Marines Seek A Few (Hundred) Good Dogs

The Marines want to more than double the number of bomb-sniffing dogs in their ranks in Afghanistan. Roadside bombs and other makeshift explosives continue to plague the troops, and high-powered canine noses are still one of the best tools for detecting danger and saving lives.

They're not looking just to increase the number of dogs on the ground, but also to provide their veteran four-legged troops some relief. It's been shown that military dogs suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, too. Just like the men and women in the military, stress takes its toll, and even those who aren't diagnosed with PTSD often come back after a tour of duty thinner and in need of some downtime.

The Pentagon plans to pay as much as $34 million to a firm to supply more Labrador retrievers. Trainers will buy 200 dogs in the hopes that 100 of them will make the cut for training. Once they're certified, they'll be handed over to the Marines for additional training. Eventually, the Marines hope to boost their number of bomb-sniffing labs from 300 to 647.

Why are they only recruiting labs? Good question. Doug Miller, manager of the working dog program, says that labs have been performing well in the field.

Labs are good working dogs, but they're not the only ones. Rescue dogs are employed across the U.S. for customs and border patrol. Granted, that's not the same level of stress as a war zone, but there's no law of nature that says a shelter dog doesn't have what it takes to join the Marines. Second chance dogs like Cassius, a search and rescue dog and one of the latest winners of the Humane Fund Award for Canine Excellence, have shown that they have the chops to endure extreme chaos and stress following natural disasters.

Besides, other dogs of war have already proven that labs aren't the only heroes in the field. An untrained stray has been saving the lives of British troops in Afghanistan from roadside bombs. A few months ago, three mixed breed strays stopped a suicide bomber outside of U.S. barracks. The most decorated war dog in U.S. history was a pit bull named Stubby. Even if they had their hearts set on labs, shelters and rescues are full of retrievers. The Pentagon can save lives and save taxpayer dollars.

I'll admit that sending a dog to a war zone is not my idea of a perfect future for any companion animal. Sometimes dogs die in the line of duty, and the stressful environment is far from a walk in the park. But if a dog can't handle the war zone, they're sent home for adoption. If they don't make the cut in the training program, or if they've completed their tour of duty, the dogs go up for adoption. And that's a much better future than dying in an animal shelter.

Ask Doug Miller to give rescued dogs a chance in the military dog training program. Save their lives and they just might pay it forward.

Photo credit: The U.S. Army