K9

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”

-Roger Caras

National K9 Veterans Day (March 13th) is to honor the service and at times the sacrifices of military working dogs. Dogs began to serve in 1942 as part of the Dogs for Defense of which they were trained as sentries for supply depots. Eventually, they became the U.S. Army K9 Corps.

Robert Crais, one of my favorite authors, wrote a fictional book about a German shepherd who served in Afghanistan but is now experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As part of his recovery, the dog is assigned to the LA Police Department K-9 unit. The book is called Suspect and is well worth the read. In fact, it will teach you a little bit about your own dog.

A Belgian Malinois named Max served along with his Master-At-Arms Chief Petty Officer while deployed in Afghanistan. Max was trained for the location of IED (Improvised Explosive Device). Many of these IEDs escaped human eyes and would have maimed or killed many soldiers if it were not for these dogs.

But these dogs do much more to save lives. While taking fire from the enemy in front of them, Max started pulling backward on the leash attached to his handler. When the handler turned around, an attacker was moving up behind them.

Not only thank a serviceman for their duty but thank those brave and loyal dogs for their service too.