Dogs in warfare


have a very long history in warfare, beginning in ancient times. From being trained in combat, to their use as scouts, sentries, messengers, mercy dogs, and trackers, their uses have been varied, and some continue to exist in modern military usage.

History

War dogs were used by the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Sarmatians, Baganda, Alans, Slavs, Britons, and Romans.
Among the Greeks and Romans, dogs served most often as sentries or patrols, though they were sometimes taken into battle. The earliest use of war dogs in a battle recorded in classical sources was by Alyattes of Lydia against the Cimmerians around 600 BC. The Lydian dogs killed some invaders and routed others. At the Battle of Pelusium, Cambyses II deployed dogs, cats, and other animals held sacred by the Egyptians. By putting these animals on the front lines, he was supposedly able to get the Egyptians to cease using their projectile weaponry.
During the Late Antiquity, Attila the Hun used large war dogs in his campaigns. Gifts of war dog breeding stock between European royalty were seen as suitable tokens for exchange throughout the Middle Ages. Other civilizations used armoured dogs to defend caravans or attack enemies.
In the Far East, 15th-century Vietnamese Emperor Lê Lợi raised a pack of over 100 hounds, tended and trained by Nguyễn Xí, whose skills were impressive enough to promote him to the commander of a shock troop regiment.
Later on, Frederick the Great of Prussia used dogs as messengers during the Seven Years' War with Russia. Napoleon also used dogs during his campaigns. Dogs were used until 1770 to guard naval installations in France.
The first official use of dogs for military purposes in the U.S. was during the Seminole Wars. Hounds were used in the American Civil War to protect, send messages, and guard prisoners. General Grant recounts how packs of Southern bloodhounds were destroyed by Union troops wherever found due to their being trained to hunt runaway slaves before the war. Dogs were also used as mascots in American WWI propaganda and recruiting posters.

Timeline

Dogs have been used in warfare by many civilizations. As warfare has progressed, their purposes have changed greatly.
  • Mid-seventh century BC: In the war waged by the Ephesians against Magnesia on the Maeander, their horsemen were each accompanied by a war dog and a spear-bearing attendant. Dogs were released first and broke the enemy ranks, followed by an assault of spears, then a cavalry charge. An epitaph records the burial of a Magnesian horseman named Hippaemon with his dog Lethargos, his horse, and his spearman.
  • 525 BC: At the Battle of Pelusium, Cambyses II used a psychological tactic against the Egyptians, arraying dogs and other animals in the front line to effectively take advantage of the Egyptian religious reverence for animals.
  • 490 BC: At the Battle of Marathon, a dog followed his hoplite master into battle against the Persians and was memorialized in a mural.
  • 480 BC: Xerxes I of Persia was accompanied by vast packs of Indian hounds when he invaded Greece. They may have served in the military and were possibly being used for sport or hunting, but their purpose is unrecorded.
  • 281 BC: Lysimachus was slain during the Battle of Corupedium and his body was discovered preserved on the battlefield and guarded vigilantly by his faithful dog.
  • 231 BC: Roman consul Marcus Pomponius Matho led the Roman legions through the inland of Sardinia. The inhabitants engaged in guerrilla warfare, against the invaders. The Romans used "dogs from Italy" to hunt down the natives who tried to hide in the caves.
  • 1500s: Mastiffs and other large breeds were used extensively by Spanish conquistadors against Native Americans.
  • 1700–1800s: Dogs were used in slave societies in the Caribbean, North America and Brazil.
  • 1902 Dogs of war were used by the Argentine Republic in Patagonia "for the colonization of the bottom of the country, a raid was made against these poor harmless children of nature, and many tribes were wiped out of existence. The Argentines let loose the dogs of war against them; many were killed and the rest—men, women and children—were deported by sea".
  • 1914–1918: Dogs were used by international forces to deliver vital messages. Sergeant Stubby, a Bull Terrier or Boston Terrier, has been called the most decorated war dog of World War I, and the only dog to be nominated for rank and then promoted to sergeant through combat. Recognized in connection with an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution. Among many other exploits, he's said to have captured a German spy. He also became mascot at Georgetown University. Rags was another notable World War I dog. The article explains that in WWI, dogs helped soldiers by carrying messages, standing guard, and finding the wounded. Because they were so helpful, the US later created an official program to train military dogs. This program started in 1942. The article also mentions memorials made to honor the dogs that served.
  • 1941–1945: The Soviet Union deployed dogs strapped with explosives against invading German tanks, with limited success.
  • 1943–1945: The United States Marine Corps used dogs, donated by their American owners, in the Pacific theatre to help take islands back from Japanese occupying forces. During this period, the Doberman Pinscher became the official dog of the USMC; however, all breeds of dogs were eligible to train to be "war dogs of the Pacific". Of the 549 dogs that returned from the war, only four could not be returned to civilian life. Many of the dogs went home with their handlers from the war. Chips was the most decorated war dog during World War II.
  • 1966–1972: About 5,000 US war dogs served in the Vietnam War ; about 10,000 US servicemen served as dog handlers during the war, and the K9 units are estimated to have saved over 10,000 human lives; 232 military working dogs and 295 US servicemen working as dog handlers were killed in action during the war. An estimated 200 Vietnam War dogs survived the war to be assigned to other US bases outside the US. The remaining canines were euthanized or left behind.
  • 2011: United States Navy SEALs used a Belgian Malinois military working dog named Cairo in Operation Neptune Spear, in which Osama bin Laden was killed.
  • 2019: United States 1st SFOD-D operators used a male Belgian Malinois named Conan during the Barisha raid.
  • 2020: According to Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal, US military working dogs should be bred in the US rather than in Europe. American breeders are said to become a necessity in the near term, Blumenthal said, solely due to an increase in demand for the dogs.

    Roles

Dogs have been used for many different purposes. Different breeds were used for different tasks, but always met the demands of the handlers. Many roles for dogs in war are obsolete and no longer practiced, but the concept of the war dog still remains alive and well in modern warfare.

Fighting

In ancient times, dogs, often large mastiff-type breeds, would be strapped with armour or spiked collars and sent into battle to attack the enemy. This strategy was used by various civilizations, such as the Romans and the Greeks. While not as common as in previous centuries, modern militaries continue to employ dogs in an attack role. Special Operations forces of the US military still use dogs in raids for apprehending fleeing enemies or prisoners, or for searching areas too difficult or dangerous for human soldiers.
Another program attempted during World War II was suggested by a Swiss citizen living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. William A. Prestre proposed using large dogs to kill Japanese soldiers. He persuaded the military to lease an entire island in the Mississippi to house the training facilities. There, the army hoped to train as many as two million dogs. The idea was to begin island invasions with landing craft releasing thousands of dogs against the Japanese defenders, then followed up by troops as the Japanese defenders scattered in confusion. One of the biggest problems encountered was getting Japanese soldiers with whom to train the dogs, because few Japanese soldiers were being captured. Eventually, Japanese-American soldiers volunteered for the training. Another large problem was with the dogs; either they were too docile, did not properly respond to their beach-crossing training, or were terrified by shellfire. After millions of dollars were spent with inconclusive results, the program was abandoned.
The Soviet Union used dogs for antitank purposes beginning in the 1930s. Earlier antitank dogs were fitted with tilt-rod mines and trained to run beneath enemy tanks, which would detonate the mines automatically. However, the dogs were trained with stationary Russian tanks and very seldom ran under the moving tanks; instead, they were shot as they ran beside the moving tanks. When both Russian and German tanks were present, the dogs would preferentially run towards the familiar Russian tanks.

Logistics and communication

About the time World War I broke out, many European communities used dogs to pull small carts for milk deliveries and similar purposes.
Several European armies adapted the process for military use.
In August 1914, the Belgian Army used dogs to pull their Maxim guns on wheeled carriages and supplies or reportedly even wounded in their carts. Two dogs of the sturdy and docile Martin Belge breed were used to pull each machine gun or ammunition cart. Already in common civilian use and cheap to buy and feed, the dogs proved hardier and more suitable for military use under fire than packhorses. The dogs were officially withdrawn from military use in December 1916, although several months were needed before horse-drawn carts and motor vehicles had fully replaced them.
The French had 250 dogs at the start of World War I. The Dutch army copied the idea and had hundreds of dogs trained and ready by the end of World War I. The Soviet Red Army also used dogs to drag wounded men to aid stations during World War II. The dogs were well-suited to transporting loads over snow and through craters.
Dogs were often used to carry messages in battle. They were turned loose to move silently to a second handler. This required a dog that was very loyal to two masters, otherwise the dog would not deliver the message on time or at all. Some messenger dogs also performed other communication jobs, such as pulling telephone lines or cables from one location to another.
A Yorkshire terrier named Smoky was used to run a telegraph wire through a, pipe to ensure communication without moving troops into the line of fire.