Help get our Miss " Sandy " Stateside........

Hope all had a good Easter Sunday -

Here is the mission - The pup that we have here in Afghanistan will be heading to her new home in Seattle. She was abandoned here on the side of the road in Kandahar but was taken in by the staff at the camp where we stay near KAF

 

The staff here named her " Xena " but I preferred to call her "Sandy"

 

She's with NOWZAD Dogs  ( www.nowzad.com ) and is in Kabul preparing to head home once she is medically cleared and they have her ready.

 

YOU can help my making a small donation to help with the $4000 it will cost to get her stateside.

 

Any amount is appreciated, no matter how much as I know $$$ is tight these days.

 

You can donate at http://www.gofundme.com/nowzad-xena

 

The website is paypal and it allows you to make a donation securely.

 

She's a great pup and deserves the life that she will have living in the US.

 

I appreciate all who assist and I rarely (if ever) ask for people to donate $$ but this is one little pup who is well worth it.

 

Thanks again.  With many hands lifting, this little girl will get a chance to live a " dog's life " with a family who will love her always.

 

 

 



Sandy will have a forever home in the US

There is good news here in Kandahar - We have found a forever home for Miss Sandy in the US !!

If all goes to plan, she will be residing in Seattle with a retired Marine and his family in the near future with the assistance of NOWZAD Dogs.  www.nowzad.com

This will be both happy and sad for all here as she is a sweetheart and we love having her here but we want her to have the best life possible.  Her new family will love her and she will live the life of a lucky dog.

She was found abandoned on the side of the road here in Kandahar and will now live in the USA.

She has hit the "Afghan Doggy Lottery".  Glad we could help her.

Our K9 Battle Buddies

" The Dog is a Gentleman; I hope to go to his Heaven, not Man's." - Mark Twain

 

Roger that Mr. Twain

Dogs care......

True That

We are welcoming new pups to our life - Miss Marci & Macey



MARCI

 

 


Macey

 My family and I are proud to announce we have adopted a pair of Shelter Dogs ( Border Collie / Hound Mix) that need a good home.


After the loss of our beloved Miss Tessa and Spooky ealrier this year, we will open our home and hearts to the newest members of our clan, Marci & Macey.


We are truly blessed and couldn't be more excited. Here are some words that mean a lot to me and all who value our K-9 friends.

" The dogs in our lives, the dogs we come to love and who (we fervently believe) love us in return, offer more than fidelity, consolation, and companionship. They offer comedy, irony, wit, and a wealth of anecdotes, the "shaggy dog stories" and "stupid pet tricks" that are commonplace pleasures of life. They offer, if we are wise enough or simple enough to take it, a model for what it means to give your heart with little thought of return. Both powerfully imaginary and comfortingly real, dogs act as mirrors for our own beliefs about what would constitute a truly humane society. Perhaps it is not too late for them to teach us some new tricks. "
- Marjorie Garber

SEMPER FIDO - Marine Seeks to Adopt Military Dog

SEMPER FIDO....Let's hope these two Marines get reunited soon.

Marine Seeks to Adopt Military Dog
Saturday, 10 Mar 2012
MYFOXNY.COM -

A former Marine is hitting bureaucratic red tape in her quest to adopt the military service dog she served with in Iraq before it is put down.

Former Corporal Megan Leavey, of Rockland County, wants to take in a German shepherd named Sergeant Rex. They hunted for IEDs on Iraq during two tours of duty.

They were both severely injured in Iraq when an IED exploded near them. The dog is 10 years old now and can no longer serve.

"This is not (the Marines) first priority," Leavey admits, "A lot of times it gets lost in the shuffle."

But time is running out for the faithful dog.

"He's done his duty. It's time for him to relax," Leavey says.

Sen. Charles Schumer has stepped in and has asked the military to expedite Leavey's application to adopt Sergeant Rex before he is put to sleep.

"The Marines don't have a reason against reuniting them, it is mainly a paperwork dely."

Even the bravest warriors have issues - More Military Dogs Show Signs of Combat Stress

Our 4-legged Warriors do it all for their troops, with a wagging tail and a smile. But even the hardiest of our K-9 buddies can have issues after repeated exposure to the horror of war. I am glad to see that the military recognizes the issue and is compassionate to our military dogs. In less enlightened times, the dog would have likely been put down.

I salute our 4-legged soldiers for all that they do. They save lives.

The least we can do is support them when they need it. Semper Fidos.



More Military Dogs Show Signs of Combat Stress
By JAMES DAO / NY Times
Published: December 1, 2011

SAN ANTONIO — The call came into the behavior specialists here from a doctor in Afghanistan. His patient had just been through a firefight and now was cowering under a cot, refusing to come out.

Apparently even the chew toys hadn’t worked.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, thought Dr. Walter F. Burghardt Jr., chief of behavioral medicine at the Daniel E. Holland Military Working Dog Hospital at Lackland Air Force Base. Specifically, canine PTSD.

If anyone needed evidence of the frontline role played by dogs in war these days, here is the latest: the four-legged, wet-nosed troops used to sniff out mines, track down enemy fighters and clear buildings are struggling with the mental strains of combat nearly as much as their human counterparts.

By some estimates, more than 5 percent of the approximately 650 military dogs deployed by American combat forces are coming down with canine PTSD. Of those, about half are likely to be retired from service, Dr. Burghardt said.

Though veterinarians have long diagnosed behavioral problems in animals, the concept of canine PTSD is only about 18 months old, having come into vogue among military veterinarians who have been seeing patterns of troubling behavior among dogs exposed to explosions, gunfire and other combat-related violence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Like humans with the analogous disorder, different dogs show different symptoms. Some become hyper-vigilant. Others avoid buildings or work areas that they had previously been comfortable in. Some undergo sharp changes in temperament, becoming unusually aggressive with their handlers, or clingy and timid. Most crucially, many stop doing the tasks they were trained to perform.

“If the dog is trained to find improvised explosives and it looks like it’s working, but isn’t, it’s not just the dog that’s at risk,” Dr. Burghardt said. “This is a human health issue as well.”

That the military is taking a serious interest in canine PTSD underscores the importance of working dogs in the current wars. Once used primarily as furry sentries, military dogs — most are German shepherds, followed by Belgian Malinois and Labrador retrievers — have branched out into an array of specialized tasks.

They are widely considered the most effective tools for detecting the improvised explosive devices, or I.E.D.’s, frequently used in Afghanistan. Typically made from fertilizer and chemicals, and containing little or no metal, those buried bombs can be nearly impossible to find with standard mine-sweeping instruments. In the past three years, I.E.D.’s have become the major cause of casualties in Afghanistan.

The Marine Corps also has begun using specially trained dogs to track Taliban fighters and bomb-makers. And Special Operations commandos train their own dogs to accompany elite teams on secret missions — the best-known instance, the Navy SEAL raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Across all the forces, more than 50 military dogs have been killed since 2005.

The number of working dogs on active duty has risen to 2,700, from 1,800 in 2001, and the training school headquartered here at Lackland has gotten busy, preparing about 500 dogs a year. So has the Holland hospital, the Pentagon’s canine version of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Dr. Burghardt, a lanky 59-year-old who retired last year from the Air Force as a colonel, rarely sees his PTSD patients in the flesh. Consultations with veterinarians in the field are generally done by phone, e-mail or Skype, and often involve video documentation.

In a series of videos that Dr. Burghardt uses to train veterinarians to spot canine PTSD, one shepherd barks wildly at the sound of gunfire that it had once tolerated in silence. Another can be seen confidently inspecting the interior of cars but then refusing to go inside a bus or a building. Another sits listlessly on a barrier wall, then after finally responding to its handler’s summons, runs away from a group of Afghan soldiers.

In each case, Dr. Burghardt theorizes, the dogs were using an object, vehicle or person as a “cue” for some violence they had witnessed. “If you want to put doggy thoughts into their heads,” he said, “the dog is thinking: when I see this kind of individual, things go boom, and I’m distressed.”

Treatment can be tricky. Since the patient cannot explain what is wrong, veterinarians and handlers must make educated guesses about the traumatizing events. Care can be as simple as taking a dog off patrol and giving it lots of exercise, play time and gentle obedience training.

More serious cases will receive what Dr. Burghardt calls “desensitization counter-conditioning,” which entails exposing the dog at a safe distance to a sight or sound that might trigger a reaction — a gunshot, a loud bang or a vehicle, for instance. If the dog does not react, it is rewarded, and the trigger — “the spider in a glass box,” Dr. Burghardt calls it — is moved progressively closer until the dog is comfortable with it.

Gina, a shepherd with PTSD who was the subject of news articles last year, was successfully treated with desensitization and has been cleared to deploy again, said Tech Sgt. Amanda Callahan, a spokeswoman at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

Some dogs are also treated with the same medications used to fight panic attacks in humans. Dr. Burghardt asserts that medications seem particularly effective when administered soon after traumatizing events. The Labrador retriever that cowered under a cot after a firefight, for instance, was given Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, and within days was working well again.

Dogs that do not recover quickly are returned to their home bases for longer-term treatment. But if they continue to show symptoms after three months, they are usually retired or transferred to different duties, Dr. Burghardt said.

As with humans, there is much debate about treatment, with little research yet to guide veterinarians. Lee Charles Kelley, a dog trainer who writes a blog for Psychology Today called “My Puppy, My Self,” says medications should be used only as a stopgap. “We don’t even know how they work in people,” he said.

In the civilian dog world, a growing number of animal behaviorists seem to be endorsing the concept of canine PTSD, saying it also affects household pets who experience car accidents and even less traumatic events.

Nicholas H. Dodman, director of the animal behavior clinic at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tuft University, said he had written about and treated dogs with PTSD-like symptoms for years — but did not call it PTSD until recently. Asked if the disorder could be cured, Dr. Dodman said probably not.

“It is more management,” he said. “Dogs never forget.”

Weber the black Labrador gets a new home in England after being rescued

All for the love of a dog....It is amazing what people will do for a dog as it is something innate that humans feel for our 4-legged friends.

Our Black Lab was the same. I was walking with our two pups in a local forest area in the dead of winter when he came ambling out of the woods and took right to us. I was amazed as it was very cold and here was this little black lab all alone in the woods with no collar. I took him home as it was not the weather you would leave an animal out in for any length of time. I called the local pound and found out he was a stray who had been abandoned by a family that moved out of town. The dog officer stated he had been on the run for a few weeks. My wife and I decided that he should stay as it was inconceivable that this nice little lab could be abandoned in such a cold-hearted way. He has become part of our family and we can't imagine life without him.

This couple from England must have felt the same way about Weber as they went above and beyond, all for the love of a dog.

Couple spend £2,000 flying stray dog to Britain after falling in love with her on Caribbean holiday By Emily Allen - UK Mail

When they met on a Caribbean beach it was love at first sight - and when the holiday was over, nothing was going to keep them apart.

And finally Weber the black Labrador cross has been reunited with her loving new owners, 4,000 miles from his old home.

Paul Booth, 43, and wife Lorraine, 36, rescued the dog after spotting her wandering across a beach in Antigua as it hunted for scraps.

They decided to adopt the malnourished animal and give her a permanent home back in Britain.Now after paying £2,000 and waiting for vet checks to be completed and the six-month quarantine period to be over, the couple have been reunited with their dog.

She bounded into their arms after stepping off a long-haul flight from the Caribbean island to Gatwick Airport last week.

Mrs Booth said: 'It feels great to finally have her here. She looks exactly the same as before, but is now super-healthy.'We fell in love with her after she started following us around. In the end we just could not leave her there.'I think it is fate that led us to her and now she is settling in so well here.'

The couple, from Cotham, Bristol, headed to Antigua's idyllic Cocobay resort for a two-week holiday in January this year.They were living in a hut on a stretch of the island's scenic beach when they first noticed the black dog wandering the sands.

Mrs Booth, who owns retro sweet shop Fizzy Lips in Bristol's Broadmead shopping centre with her husband, said: 'We were in a resort where we had a hut on the beach.

'My husband went running on the beach in the morning, near an unpopulated wasteland, and this little dog came out and ran over to him.'He stopped and rubbed its nose and patted it, and she was all patchy and malnourished, and she had mange.'But she followed him up the beach and ran with him and when he got back to the hut he said to me, 'you have got to come and see this dog'.'

The couple befriended her and she began follow them around and they in turn would feed her.
Mrs Booth said: 'We were there two weeks and we went to see her every day.
'She would come to see us and sit outside our hut to wait for us, and she had such a lovely personality.'She was so thin and slept on the beach with no food, water or companions, either canine or human. It was very sad.

'How she got there no one will ever know, but she was not likely to survive for long.
'Despite, this she seemed so delighted to have any attention.'The problem in Antigua with stray dogs is very bad, and the few people over there who are trying to educate people, rescue and re-home dogs are fighting an uphill battle.'

They left money for her to be looked after when they returned home.

But when they got back to Bristol they realised they wanted the dog to be with them permanently.
Mrs Booth said: 'I just couldn't bear to go home and not find out what happened to her.
'It seemed so sad that she would probably end up getting hit by a car or just dying of starvation.
'We had two other dogs and when we got back from holiday we found out our black labrador Merlin had a cancerous tumour and later died.'

After persuading Ms Corbin to let them apply to bring Weber home, the young dog was put in quarantine at the Humane Society in Antigua for six months.The Booths also paid hundreds of pounds for her to be cleaned up and given its rabies jabs. Her flight to Gatwick cost £1,000.

Weber has now settled in to her home in the city and is already best friends with the Booths' other dog - six-year-old Labrador Cosmo. Mrs Booth said: 'She was a bit timid to start with but now is just racing around everywhere.'We take her up to the park and she absolutely loves it. She always comes back to me too. 'We could not be happier.

Man & Dog have been together a lot longer than we ever imagined....

By all accounts, man & dog have been living together for about 15000 years, since the end of the last ice age. Man has altered dogs to serve our needs and due to man, the dog is the most genetically altered species in the world. We have bred dogs to serve the needs of hunting, farm duties and for vanity.

Now, researchers have found that the partnership between man & dog may go back as far as 33,000 years ago based on new evidence found in cave dwellings in France.

All I know is our lives would not be the same without our 4 legged friends. I am glad to say that the three that reside with my family are valued for their companionship, attentiveness and that they make sure no one comes near our home without us knowing about it.


From the Cave to the Kennel

What the evolutionary history of the dog tells us about another animal: ourselves. From a cave in France, a new picture has emerged of canines as our prehistoric soulmates.
By Mark Derr - Wall Street Journal

Chauvet Cave in southern France houses the oldest representational paintings ever discovered. Created some 32,000 years ago, the 400-plus images of large grazing animals and the predators who hunted them form a multi-chambered Paleolithic bestiary. Many scholars believe that these paintings mark the emergence of a recognizably modern human consciousness. We feel that we know their creators, even though they are from a time and place as alien as another planet.

What most intrigues many people about the cave, however, is not the artwork but a set of markings at once more human and more mysterious: the bare footprints of an 8- to 10-year-old torch-bearing boy left in the mud of a back chamber some 26,000 years ago—and, alongside one of them, the paw print of his traveling companion, variously identified as a wolf or a large dog.

Attributing that paw print to a dog or even to a socialized wolf has been controversial since it was first proposed a decade ago. It would push back by some 12,000 years the oldest dog on record. More than that: Along with a cascade of other new scientific findings, it could totally rewrite the story of man and dog and what they mean to each other.

For decades, the story told by science has been that today's dogs are the offspring of scavenger wolves who wandered into the villages established by early humans at the end of the last ice age, about 15,000 years ago. This view emphasizes simple biological drive—to feed on human garbage, the scavenging wolf had to behave in a docile fashion toward humans. And—being human—we responded in kind, seeking out dogs for their obsequiousness and unconditional devotion.

As the story goes, these tame wolves bred with other tame wolves and became juvenilized. Think of them as wolves-lite, diminished in strength, stamina and brains. They resembled young wolves, with piebald coats, floppy ears and shorter, weaker jaws. Pleading whiners, they drowned their human marks in slavish devotion and unconditional love. Along the way, they lost their ability to kill and consume their prey.

But it was never clear, in this old account, just how we got from the scavenging wolf to the remarkable spectrum of dogs who have existed over time, from fell beasts trained to terrorize and kill people to creatures so timid that they flee their own shadows. The standard explanation was that once the dump-diver became a dog, humans took charge of its evolution through selective breeding, choosing those with desired traits and culling those who came up short.

This account is now falling apart in the face of new genetic analyses and recently discovered fossils. The emerging story sees humans and proto-dogs evolving together: We chose them, to be sure, but they chose us too, and our shared characteristics may well account for our seemingly unshakable mutual intimacy.

Dogs and humans are social beings who depend on cooperation for their survival and have an uncanny ability to understand each other in order to work together. Both wolves and humans brought unique, complementary talents to a relationship that was based not on subservience and intimidation but on mutual respect.

It seems that wolves and humans met on the trail of the large grazing animals that they both hunted, and the most social members of both species gravitated toward each other. Several scholars have even suggested that humans learned to hunt from wolves. At the least, camps with wolf sentinels had a competitive advantage over those without. And people whose socialized wolves would carry packs had an even greater advantage, since they could transport more supplies. Wolves benefited as well by gaining some relief from pup rearing, protection for themselves and their offspring, and a steadier food supply.

The relationship between dogs and humans has been so mutually beneficial and enduring that some scholars have suggested that we—dog and human—influenced each other's evolution.

The Chauvet Cave "dogwolf"—the term I use for a doglike, or highly socialized, wolf who kept company with humans—is controversial, but it cannot easily be dismissed. Over the past three years, it has been grouped convincingly with a number of similar animals that have been identified in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and the Altai Mountains in Southern Siberia, dating from 33,000 to 16,000 years ago.

Identification of these early dogs, combined with recent genetic evidence and a growing understanding of animals not as stimulus-response machines but as sentient beings, has broken the consensus model of dog domestication—leaving intact little more than the recognition of the grey wolf, Canis lupus, as progenitor of the dog. Everything else, it seems, is up for grabs.

According to the old view, the dog arose around 15,000 years ago in the Middle East. (Or in China, south of the Yangtze River, an alternate possible origin point added in the last decade in an attempt to reconcile archaeological evidence with emerging DNA evidence.)

The first major challenge to the consensus came in 1997, when an international team of biologists published a paper in the journal Science placing the origin of the dog as early as 135,000 years ago. Their date was based on analysis of mitochondrial DNA, which is passed on to offspring through females and is believed to change little from generation to generation; it allows scientists to calculate the time when populations or species separated genetically. This analysis suggested that wolves could have become dogs wherever in Eurasia they associated closely with early humans, and that even after the split was made, dogs and wolves continued to interbreed.

In short, because of their natural affinities, wherever and whenever wolves and humans met on the trail, some of them began to keep company. Often, when socialized wolves died, there were no others immediately available to replace them. But sometimes several socialized wolves would mate or a socialized female would mate with a "wild" wolf and then have her litter near the human camp. The pups would stay or go, according to their natures. This kind of arrangement could have continued for a considerable period. Any number of them could ultimately have produced dogwolves or dogs. Most of those lines would have vanished over time.

The DNA evidence remained controversial for years, even as most major studies placed the genetic separation of wolf and dog at earlier dates than those favored by archaeologists. Hard proof was slow to appear. The Chauvet Cave paw print once provided the only physical evidence for the existence of dogs before 15,000 years ago—and it was, at best, an indirect piece of support.

Then in 2008, Mietje Germonpré, a paleontologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Science and the leader of an international team of scientists, re-examined fossil material excavated from Goyet Cave in Belgium in the late 19th century and announced the identification of a 31,700-year-old dog, a large and powerful animal who ate reindeer, musk oxen and horses. The dogwolf from Goyet Cave was a creature of the Aurignacian culture that had produced the art in Chauvet Cave.

Last July, another international team identified the remains of a 33,000-year-old "incipient dog" from the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia. This month, Ms. Germonpré confirmed another find, this one in the Czech Republic, of the remains of a 26,000- to 27,000-year-old dog that had been buried with a bone in its mouth—perhaps to fuel it as it accompanied its human companion to the afterlife.

While the old consensus model held that the first dogs were small, these and other recently identified early dogs are large animals, often with shorter noses and broader faces than today's wolves. These early dogs appear in the camps of hunters of horses, reindeer, mammoths and other big game. From all appearances, they were pack animals, guards, hunters and companions. They are perhaps best viewed as the offspring of highly socialized wolves who had begun breeding in or near human camps.

Our view of domestication as a process has also begun to change, with recent research showing that, in dogs, alterations in only a small number of genes can have large effects in terms of size, shape and behavior. Far from being a product of the process of domestication, the mutations that separated early dogs from wolves may have arisen naturally in one or more small populations; the mutations were then perpetuated by humans through directed breeding. Geneticists have identified, for instance, a mutation in a single gene that appears to be responsible for smallness in dogs, and they have shown that the gene itself probably came from Middle Eastern wolves.

All of this suggests that it was common for highly socialized wolves and people to form alliances. It also leads logically to the conclusion that the first dogs were born on the move with bands of hunter-gatherers—not around semi-permanent pre-agricultural settlements. This may explain why it has proven so difficult to identify a time and place of domestication.

Taken together, these recent discoveries have led some scientists to conclude that the dog became an evolutionary inevitability as soon as humans met wolves. Highly social wolves and highly social humans started walking, playing and hunting together and never stopped. The dog is literally the wolf who stayed, who traded wolf society for human society.

Humans did wield a significant influence over dogs, of course, by using breeding to perpetuate mutations affecting their shape, size and physical abilities. Recent studies suggest that the dog has unique abilities among animals to follow human directions and that its capacity for understanding words can approach that of a two-year-old child. To various degrees, humans appear to have concentrated those and other characteristics and traits through selective breeding.

Since the advent of scientific breeding in the late 18th century, humans have altered the look and temperament of the dog more than they had over thousands of preceding years. A team of gene-sequencers at the Broad Institute of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimated that the dog lost 4% of its genetic diversity during its initial separation from the wolf. Much greater losses have occurred as a result of modern breed formation, one result of which is the more than 400 inheritable diseases to which purebreds are uniquely vulnerable.

Recent genetic evidence has confirmed that certain basic types—pariah dogs, sight hounds, mastiffs, spitz-type dogs and small dogs—arose very early in the transformation of wolf to dog. These dogs adapted to their homelands and often had special talents as hunters, guards and eventually herders. These characteristics were often perpetuated over time.

Scientific breeders believed they could improve on nature by consolidating several similar types into one breed or isolating a few prize specimens from a larger population. In both cases, they relied on inbreeding to create and perpetuate the look and talents they wanted. With the advent of kennel clubs in the mid-19th century, the pace of breed creation picked up.

Breeders began to create dogs to fit the needs of the wealthy—from sporting dogs that could point and retrieve fowl, to little puppy-like lap dogs. The dog proved to be a wonderful animal for testing the skill of breeders, since it could be stretched in size from two to 200 pounds.

Purebred dogs were expensive commodities until after World War II, when they became symbols of arrival in the middle class. Increased demand led to increased breeding, often in puppy mills. The resulting dogs had health and behavior problems from bad breeding and the poor care of pregnant females and newborn puppies.

In some cases, the traits that breeders desire are inherited along with unwanted, debilitating conditions—such as when blindness and epilepsy accompany particular coat styles and eye colors. In many regards, the original, naturally occurring breeds were healthier and better at their appointed tasks than their purebred heirs.

But this is just the most recent chapter of a long tale. The tableau in the mud of Chauvet Cave is a stark reminder that dogs and humans have traveled together for tens of thousands of years, from ancient hunting camps to farms, ranches cities and suburbs—from the tropics to the poles. The relationship has endured not because dogs are juvenilized wolves but because they are dogs—our faithful companions.

—Mr. Derr's most recent book is "How the Dog Became the Dog: From Wolves to Our Best Friends."

The Dogs of 09/11

Man's Best Friends helped on 09/11. Their service in assisting the searchers at the Pentagon & Ground Zero was critical. Our K-9 companions showing again why the Dog is our best friend always.

The 9/11 rescue dogs: Portraits of the last surviving animals who scoured Ground Zero one decade on
By Anna Edwards UK MAIL

During the chaos of the 9/11 attacks, where almost 3,000 people died, nearly 100 loyal search and rescue dogs and their brave owners scoured Ground Zero for survivors.

Now, ten years on, just 12 of these heroic canines survive, and they have been commemorated in a touching series of portraits entitled 'Retrieved'.

The dogs worked tirelessly to search for anyone trapped alive in the rubble, along with countless emergency service workers and members of the public.

Travelling across nine states in the U.S. from Texas to Maryland, Dutch photographer Charlotte Dumas, 34, captured the remaining dogs in their twilight years in their homes where they still live with their handlers, a full decade on from 9/11.

Their stories have now been compiled in a book, called Retrieved, which is published on Friday, the tenth anniversary of the attacks.

Noted for her touching portraits of animals, especially dogs, Charlotte wanted 'Retrieved' to mark not only the anniversary of the September 2001 attacks, but also as recognition for some of the first responders and their dogs.

'I felt this was a turning point, especially for the dogs, who although are not forgotten, are not as prominent as the human stories involved,' explained Charlotte, who splits her time between New York and Amsterdam.

'They speak to us as a different species and animals are greatly important for our sense of empathy and to put things into perspective.'

Most of the search and rescue dogs are Labradors or Golden Retrievers and Charlotte feels that the title works across many aspects of the story.

'I found the dogs, I retrieved them, they were there to retrieve the victims, it is nicely rounded,' explained Charlotte whose work is being exhibited at the Julie Saul Gallery NYC opening on September 8, in time for the anniversary.

After working on a project about police canines and other working dogs, she was inspired to concentrate on the animals that played such a huge part in seeking survivors.

Contacting the NYPD, the New York Fire Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Charlotte discovered that out of the nearly 100 dogs among the first responders deployed by FEMA, there were in fact only 15 still alive last year.

'They were there for the first few weeks, they were trained to find people alive, although that is ultimately not what happened,' said Charlotte, who will hold a fundraiser for the First Responder Alliance at Clic Bookstore in New York on September 29.

'I traveled across the United States to meet with the owners and portray the dogs. They are all retired and I spent time with each of their handlers learning about their experiences.

'It was moving talking to Denise Corliss, who is the handler and owner of Bretagne, one of the Golden Retrievers.

'She told me a touching story of one fireman who was there in the rubble, and how taken he was with Bretagne who comforted him as he sat down to catch his breath.

'Years later at a Remembrance Ceremony, the same fireman recognised Bretagne and her handler and they had a touching reunion.

'It developed that even though the dogs couldn't find people still alive, they could provide comfort for the brave firemen and rescue workers of the emergency services.'

Wishing to tell the other side of heroism from 9/11, each of Charlotte's encounters with dogs such as Gabriel and Orion and Scout stayed with her.

'The dogs are now old and they will soon pass away. Even during the time it has taken since my first work on the 'Retrieved' portraits to now, three of the final 15 have died,' said Charlotte.

'These portraits are about how time passes, and how these dogs and their portraits are offering us a way to deal with the things that happened as well as relying on them for comfort.'

The British Military ensure that their K-9 Warriors are well kept in Afghanistan

In the photo above, British Army soldier Lcpl Marianne Hay from the Royal Army Veterinary Corp, crouches next to her explosives dog Leanna on Aug. 3, 2008 in Maywand District in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.


The Brits are our best Allies, here in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Seems like they take pretty good care of their K-9 warriors also. They need to, as they are based out of Camp Bastion, deep in the heart of Helmand province. Presently, the temps there will approach 120-125 degrees in the shade on any given Summer day. That is dangerous conditions for our K-9 warriors. Glad to see they ensure that the 4-legged soldiers get good accomadations.

Good Show. All our best to our British Allies and their K-9 Warriors. Brilliant.


Life for a British military dog in Afghanistan

By Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent
Rebecca Frankel - Foreignpolicy.com

As President Obama made his announcement this week about the troop drawdown this week, allied forces in Afghanistan are on the topic table again. European allies responded positively to the president's announcement. U.K. prime minister David Cameron, who announced his own plan for British troop withdrawals in May, was quick to applaud Obama, adding:

We will keep UK force levels in Afghanistan under constant review. I have already said there will be no UK troops in combat roles in Afghanistan by 2015 and, where conditions on the ground allow, it is right that we bring troops home sooner."

Britain has approximately 10,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan -- the second highest number after the United States. Working alongside Cornish soldiers on the frontlines out of Camp Bastion -- Britain's largest military base in the country -- are a troop of 70 military dogs. So what's life like for a British military dog in Afghanistan? Actually, not too shabby.

The accomodations for these war dogs are extensive. Each dog has his or her own kennel quarters -- a small square building with both an indoor and outdoor component. The indoor quarters are air conditioned and each kennel has its own self-sustaining power source.

While on patrol, each handler is outfitted with a special canine first aid kit. For the detection and patrol dogs in Afghanistan, heat is always the handlers' and veterinary medics' biggest concern. There's also only one pool on base -- and it's just for the dogs.

But the canines aren't the only ones happy with these arrangements:

Private Daniel Gregory, from Bodmin, helps look after the dogs at Camp Bastion [says]: " It's the love of the dogs, working outside everyday. It's a good job, a really good job."

British Paratroopers raise money to bring home their K-9 friend PHOS - “Walkies’ to him is going out on patrol and we’ve grown very fond of him.”

British Paratroopers are trying to bring home their friend " PHOS " who adopted them as much as they adopted him....They are utlizing online fundraising as a way of getting the word out to as many others as possible....."Awesome use of the technology Dude.."

Bring the Pup home.....he's a good dog. I salute our British Allies and all their efforts....Brilliant. Good show.


Soldier seeks help to rescue dog from Afghanistan

by Ian Bunting, Airdrie & Coatbridge
Garry McMahon -
http://www.acadvertiser.co.uk


AN Airdrie soldier serving in Afghanistan is asking for help to rescue a dog from the war-torn country.

Garry McMahon (29), from Porters Lane in Chapelhall, and his team need to raise £5000 to bring Phos the dog back home with them.

Garry is a Sergeant in the Machine Gun Platoon of 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment and serving on a third tour of Afghanistan.

Soldiers rescued Phos and five other puppies when they were very young and had been abandoned by their mother.

The puppies were meant to be sent away to be put to sleep as no-one could look after them.

The soldiers switched the box with the puppies in it and sent the six dogs out to different check points as pets.

Garry said: “We have raised Phos since he was six-weeks-old and he has been a part of our team ever since.

“Walkies’ to him is going out on patrol and we’ve grown very fond of him.”

The problem for Garry, his team and Phos is that when they return home the next unit have already said they have a ‘no pet’ policy.

Garry said: “We don’t want to give Phos back to the locals as they will just cut his ears and tail off to use him for fighting purposes.

“All of the team think Phos has a right to come home with us but we need to raise the money to let this happen.”

The team are trying to raise the £5000 required through the charity Nowzad, set up to relieve the suffering of animals.

They have raised £2177 so far but are seeking the public’s help to reach their final target.

Garry said: “Any help from anyone reading this would be highly appreciated and will allow Phos to live a safer life than he would here.”

Anyone wishing to donate to the cause can do so by visiting www.justgiving.com/stuart-mcbean

" She saw guys in a uniform and knew they would feed her and take care of her." - The USMC rescue a puppy named " Alice" from Afghanistan

This is the measure of true devotion that our K-9 Friends pay us and the USMC returned in kind, with the help from some school kids, to a puppy named "Alice"....AWESOME and SEMPER FI !!

War zone puppy reunited with Marine
By: Karen Hensel - WISH-TV Channel 8

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A dog that survived the war zone in Afghanistan is safe in Indiana thanks to the U.S. Marines and the love of hundreds of local school children.

"She was a stray and in bad shape, maybe 10-15 pounds. She had been in a couple of fights and was all scarred up," Captain Matt Taylor of Lebanon, Indiana says,

She is a stray puppy who became a lesson in war, life and love for students at Lebanon Middle School who raised money to bring her to the states. The students donated one dollar at a time and raised over $1,000 to help send Alice home to the states.

Captain Taylor and Alice walked into a room of smiles and applause from the students on Friday.

"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and my Marines hearts because this little girl helped us through some hard times and was a really sweet reminder of what is good and good things that can happen when people like you come together," Taylor told the students.

But the story really begins with Alice and how a foreign four legged friend can break down barriers to find trust even at war.

"She knew a good thing when she saw it I guess. She saw guys in a uniform and knew they would feed her and take care of her. She became attached to my Marines. She wouldn't leave and kept coming around and of course they were feeding her and giving her water and she became a part of the family," Captain Taylor recalls,

She was rescued from sure death by the Marines but in return became a loyal and loving unit mascot for six months. But then came word the Marines were getting a military working dog to help with ied detection so they would have to get rid of her. Rather than turn her back onto the streets they worked to send her back home to the states. The Afghan puppy got her own website. Marines, families and students all donated.

A non-profit based in the UK helped get her from Kabul to Dubai to Indianapolis. The last time Captain Taylor saw her was months ago as he was putting her into a taxi. It would be months before he would see here again, this time in Indiana.

"It was a big leap of faith. A very excited Afghan taxi driver saying I've got this, it's good, I'll drive her 14 hours to Kabul. There's obviously some trepidation there," Captain Taylor reveals.

Trepidation; an interesting word choice when you understand why Captain Taylor has missed the last four Christmases and last four birthdays.

We first met Matt Taylor of Lebanon Indiana thousands of miles from home when 24 Hour News 8's Karen Hensel went to Iraq in 2006. He was stationed in the thick of the war halfway between Balad and Fallujah. He was just a lieutenant then and brand new. But he has "trepidation" for the stray dog who became a battle buddy, bridged barriers and healed wounds. For even tough Marines far from home it was nice to have a dog to come home to.

"It was a nice bit of comfort. You come home and it's hot or cold or you are wet or tired and there is always somebody who is real happy to see you. You're not going to get a hug and a kiss from a Marine when you come back from patrol, but there is always a little girl like this to come up and give you a lick, put her head on her lap and remind you there is something nice in the world too," Captain Taylor says.

K-9 Veterans start to get respect they deserve from the public - US NAVY JEEP supports our K-9 Veterans

In the almost two years that I have authored this MILBLOG, I have focused on many issues and themes. One of the main themes has been our four-legged friends, especially those who serve side by side with our military as K-9 Veterans.

In 2007, my wife and I hosted a Benefit Car Show where we raised approximatley $1000 for K-9 Veterans. We donated the proceeds among three organizations that supported K-9 Troops. I firmly believe the link between Man and Dog is one of the key events in human history. Without them, we are weaker. With them, we are an unstoppable team.

In the wake of the info about the K-9 Trooper who went with the US NAVY SEALs to get OBL, the public has finally caught up with what some of us knew all along. Our K-9 Veterans have been doing their part to support the military for decades and all they ask in return is that we show them we care, give them an occasional walk & toss of the tennis ball.

My thanks to all our 4-legged Vets who keep the military safe and those that protect the homefront while we work out here. Dogs may not be our whole life, but I know life is not as whole without them.

"The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not man's."
- Mark Twain, Letter to W D Howells, 4/2/1899

SEALs canine commando piques interest in war dogs
Military officials receive over 400 adoption applications after canine helped during mission to kill bin Laden

(AP) SAN DIEGO -- Life after the military is looking brighter than ever for America's four-legged veterans since one of their own helped in the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

War dog organizations say the number of people asking about adopting retired military canines has risen dramatically since the mission involving Cairo, the Navy SEALs dog tasked with tracking anyone who tried to escape from bin Laden's compound and alerting the special operations forces to anyone approaching.

While about 300 retired U.S. military dogs are put up for adoption each year, military officials say they've received more than 400 adoption applications in the three weeks since the May 2 raid. In past generations, most military dogs were euthanized once their tours of duty were done.

"They made a really big deal about Cairo being a super dog, but all dogs in the military are super dogs," said Ron Aiello, president of the U.S. War Dogs Association. "These dogs are fully trained, are worth probably $40,000 to $50,000 each at least, and it's a dog that has been saving American lives. It's kind of a hero in a way."

Aiello, a dog handler for the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, started his organization with other former dog handlers to teach Americans about the long and often sad history of the dogs that have been deployed with troops.

The attack on Pearl Harbor sparked the U.S. military's interest in war dogs, which Germany and France used in World War I. Prior to the Vietnam War, the canines were trained to be fierce attack dogs that greatly distrusted humans. But the military soon found that limited them too much and started training German shepherds and other breeds to be patrol dogs.

Today, military dogs are used to find explosives, insurgents and drugs, and to help search for missing people. Some are so highly trained they can work off leash and follow commands whispered by their handlers through a specialized communication system attached to the dog.

The dogs are credited with saving thousands of lives. Last year, Aiello said, a dog on patrol in Iraq detected a fertilizer bomb on the other side of the door in a building. The dog sat down and alerted U.S. troops, who spotted the explosive by looking under the door.

If the dog had not sat down, troops would have opened the door and the building might have blown up, killing all inside.

Other times, the dogs can only do so much. When a sniper's bullet struck Pfc. Colton Rusk in Afghanistan, the first to reach his body was his best friend Eli -- a bomb-sniffing, black Labrador so loyal he snapped at other Marines who rushed to his fallen handler. Rusk died Dec. 6. His parents have since adopted his dog.

After the Vietnam War, only 204 of an estimated 4,900 war dogs returned to the United States, according to military dog organizations. The others were euthanized, given to the South Vietnamese army or abandoned by soldiers trying to save the dogs.

That changed in 2000 when President Bill Clinton signed a law allowing the dogs to be adopted. Dog lovers say the military has made dramatic strides since then. Last year, 338 dogs were adopted, including 34 that were given to police departments or other government agencies.

None are euthanized now, said Gerry Proctor, a spokesman for Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, where the military's dog adoption program is based.

"All the animals find a home," he said. "There's a six-month waiting list right now for people wanting to adopt. And (the applications) have gone up substantially since the raid."

The nonprofit Military Working Dog Adoptions has received over 300 inquiries in the past two weeks, said Debbie Kandoll of Las Cruces, New Mexico, who founded the organization after getting her first war dog in January 2008. Her group and Aiello's help raise awareness about the retired dogs, make sure they are treated well and help people through the process of adopting the animals.

Aiello said the most common breeds for military canines are Belgian Malinois, Dutch shepherd, German shepherd and Labrador retriever. They are generally older than 10 when they retire, and some have a litany of medical problems.

"They only have a couple of years left, so why not have them spend it with a loving family where they're not going to hear gunfire go off, explosives go off," Aiello said.

Not all the dogs could do well in a home with, say, children or other pets, but some are remarkably docile after spending years on the battlefield.

A dog named Chyba was deployed to Iraq before Madeleine Pickens, wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens, adopted her last year. Pickens said Chyba is a sweet, relaxed dog who is happiest stretched out in the shade of a tree.

It's not cheap to adopt a military dog, in large part because adoptive owners often have to pay $1,000 to $2,000 to bring them back to the U.S. on commercial flights. Putting a retired dog in a crate on a military cargo flight is against the rules.

When dogs are adopted, they no longer belong to the military, "so it would be fraud, waste and abuse for the DOD to transport that pet," Maj. Gen. Mary Kay Hertog told the Air Force News Service in 2009.

Officially, military dogs are considered equipment, and retired dogs are excess or surplus equipment. Kandoll wants the military to reclassify the dogs as canine veterans. That would take an act of Congress, but it could also ensure that all dogs shipped out of the United States are brought back.

"Uncle Sam gave the dogs a ride over. He should give them a ride back," Kandoll said.

"To me, it's like leaving a soldier behind," said Pickens, who spoke in Encinitas last month at the dedication of a monument to military working dogs.

It's unlikely that Cairo will have any trouble getting adopted, but military officials aren't saying how far the dog is from retirement. They aren't releasing his age or any other details about the special operations canine because his work is classified.

The difference a dog makes.....

Above Lance Cpl. Daniel Franke, a dog handler attached to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, enjoys a quiet moment in Towrah Ghundey, Afghanistan, on June 11, 2010.

Foreign Policy online magazine has had some great articles including their " War Dog of the Week" which I have featured - Enclosed is a link to a special on " The Dogs of War".....

I miss my pups something fierce and wish I could have one here while here...Dogs make the difference.

Here is the Link to the entire feature....

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/12/war_dog_ii?page=0,8

The difference a dog makes: No matter how war dogs were involved on that fateful day in Abbottabad, the military's canine forces are doing more than their fair share. And even if the true story of what happened never comes out, we already have plenty of legendary war dogs to celebrate: the three stray mutts living on a base in Afghanistan who wrestled a suicide bomber to the ground, forcing him to detonate before ever reaching the barracks where 50 soldiers lay sleeping; the fatally wounded handler who called for his dog with his last breath; the bomb-sniffing dog who, after his trainer was killed in Afghanistan, succumbed shortly after of a "broken heart."

Like other handlers, Dowling knows this from experience. His dog Rex was "a great moral boost, a symbol of home. You come back to base [to these dogs] that are so freakin' loyal -- a dog who is waiting for you, who will play with you because they love you.... There are so many benefits."

Pentagon’s multibillion military task force concludes there’s nothing in the U.S. arsenal for bomb detection more powerful than a dog’s nose....

Well..... DUH !!!!

I could have told them that and would have done so a helluva lot cheaper too.....our tax dollars wasted because several hundred defense lobbyist needed to line their pockets when the answer was as plain as the wet nose of a dog.....our K-9 companions are the "secret weapon" against IEDs and other explosives...and they do it all because they love us and want to do the job....


$19 Billion Later, Pentagon’s Best Bomb-Detector Is a Dog
By Spencer Ackerman

Categories: Weapons and Ammo

Wired.com

Drones, metal detectors, chemical sniffers, and super spycams — forget ‘em. The leader of the Pentagon’s multibillion military task force to stop improvised bombs says there’s nothing in the U.S. arsenal for bomb detection more powerful than a dog’s nose.

Despite a slew of bomb-finding gagdets, the American military only locates about 50 percent of the improvised explosives planted in Afghanistan and Iraq. But that number jumps to 80 percent when U.S. and Afghan patrols take dogs along for a sniff-heavy walk. “Dogs are the best detectors,” Lieutenant General Michael Oates, the commander of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, told a conference yesterday, National Defense reports. That’s not the greatest admission for a well-funded organization — nearly $19 billion since 2004, according to a congressional committee — tasked with solving one of the military’s wickedest problems.

Improvised explosive devices continue to rise in Afghanistan. There were 1,062 successful bomb attacks in the first eight months of 2010 there, compared to 820 during the previous period in 2009. Making matters worse in Afghanistan is the fact that most homemade bombs there are powered by fertilizers and chemicals, rendering metal detectors useless.

Picking up the chemical signature of those bombs should be relatively straightforward — just a matter of picking up the stray molecules that float away from unstable explosive material. In practice, it hasn’t been so easy. In 1997, a young program manager at Darpa launched the “Dog’s Nose” progam, to develop a bomb-sniffer as good as a canine’s. Today, that program manager, Regina Dugan, runs the entire agency. And Darpa is still has a project on the books to “leverag[e] the components of the canine olfactory system to create a breakthrough detection system.”

Detection is a “significant challenge,” Oates tells National Defense.

So rather than continuing a potentially futile search for a silver bullet, JIEDDO is now recommending other, non-technological, ways to combat IEDs, such as improved training and deeper understanding of the local sociopolitical landscape where IED planters are created much faster than U.S. forces can find them.

And JIEDDO is still spending big money on gadgets to spy on and disrupt every part of the IED network. Drones in the skies over Afghanistan hunt teams of bomb-planting insurgents. Forensics teams match latent fingerprints on bombs with Afghan bad guys whose thumb-scans and eye-prints are stored in biometric databases. JIEDDO pays for radio jammers to stop the frequencies insurgents might use to detonate the bombs.

The Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation Radar is a $138 million aircraft-mounted sensor that tracks moving targets like scampering insurgents from the skies. JIEDDO has also outfitted over 500 vehicles with special sensors to spot bombs at night (cost: $51 million); sponsored a “Wolfhound” sensor for dismounted infantrymen to detect insurgents’ personal communication devices (cost: $15 million); and an “enhanced optics system” called Keyhole that helps marksmen hit their bombmaker targets (cost: undisclosed). At yesterday’s conference, Oates said aerial sensors, particularly those creating full-motion video of bomb-heavy areas, were “enormously useful” in the fight against IEDs.

Congress, however, isn’t pleased. In March, the House Armed Services Committee questioned how well JIEDDO spent the $18.77 billion it’s received since its 2004 inception. “It is still difficult to associate funds spent with positive effects,” the committee wrote in a memo critical of the organization’s “inability to clearly articulate what it has been able to accomplish.” Last month, the Senate Appropriations Committee, while supportive of JIEDDO overall, cut nearly $442 million out of the Pentagon’s requested budget for the organization next year, finding that “certain programs” it operates “fall outside [an] IED-specific focus.” That’s in line with years of Hill disillusionment about the organization over its bureaucracy and dependence on contractors.

The core problem: the bombs are still proliferating — and not just in Afghanistan and Iraq, but globally. According to statistics Darpa provided Danger Room last month, for the last six months, there have been an average of 273 monthly IED incidents around the world excluding Iraq and Afghanistan.

(WTF - So spend the money of training more of our K-9 pals to join the fight !!! A simple and much more successful solution )

To get in shape - Forget the Treadmill. Get a Dog.

The Missus and I love it when others have to commit themselves to a study to find out what we already knew....

There are hundreds if not thousands of dogs that need a good home....There are many people who need someone to get them off the couch to exercise....

It is proven that having a Dog extends people's lives and allows them to live happier lives....Do yourself and a K-9 pal a favor. Adopt a dog and get out for a walk. You will be healthier and gain the companionship of a new friend who needs you as much as you need them....

March 14, 2011

Forget the Treadmill. Get a Dog.
By TARA PARKER-POPE
The New York Times

Among dog owners who went for regular walks, 60 percent met federal criteria for regular moderate or vigorous exercise, a new study says.

If you’re looking for the latest in home exercise equipment, you may want to consider something with four legs and a wagging tail.

Several studies now show that dogs can be powerful motivators to get people moving. Not only are dog owners more likely to take regular walks, but new research shows that dog walkers are more active over all than people who don’t have dogs.

One study even found that older people are more likely to take regular walks if the walking companion is canine rather than human.

“You need to walk, and so does your dog,” said Rebecca A. Johnson, director of the human-animal interaction research center at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine. “It’s good for both ends of the leash.”

Just last week, researchers from Michigan State University reported that among dog owners who took their pets for regular walks, 60 percent met federal criteria for regular moderate or vigorous exercise. Nearly half of dog walkers exercised an average of 30 minutes a day at least five days a week. By comparison, only about a third of those without dogs got that much regular exercise.

The researchers tracked the exercise habits of 5,900 people in Michigan, including 2,170 who owned dogs. They found that about two-thirds of dog owners took their pets for regular walks, defined as lasting at least 10 minutes.

Unlike other studies of dog ownership and walking, this one also tracked other forms of exercise, seeking to answer what the lead author, Mathew Reeves, called an obvious question: whether dog walking “adds significantly to the amount of exercise you do, or is it simply that it replaces exercise you would have done otherwise?”

The answers were encouraging, said Dr. Reeves, an associate professor of epidemiology at Michigan State. The dog walkers had higher overall levels of both moderate and vigorous physical activity than the other subjects, and they were more likely to take part in other leisure-time physical activities like sports and gardening. On average, they exercised about 30 minutes a week more than people who didn’t have dogs.

Dr. Reeves, who owns two Labrador mixes named Cadbury and Bella, said he was not surprised.

“There is exercise that gets done in this household that wouldn’t get done otherwise,” he said. “Our dogs demand that you take them out at 10 o’clock at night, when it’s the last thing you feel like doing. They’re not going to leave you alone until they get their walk in.”

But owning a dog didn’t guarantee physical activity. Some owners in the study did not walk their dogs, and they posted far less overall exercise than dog walkers or people who didn’t have a dog.

Dog walking was highest among the young and educated, with 18-to-24-year-old owners twice as likely to walk the dog as those over 65, and college graduates more than twice as likely as those with less education. Younger dogs were more likely to be walked than older dogs; and larger dogs (45 pounds or more) were taken for longer walks than smaller dogs.

The researchers asked owners who didn’t walk their pets to explain why. About 40 percent said their dogs ran free in a yard, so they didn’t need walks; 11 percent hired dog walkers.

Nine percent said they didn’t have time to walk their dogs, while another 9 percent said their dogs were too ill behaved to take on a walk. Age of the dog or dog owner also had an effect: 9 percent said the dog was too old to go for walks, while 8 percent said the owner was too old.

“There is still a lot more dog walking that could be done among dog owners,” Dr. Reeves said.

And the question remains whether owning a dog encourages regular activity or whether active, healthy people are simply more likely to acquire dogs as walking companions.

A 2008 study in Western Australia addressed the question when it followed 773 adults who didn’t have dogs. After a year, 92 people, or 12 percent of the group, had acquired a dog. Getting a dog increased average walking by about 30 minutes a week, compared with those who didn’t own dogs.

But on closer analysis, the new dog owners had been laggards before getting a dog, walking about 24 percent less than other people without dogs.

The researchers found that one of the motivations for getting a dog was a desire to get more exercise. Before getting a dog, the new dog owners had clocked about 89 minutes of weekly walking, but dog ownership boosted that number to 130 minutes a week.

A study of 41,500 California residents also looked at walking among dog and cat owners as well as those who didn’t have pets. Dog owners were about 60 percent more likely to walk for leisure than people who owned a cat or no pet at all. That translated to an extra 19 minutes a week of walking compared with people without dogs.

A study last year from the University of Missouri showed that for getting exercise, dogs are better walking companions than humans. In a 12-week study of 54 older adults at an assisted-living home, some people selected a friend or spouse as a walking companion, while others took a bus daily to a local animal shelter, where they were assigned a dog to walk.

To the surprise of the researchers, the dog walkers showed a much greater improvement in fitness. Walking speed among the dog walkers increased by 28 percent, compared with just 4 percent among the human walkers.

Dr. Johnson, the study’s lead author, said that human walkers often complained about the heat and talked each other out of exercise, but that people who were paired with dogs didn’t make those excuses.

“They help themselves by helping the dog,” said Dr. Johnson, co-author of the new book “Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound,” to be published in May by Purdue University Press. “If we’re committed to a dog, it enables us to commit to physical activity ourselves.”

Guide dog assists his human and K-9 friends in making sure they can get where they need to go....

Man's Best Friend not only takes care of his master's need for assistance but another K-9 as well....Here is a great story about why our lives are empty without the assistance of our 4-legged pals....

Glad to post a "feel good" story in the midst of all the otherwise crappy news.

Good Girl, Opal....you bring credit to all pups like you who take good care of others, both two and four legged.


Blind man keeps his old guide dog after it loses its sight... and then gets a new one who now leads them both around
UK Daily Mail
10th March 2011

After six years of loyal service, Graham Waspe was devastated when his guide dog Edward was left blind after developing cataracts.

But his devastation turned to joy when his replacement Opal turned out to be a real gem.

Mr Waspe's new dog is not just aiding his owner to carry out everyday tasks, but also helping Edward to get around.

Mr Waspe, of Stowmarket, Suffolk, received his new dog last November after Edward developed the inoperable problem which resulted in him needing both eyes removed.
And the two-year-old Opal has stepped in where Edward left off as they tour their old haunts together.

While Edward is well know across the schools and community groups of Suffolk, Opal is now building his own reputation as their owners give talks about the Guide Dogs charity, training for such special dogs and the incredible ways they help their owners.

Graham said: 'Opal's been great for both of us. I don't know what we'd do without her.'

And his wife Sandra, 58, said that despite the loss of his eyes, Edward still loved nothing more than to be around children, have his tummy tickled and receive lots of attention.

The eight-year-old has been retired for four months but the loss of his eyesight has shown no sign of slowing him down.

Sandra said: 'We were both devastated and cried buckets on the night they told us they were going to remove his first eye.

'Graham said then "do you think he will ever be happy again?" and then they said they would have to remove the second eye.'

She added: 'He is still very popular - just as much, if not more than before.

'People ask lots of questions about how he copes and he is probably more famous now because even more people stop to talk to him.'

Sandra said Opal had arrived shortly after Edward retired and the two dogs got along fine.

'Opal arrived far quicker than expected because, sadly, a couple of people in the Stowmarket area with fairly young guide dogs had died,' she said.

'We got Opal on November 12 and she started training with Graham on the 16th and they were qualified in early December.'

Mr Waspe has limited vision in only one of his eyes following two separate incidents earlier in his life and coped without a guide dog until 2004.

As well as carrying out their school visits to raise awareness, the Waspes also do vital fundraising and run a local group.

United in life and death: Bomb-sniffing UK Army dog and his master will be repatriated together at Wootton Bassett

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am. ~Author Unknown

I feel British Lance Corporal Liam Tasker didn't have to worry about that as his beloved companion Theo thought the world of him....They were a team and I salute them both for their bravery, courage and commitment to their shared mission....God Bless them both.


United in life and death: Bomb-sniffing Army dog and his master will be repatriated together at Wootton Bassett
By Daily Mail Reporter
4th March 2011

Bravely they faced the enemy side-by-side and tragically they both died at war.

Now man and dog have one final journey to make - and they will make it as a team.

Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, who was killed in a firefight with the Taliban, and his devoted Army search dog Theo, who died soon after, are to be repatriated together next week.

Tragic loss: Liam Tasker was on patrol with his dog Theo at the time of the attack in Nahr-e-Saraj, Afghanistan. Theo died shortly after his master, earlier this week
The pair, hailed for their tireless work saving countless British soldiers in Afghanistan, are expected to be flown back to Britain on Thursday, the Ministry of Defence said.

As has become tradition, they will be driven through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett, where hundreds come to pay their respects as flag-draped coffins are brought from RAF Lyneham nearby.

The cortege will then continue to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital.
L/Cpl Tasker, 26, this week became the 358th British serviceman to die in the ten-year conflict. Theo, a springer spaniel cross, suffered a seizure very soon after.
He was only 22-months-old.

Only last month, L/Cpl Tasker described his joy at the close bond he had developed with the dog.

‘I love my job and working together with Theo. He has a great character and never tires,’ he said in an interview on the Ministry of Defence website.

‘He can’t wait to get out and do his job and will stop at nothing.’

Theo and L/Cpl Tasker, an Arms and Explosives Search dog handler of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, were part of the Theatre Military Working Dogs Support Unit based at Camp Bastion.

The pair had uncovered 14 home-made bombs and hoards of weapons in just five months – a record for a dog and his handler in the conflict.

On Tuesday they took part in a mission in the Nahr-e Saraj district in Helmand, a hotbed of the insurgency.

Theo’s task was to be the ‘front man’, sniffing out any hidden IEDs, weapons and bomb-making equipment.

But a firefight broke out with the Taliban and L/Cpl Tasker was shot dead.
After his body was flown back to Camp Bastion, his beloved Theo is thought to have died of a broken heart.

The soldier, from Kirkcaldy, Fife, leaves behind mother Jane Duffy, father Ian Tasker, brother Ian, sisters Laura and Nicola and girlfriend Leah Walters.
Dog handler: Lance Corporal Tasker was a member of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps.

He and Theo will be repatriated to Britain together, next week

In a statement, his family said: ‘There are three words that best describe Liam: larger than life. He lit up every room he walked into with his cheeky smile.
‘He died a hero doing a job he was immensely passionate about. We are so proud of him and everything he’s achieved. Words can’t describe how sorely he will be missed.’
Miss Walters added: ‘LT never met anyone without touching their lives in some way. I am the proudest girlfriend there could ever be and there will be an LT-sized hole in my life forever. Sleep well, my darling, my soulmate, my best friend.’

Lieutenant Colonel David Thorpe, commanding officer 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, also paid tribute to L/Cpl Tasker, saying: ‘He genuinely loved the dogs he worked with and was always able to get the best out of them.

‘Epitomising the hard-working, determined and ambitious nature of our very best soldiers, he wanted to go to Afghanistan. He wanted to ply his trade in the harshest of environments, to be outside of his comfort zone and he wanted to be successful. He was.

‘The work he did in his five months in Afghanistan saved countless lives, of that I have no doubt.’

L/Cpl Tasker joined the Army in 2001 as a vehicle mechanic in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. But his passion for animals led to a transfer to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps in 2007.

He only learned about the dog unit when a friend showed him videos of them in action. He spent 15 weeks on a handlers’ course with Theo, where they learned to work as a team and developed their bond.

Once in Afghanistan, Theo was so successful at detecting explosives that his tour of duty was due to be extended by a month.
Major Caroline Emmett, Officer Commanding 104 Military Working Dog Squadron, said: ‘L/Cpl Tasker was one of the best people I have ever known. Kind, with a good heart, he always put others before himself. He and his dog Theo were made for each other.’

Defence Secretary Liam Fox said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the news.
‘It is clear that L/Cpl Tasker was a dedicated and highly capable soldier whose skills in handling dogs were second to none,’ he said.

‘He and his dog Theo had saved many lives and we will be eternally grateful for this

GOOD SHOW !!! TREO Earns a Medal

In the spirit of recognition of meritorious service, we say " GOOD SHOW !! JOLLY GOOD SHOW !!"

Black labrador Treo to become 23rd animal to receive Medal after serving in Afghanistan

By

Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 10:37 AM on 24th February 2010

To the untrained eye, black labrador Treo looks like any other happy, healthy dog.

But the nine-year-old canine, who has seen more of a warzone than most people will in a lifetime, is now the proud recipient of the animal equivalent of a Victoria Cross for his life-saving skills sniffing out roadside bombs in Afghanistan.

The Dickin Medal, the highest accolade a military animal can expect, will be presented to Treo and his handler Sergeant Dave Heyhoe in a special ceremony organised by the PDSA at the Imperial War Museum today.

Military working dog Treo with his handler Sergeant David Heyhoe
Treo, who saw frontline action patrolling with soldiers in Afghanistan in 2008, is now retired and has been enjoying life at home.

He and Sgt Heyhoe have returned to their former base 104 Military Working Dogs Support Unit, in North Luffenham, Rutland.

Sgt Heyhoe said: 'Treo and I have been working together for the last five years.
'We started our time together in Northern Ireland, then moved to North Luffenham, where we then went out to Afghanistan in 2008.'

Treo joined soldiers patrolling in Afghanistan in 2008

During his time on the frontline, he save countless lives by finding two IED devices
While there, Treo saved lives as he patrolled with Sgt Heyhoe in Sangin, Helmand Province.
At that time the army had 25 dogs deployed in Afghanistan to support troops in various roles, including as protection dogs and as detection dogs, working both in vehicle searches and as arms and explosives search dogs - like Treo.

'Treo's work involves searching for arms and explosives out on the ground to the forefront of the troops,' Sgt Heyhoe said.

'What we're trying to do is make sure there are no death-dealing agents out there to make sure there is no harm to the troops behind us.

'It's very important. We are part and parcel of the search element. We're not the ultimate answer but we are an aid to search.

'Another aid would be the metal detector - but Treo is a four-legged variety.'

Treo in action. The nine-year-old canine is the 63rd animal to be awarded the Dickin medal
On August 1 2008, while working as a forward detection dog in Sangin, Treo found a 'daisy chain' improvised explosive device (IED) - made of two or more explosives wired together - that had been carefully modified and concealed by the Taliban at the side of a path.

A month later, his actions saved another platoon from guaranteed casualties, again with the discovery of a daisy chain IED.

Sgt Heyhoe says he has more than just a professional relationship with Treo
Treo started his career at the Defence Animal Centre, based in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, when he was a year old.

He did a 12-week training course before being deployed to Northern Ireland, where he worked for three years with his first handler before Sgt Heyhoe took over.

But their relationship is now far more than just a professional partnership, Sgt Heyhoe said.
He explained: 'Basically, me and the dog have got to get a rapport. We've got to understand each other and without that we can't be effective on the ground.

'He must know when I want him to go somewhere to search, that's where he goes.
'Everyone will say that he is just a military working dog - yes, he is, but he is also a very good friend of mine. We look after each other.'

Treo is the 63rd animal to receive the Dickin Medal - introduced by PDSA founder Maria Dickin in 1943 to honour the work of animals in war - and the 27th dog to receive the prestigious award.
Since its introduction it has also been presented to 32 Second World War messenger pigeons, three horses and one cat.

Sgt Heyhoe said the praise was symbolic for all dogs and their handlers working in warzones.
He said: 'I'm very proud indeed, not only for myself and Treo, but it's for every dog and handler that's working out in Afghanistan or Iraq.

'That's what the medal means to us - taking it for the rest of the guys and their dogs.'
Major Chris Ham, officer commanding the Canine Division at the Defence Animal Centre, said dogs were playing an increasingly important role, particularly in Afghanistan.

He said: 'It's being recognised more and more in this day and age that the key capability the armed explosives dog does have lies particularly in finding IEDs.

'They give a unique contribution to the troops on the ground searching for these devices on a daily basis.
'This medal is a unique honour for all of our dog handlers, particularly all the military working dogs and their handlers that are serving in Afghanistan.'

But Major Ham also said they are still keen to recruit more dogs like Treo - especially gun dog breeds including springer spaniels, Labradors, golden retrievers, retrievers and their crosses, and larger breeds such as German shepherds.

He added: 'It's very difficult at the moment to recruit dogs and we are constantly campaigning.
'We need to recruit military working dogs all the time so we can carry on the good work they are doing

.'