Military Dog

With their keen senses, dogs can sniff out bombs and hear artillery shells being fired long before people can. Military dogs are trained to use their senses to save soldiers' lives and make the soldiers' jobs easier. Learn more about these amazing animals, including how they are chosen, the training they go through, and the missions they complete.

In Team Dog, Mike taps into fifteen years' worth of experience and shares, in accessible and direct language, the science behind the importance of gaining a dog's trust. He also offers invaluable steps for achieving any level of obedience. His unique approach incorporates entertaining examples and anecdotes from his work with dogs on and off the battlefield and tips from the Navy SEAL guidebook.

In War Dogs, Rebecca Frankel offers a riveting mix of on-the-ground reporting, her own hands-on experiences in the military working dog world, and a look at the science of dogs' special abilities - from their amazing noses and powerful jaws to their enormous sensitivity to the emotions of their human companions. The history of dogs in the U.S. military is long and rich, from the spirit-lifting mascots of the Civil War to the dogs who lead patrols hunting for IEDs today.

A decade ago Special Forces warrior Jason Morgan parachuted into the Central American jungle on an anti-narcotics raid. He'd served with the famous Night Stalkers on countless such missions. This one turned out very different. Months later he regained consciousness in a US military hospital, with no memory of how he'd gotten there. The first words he heard were from his surgeon, telling him he would never walk again. The determined soldier responded, "Sir, yes, I will."

US Navy Seal Thorn "Tank" Hunt has been there done that, but when he loses his best friend and military working dog Echo, he's heartbroken, but he has to pick up the pieces and get another partner. He met tough as nails and way-too-confident for her britches, Army Reserve veterinarian Dr. Alyssa St. James through his baby brother and her fundraising efforts on behalf of MWDs. The undeniably beautiful, but contrary woman takes on the mission to teach Tank some new tricks and in the process, discover that maybe once in a while he could roll over and let someone else take the lead.

After being bombed and shipwrecked repeatedly while serving for several wild and war-torn years as a mascot of the World War II Royal Navy Yangtze river gunboats the Gnat and the Grasshopper, Judy ended up in Japanese prisoner of war camps in North Sumatra. Along with locals as slave labor, the American, Australian, and British POWs were forced to build a 1,200-mile single-track railroad through the most horrifying jungles and treacherous mountain passes.

Humanity is within months of losing an interstellar war to a species of aliens known as Fangrin. Giving up isn’t an option. Victory doesn’t seem like an option either. When Commander Jake Griffin is sent out with the Eternity carrier group to hunt down and destroy enemy facilities, he has no idea what’s coming to him. The planet Graxol-4 out in the middle of nowhere hides a critical enemy base with vital resources just waiting to be stolen.

When wandering Iraq War veterans Kelton Jager and ex-military working dog Azrael shelter under an overpass from a storm one spring evening, a motorcycle gang makes the fatal mistake of trying to rough them up. While the sheriff conducts his investigation, Kelton begins to discover the small sleepy southern town by the interstate isn’t as quaint and innocent as it appears. The large bale of cash sealed in plastic found at the scene speaks to nefarious activities, and the idealistic young Kelton with his K-9 dutifully assists underfunded local law enforcement in getting to the bottom of ...

When Jason Walker and his dog MMax are both badly injured in an IED explosion while serving in the European war in 2038, they are evacuated back to the United States for the chance to recuperate and heal. But before the two can reach the relative safety of their designated VA hospital in Tennessee an EMP blast creates havoc and brings down their plane, leaving them alone and vulnerable amidst the chaos of a country that is on the verge of complete and utter social collapse.

Military working dogs have played a vital role in the United States armed forces throughout history. In this celebration of their contributions to our nation, Lisa Rogak profiles these heroic dogs, capturing the devotion and respect these amazing canines, their devoted handlers, and fellow soldiers share for each other. A heartwarming collection for dog lovers everywhere, Dogs Who Serve is a must-listen tribute to America's military working dogs.

The men of the Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol - Stagg, Wolverine, Mopar, Marvel Kim, and Gonzales - are commando-style soldiers, called “Lurps” for short. Five men, completely dependent on one another. Proud to the point of arrogance. They’re joined by Tiger, their mascot: a flea-bitten scavenging stray or “dust dog,” a sneak and a coward, lazy and haughty. But, like his masters in this dirtiest of all wars, a survivor.

The Navy SEAL teams' elite K9 warriors do it all - from detecting explosives to eliminating the bad guys. These powerful dogs are also some of the smartest and most highly skilled working animals on the planet. Mike Ritland's job is to train them. This is the tale of how Ritland discovered his passion and grew up to train these elite dogs. After becoming a SEAL, he was on combat deployment in Iraq when he saw a military working dog in action, and he instantly knew he'd found his true calling.

Two dozen Navy SEALs descended on Osama bin Laden’s compound in May 2011. After the mission, only one name was made public: Cairo, a Belgian Malinois and military working dog. This is Cairo's story, and that of his handler, Will Chesney, a SEAL Team Operator whose life would be irrevocably tied to Cairo's.

In Top Dog, Maria Goodavage takes listeners into the life of Lucca K458, a decorated and highly skilled military working dog. An extraordinary bond developed between Lucca and Marine Corps handler Chris Willingham, launching what became a legendary 400-mission career. A Specialized Search Dog, Lucca belongs to an elite group trained to work off-leash at long distances from her handler.

Military working dogs gained widespread attention after Cairo participated in the SEAL Team 6 mission that led to Osama bin Laden's death. Before that, few civilians realized that dogs served in combat, let alone that they could parachute from thirty thousand feet up. The Dogs of War reveals the amazing range of jobs that our four-legged soldiers now perform, examines the dogs' training and equipment, and sets the record straight on those rumors of titanium teeth.

A message from the stars offers humanity an escape from our harsh origins deep within a region known as "Cruel Space" by the rest of the galaxy. Earth's nations unite to construct the Dauntless—Earth's first interstellar craft. Its mission: to journey to the world of Centris and establish formal contact with the enigmatic Galactic Council. Unsure of what to expect from the wider galaxy, each crewman was trained to be a peerless warrior, armed to the teeth and ready to fight for all humanity. However, what they encounter was far from their expectations. Instead of monstrous beings, they ...

It is said that the right man in the right place at the right time can mean the difference between victory and defeat. This is the dramatic story of 68 soldiers in the US Army's Second Ranger Battalion, Company D - "Dog Company" - who made that difference, time and again. America had many heroes in World War II; however, few can say that, but for them, the course of the war would have been very different. The right men, the right place, the right time - Dog Company.

Albert Jenkins never cared much for bureaucrats and politicians. So, when the Galactic Congress refuses to act on the illegal invasion of Earth by parasitic aliens, he does what any self-respecting vet would do - he steals a spaceship. But when AJ and a snarky pop culture-loving alien companion are pursued by space cops, he does the only rational thing he can come up with. He strategically crash-lands on a junkyard moon.

With the galactic capital of Centris in the starship Crimson Tear's wake, and the lost colony world of Lakran in dire need of relief, the Bridger family has a stop to make on their way to the true depths of wild space and Lakran. Vucsa 5, a world on the galactic frontier recently conquered by Agenda Lilpaw—a pirate queen turned Undaunted privateer and now reigning as an actual queen—has sent word of an opportunity that promises mutual benefit. An intriguing proposition from a reformed pirate. With challenges martial, diplomatic, and logistic in front of them, one thing is for certain: ...

July 1346. Ten men land on the beaches of Normandy. They call themselves the Essex Dogs: an unruly platoon of archers and men-at-arms led by a battle-scarred captain whose best days are behind him. The fight for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe has begun. Heading ever deeper into enemy territory toward Crécy, this band of brothers knows they are off to fight a battle that will forge nations, and shape the very fabric of human lives. But first they must survive a bloody war in which rules are abandoned and chivalry itself is slaughtered.