How Military Dogs Are Trained?
Most of these dogs are very strong. They will rip flesh, and some have strong enough mouths that they could break bones.
The military working dog in training is practicing controlled aggression.In a matter of months, they'll be ready to be stationed to one of the numerous US military bases across theglobe.But before they were important enough to bring down a full- overgrown human, they started out like every other canine does.
It's kind of remarkable to say that there's any aspect of public security or national defense that relies on animals, but it's the truth.
There are about 1,600 military working dogs currently serving across every branch of the United States military. And they all started here, at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Insider spent two days with the 341st Training Squadron observing both dogs and handlers at various stages of training.
However many we produce, it seems like we can never get military working dogs out fast enough to meet the demands of the Department of Defense, because they're just such a vital asset to everything we do.
Several hundred dogs are in training at any given time, which takes about 120 days to complete and is split into two blocks, detection training and patrol training.
Patrol training is tutoring a canine how to basically chase after a suspect that we are trying to seize who's uncooperative, and controlling that canine and their aggression. So it's a nonlethal or less-than-lethal option for military members that defend installations or secure installations to use and apprehend suspects.
But before they learn to chase down a suspect, the dogs have to perfect their obedience training. We want to have a good foundation in obedience, because those commanded positions, the sits and the downs, they need to have those proficient before we can start asking for this in a higher level of stimulus.
So if I were to just tell her, sit! She's not there yet. Sit! And I give her that, she's able to do it. Yes. So the way that we teach them is that they all do it in anticipation of a reward. We use marker training, where we end up saying "yes" when we can mark whatever behavior we want at the precise times.
So, Greta is a sweetheart. She looks like an old lady. She's not old, I promise you. I've been working with her maybe for about two weeks now. So far, right now, I've been working stability with her, where she's able to maintain position whenever I walk out to end of leash. Down. Good girl!
And then the part that I've been working recently, sit! Good. Is getting her to sit from the down. Yes.
The dogs are also taught how to conquer the obstacle course, or confidence course. The general purpose is just getting them comfortable with going over certain obstacles. So to simulate stuff when these guys go and work for police departments.
Like, we have one of the obstacles that simulates a window, narrow areas, going up stairs, or over some sort of barrier to go and chase down a suspect. Once the dogs have a solid foundation in obedience training, they're ready to move on to the controlled-aggression phase of patrol training.
Teaching a dog to show aggression, especially when it's on demand, it starts with this dog's breeding. This dog's background, coming from parents for generations that were bred to be this type of dog.
The Department of Defense uses breeds like Belgian Malinois, Dutch shepherds, and German shepherds that are between 1 and 3 years old. We're looking for a well-balanced, environmentally sound dog that does not have issues for fearfulness or timidity. We're looking for a strong, confident dog that also likes to use its nose for hunting. We're looking for a confident, bold dog that's willing to bite and defend its handler if need be.
Roughly 400 dogs are purchased for the program every year, mainly from Europe. The rest come from the Department's parentage program at Lackland.
We started the program in 1998. It's basically a contingency plan. The idea is that since we obtain the vast majority of our dogs overseas, something might happen to interrupt our supply of military working dogs.
So in 1998, we began this rather small- scale parentage program to establish an organic capability on our own to breed and develop military working tykes . The program rears the puppies until they're 6 weeks old, at which point they're fostered out to homes in the local community until they're 7 months old.
7 months is the first age at which I can apply a test to the puppiesand determine whether or not they are good material as military working dogs, that their behavior expressed at that time predicts how they're going to behave as adults. Puppies that meet the program's standards are brought back to Lackland to prepare for the military working dog course.
This is what we would call the initial stages of controlled aggression, where our dogs are taught how to stop people. Much of it is instinctive. It relies heavily on prey drive. A dog's natural instinct is to chase it and grab things. So we play on their discs. Puppies are last tested when they are 1 year old, and between 30 and 50 eventually enter the military working dog course each year, where they will continue to develop skills such as controlled aggression. What we train is where the handler of a military field working dog would need to apprehend a suspect with a military working dog.
What we train are called the six phases. And to begin with, we conduct a field interview, when someone approaches the dog and demonstrates that the dog can be stable, hold position, and not attack a random person who comes over to talk to you. And then we move on to the bite on the run, i.e. chase and attack.
So this is a biting sleeve. Basically, it's just a tool we use to teach dogs how to bite the target area, i.e. the shoulder. This sleeve has some leather and some foam on the inside and canvas on the outside to cover it up. So these provide a lot of protection. You really don't feel much. They bite more material than your arm. If you feel anything, it's more like a slight pressure. Most of these dogs are very strong. They tear flesh and some have mouths so strong they can break bones. Of course, if you're running and your dog is chasing you at full speed and jumping up, grabbing your arm, bringing you to the ground, there are a whole host of other injuries that can come with it. But I believe any of these options are still better than lethal force, and even the other less lethal options we have to offer.
The dogs are also trained to back off an attack if called off by their handler. Restricting that drive is the hardest part because you put their favorite thing in the world and say, "Don't touch it." Finally, the dogs are trained to hold position while their handler pats the suspect, and are ready to attack if the suspect makes any sudden or aggressive movements. When a dog comes to me, I definitely feel an adrenaline rush. I've done a lot of extreme sports and I'd definitely say catching dogs is where my adrenaline hits its peak. Patrol training also includes reconnaissance drills where dogs are taught to look for a suspect both in a building and in the woods. The way the smell works is that if he is the source right there, the way the smell will come out is like a giant cone. So you will start to see the dog bracket getting bigger, smaller, smaller, smaller, smaller.
Then he gets, boom, the source. From there, it's up to us to say, "Hey, you found him," to challenge, and also to give the suspect one last chance to surrender, per se. If not, we send the dog. You in the field! Get out or I'll send my dog! Get him. The dog's ability to find and locate a trail in the field is perfected during the first block of training. Which focuses on detection. Using training aids filled with trace elements of explosives or drugs, dogs are trained to detect a range of odors. Trainers use classical conditioning to hone each dog's natural detection abilities. The dogs we observed were 1 to 2 years old. It's about combining the scent with the reward system. So the dog associates that reward with that scent. And of course, in order to do that, the dog must have a reward value. So no matter what, if he thinks I'm hiding this ball, he's going to search and search and search until he finds this ball.
he will search and search and search until he finds that ball. And on top of that, it's just a combination of smell. Through repetition, dogs learn that finding the source of the scent means they will be rewarded with a toy.
Once the dog has formed an association between the scent and the toy, it is ready to move on to the next stage of training. The room is filled with boxes containing either nothing, or a new scent, or a scent the dogs are being trained for. In its basic form, the fragrance disappears. So the dog grabs it at its weakest point and follows it to its strongest point. And then they'll drag him back and forth and follow the scent until they finally reach the source. When the dog finds the source of the scent, it is trained to give a final answer by moving to a sitting or lying position. Hollingsworth: Eventually they'll have to work as a team with their handler. And then the handler will have to see this behavior change. So if the dog were to move, it's going to be harder for the handler to make that determination that odor is actually there.
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