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Awesome video-the full length one. I actually worked with K9 R&D systems and training in the private side, but for military applications a few years after I got out. Some of the stuff we developed was frightening.
SOF units have used dogs dating back to Vietnam, although there is very little written or known about them. A dog gives you an early warning capability that is truly impressive to behold.
When you take guys who operate as a trained pack of hunters, that spend most of their time outdoors hunting bad guys, then mate them with a high-caliber military working dog breed, something cool happens. Because of the way I learned to think, smell, hear, and feel in the outdoors, I was attenuated differently to the visual and non-visual cues from military working dogs, and they literally taught me things that no human could.
When I say "taught", I don't meant that I learned things from them on my own. I mean that they actively showed me things in their world from their perspective, because they completely sensed that I was on the level to have certain things shared with me, and most of it was during dynamic scenarios involving a lot of movement or combatives.
For example, if we went up into the mountains in vehicles, and dismounted, one particular German Shepherd would conduct a total perimeter security sweep around our area. As I observed his selection of key terrain to check first, then the route he took, I took mental notes and compared them with how I would do it. He basically did things in that regard just like we would do in a formal patrolling course upon occupation of a patrol base, but he was much faster, quieter, more thorough, with better sensory capabilities.
I would take him out late at night and run around with him, which he would turn into an obstacle course for me. By observing his foot placement and choice of interaction with detailed portions of the terrain, I learned how to cut my times on negotiation of the expedient course we made impromptu, which was very difficult because of ice and snow, frozen mud, low-hanging tree branches, thorns, and other snag/slip/fall hazards.
Another thing about working with dogs is that you want to run suppressed because of their hearing. The last thing you want to do is damage your dog's hearing. I really miss working with dogs, but can't keep a Shepherd or Malinois around the house because of travel. You can't just pass them off to someone else to watch when you're gone, unless you have a very trusted and willing friend or family member who knows the dog well.
Thanks for the post Von Gruff.
Last edited by Guest; 05-23-2013, 09:24 PM.
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