standards:
    • Accessibility & legal protections (e.g.
      \mathrm{ADA} in U.S.)
    • Behaviour: appropriateness, inconspicuousness, consistency
    • Rigorous, standardised training & public-access testing

3. Military Working Dogs (MWD) & Law-Enforcement Agency (LEA) Dogs

  • Traditional roles: Patrol, Patrol/Explosive, Patrol/Drug
  • Emerging roles: Mine Detector Dogs (MDD), Combat Tracker Teams, Specialized Search Dogs (SSD)
  • Notable deployment events:
    • Navy SEAL Team 6 (May 2011 & Aug 2011 missions)
Common MWD Breeds
  • German Shepherd Dog (GSD)
  • Belgian Shepherd (Malinois) – primary DoD breeding program breed at Lackland AFB, TX
  • Labrador Retriever – explosives & mine detection; also in Lackland program
  • Springer Spaniel, German Shorthair Pointer, and select smaller breeds for confined-space detection
  • Historic WWII “War Dog Program” accepted >25 breeds (e.g.
    Doberman Pinscher, Boxer, Standard Poodle, Bouvier des Flandres, etc.)
Training Pipeline & Oversight
  • Training Location: 341^{\text{st}} Training Squadron (TRS), Lackland AFB, TX (AETC)
  • Executive Agents (EA)
    • U.S. Army: Veterinary Services oversight (DoDMWDVS)
    • U.S. Air Force: Program management for MWDs (AFSFC)
  • Health-care continuum: single medical standard, tele-medicine integration, levels I–V care, in-theatre evacuation protocols
Legislative Framework – Robby’s Law (\text{H.R. 5314})
  • 106^{\text{th}} U.S. Congress, signed 06\ Nov\ 2000
  • Authorises SECDEF to facilitate adoption of retired MWDs
  • Key points: suitability criteria, authorised recipients, cost-free transfer, liability waiver, mandatory annual SECDEF reporting

Unique Medical & Operational Challenges

Elemental Hazards

  • Temperature extremes
    • Heat injury: progressive spectrum from heat stress → heat exhaustion → heat stroke
    • Degradation in performance precedes collapse
    • Prevention: acclimation ("knowing" to shift fluids), hydration ("having" fluids), fitness ("practiced" at fluid shift)
    • Cold injury: hypothermia, frostbite
    • Typical environments: Arctic deployments, high-altitude insertions
    • Treatment: progressive re-warming, analgesia, monitor for reperfusion injury
  • Infectious disease exposure (vector-borne, zoonotic hotspots)

Athletic/Musculoskeletal Issues

  • Orthopaedic injuries
    • Sprains/strains from obstacles & two-story jumps → strict rest, no acetaminophen or ibuprofen (toxicity)
    • Foot injuries: web cracks, inflamed interdigital skin, pad lacerations
  • Degenerative Lumbosacral Stenosis (DLSS)
    • Progressive neurological disease; GSD over-represented
    • Requires advanced imaging (CT/MRI) for diagnosis
    • Management: medical (NSAIDs, rest, PT) or surgical; emphasis on prevention via conditioning & load management
  • Gastric-Dilation Volvulus (GDV)
    • “Bloat”: gas dilation followed by volvulus (stomach torsion)
    • Predominantly affects large, deep-chested breeds (mean age ≈ 7 years)
    • Life-threatening; necessitates rapid decompression & gastropexy

Environmental & Toxicologic Threats

  • Diarrhoea aetiology
    • Infectious: parasites, protozoa, bacteria, viruses
    • Non-infectious: stress, abrupt diet change
    • Prevention: strict diet/water discipline; Treatment: gut rest, bland diet, supportive care
  • Poisons, envenomation, hypersensitivity reactions
    • Snake bites (pit-vipers; anatomical review: heat-sensing pits, hinged fangs)
    • Spiders:
    • Black Widow (Latrodectus spp.) – red hourglass, neurotoxic venom, female envenomation risk
    • Brown Recluse (Loxosceles reclusa) – violin-shaped dorsum; cytotoxic venom
    • Insect stings, toxic plants, chemicals

War-Fighter-Specific Exposures

  • Chemical/Biological/Radiological/Nuclear/Explosive (CBRNE)
    • Protective measures: M8/M9 detection, skin & ocular decontamination, canine PPE prototypes (K-9 MOPP gear)
    • New initiatives:
    • \text{CBPS} — Chem/Bio Protective Shelter for veterinary treatment
    • \text{KCPW} — Kennel Crate Protective Wrap for transport & staging
  • Trauma Medicine
    • Explosive blasts, high-speed ballistics, falls, penetrating objects
    • Ototrauma: permanent hearing loss common
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
    • Incidence estimate: \approx5\% of 650 deployed dogs (Burghardt, 2011)
    • Clinical signs: hypervigilance, avoidance, task refusal
    • Rehabilitative goal: “Return to Function” vs.
      medical retirement & adoption

Heat Injury – Detailed Protocol

  1. Classification & Signs
    • Heat stress → excessive panting, slowed response
    • Heat exhaustion → ataxia, vomiting, rectal temp >41^{\circ}\text{C}
    • Heat stroke → CNS depression, DIC risk, multi-organ failure
  2. Treatment
    • Immediate cooling (cool water immersion, evaporative techniques)
    • IV crystalloids 20\,\text{mL kg}^{-1} bolus, monitor electrolytes
    • Stop cooling at 39.5^{\circ}\text{C} to prevent overshoot hypothermia

Chemical Agent Exposure (Quick Reference)

  • Nerve agents (GA, GB, GD, VX)
    • Signs: miosis, hypersalivation, seizures
    • Decon: blot, rinse, reactive skin decon lotion (RSDL)
    • Tx: atropine 0.2\,\text{mg kg}^{-1} IV/IM, 2-PAM 20\,\text{mg kg}^{-1}, diazepam 0.5\,\text{mg kg}^{-1}
  • Vesicants (HD, HN, L)
    • Signs: dermal/ocular blisters, respiratory injury
    • Decon within <2 min; irrigation, topical antibiotics

Human–Animal Bond (HAB)

  • AVMA definition: “mutually beneficial & dynamic relationship… essential to the health & well-being of both”
  • Veterinarian’s duty: maximise HAB potentials via preventive med, welfare advocacy, and stakeholder education
  • Functional importance in MWD/handler teams: trust equals combat effectiveness; psychological resilience for both parties

Recap – Key Takeaways

  • Dogs are mission-critical assets across military, law-enforcement, assistance, and specialised detection sectors
  • They confront environment-specific, athletic, and combat-induced medical challenges requiring dedicated veterinary support
  • Legislative tools (e.g.
    Robby’s Law) and new CBRNE technologies continue to enhance life-cycle care
  • The human-animal bond underpins operational success and mandates ethical responsibility toward working dogs

Selected References & Further Reading

  • Hahn, The World History of the Dogs of War (online archive)
  • Lackland AFB MWD fact sheet (AFD-061212-027)
  • Assistance Dogs International — www.assistancedogsinternational.org
  • AVMA HAB resources — www.avma.org/issues/humananimalbond
  • Burghardt W.
    “Combat stress in military dogs,” The New York Times, 02\ Dec\ 2011
  • U.S. Congress.
    Robby’s Law \text{H.R. 5314}, 2000