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
- 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
- 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