Chief canine correspondent Rebecca Frankel has run away again, so this is Tom filling in here. I actually think she has become a celebrity. Next thing I expect we'll hear she's dumping Johnny Depp or something.

There's one big war dog story this week: The presence of a dog on the bin Laden raid has the mainstream media all aflutter about war dogs. Welcome to the crowd, fellas. We're celebrating with a special feature on war dogs.

One reason for the popularity of this weekly feature, I suspect, is that there is some visceral connection between soldiers and dogs. As long-gone Army Maj. Gen. Aubrey Newman once pointed out, soldiers in his time were called "dog faces," wore identification information around their necks on "dog tags," and sometimes slept in "pup tents." 

Cats? As far as I'm concerned, they're working for the enemy. That said, one of my dogs, nicknamed "Mr. Soul," really likes cats.

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense chief canine correspondent

This week a British paper proudly called the Airdrie & Coatridge Advertiser reported that Sergeant Garry McMahon, a soldier from Airdrie with 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment has been joined by the rest of his platoon on a final mission before they return home from Afghanistan: Bringing home with them the stray dog they adopted.

Phos, now a scrappy looking white and gray mutt, was saved along the other five puppies from an untimely death by a group of quick-thinking soldiers pulled a fast maneuver -- "[switching] the box with the puppies in it and [sending] the six dogs out to different check points as pets."

Phos has been with Sgt. McMahon and his fellow soldiers since he was six weeks old and the dog has "been a part of our team ever since," accompanying the unit on patrols or "walkies." The unit's preparation to depart Afghanistan was complicated by the fact that the unit coming in has a strict no-pet policy. But the soldiers have grown "very fond of Phos," and they have no intention of leaving their beloved pup behind.

McMahon and company is calling on the public for help and has set up a donation site to try and raise the £5,000 required to cover the cost of Phos' trip home. Last time I checked they'd managed to bring in £2,479.00. Here's the soldiers' note:

"[W]e are [members] of the parachute regiment in a small checkpoint in afghanistan our dog phos was part of a litter of pups born in the main camp whose mother went missing not long after they were born. ...[T]hat was in december so weve brought him up from an early age in not the best conditions,weve all grown very attached to him (no matter how may pairs of socks go missing) now and dont want him to get left behind when we go home as the following unit have a no pet policy and we dont want to give him to the locals who will cut off his ears and tail and use him for fighting. we think he should get the chance to come back with us to a good home in the UK and apreciate the help anyone can give us."

A sad side note this week: There are many worthy and worthwhile tributes to photographer Chris Hondros who was killed in Libya alongside Tim Hetherington this week, some of them here on FP. Last year Chris, whose photos have appeared on this feature (and likely will again), shared a his own war-dog story with us. Here it is one more time for anyone who missed it.

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense chief canine correspondent

On the bright side of last Sunday morning a large group of dedicated and enthusiastic early-birds gathered at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, Maryland, to raise money to fund a dog for a disabled veteran. Which is where I met this sweet little guy, Champ -- at 12-weeks old, he's already a VetDog in training.

The family training Champ, who was there to greet the runners as they crossed the finish line, is on their 10th dog. They'll have Champ for about a year before he's ready to offer the kind of support this program provides. But after only two weeks of work, Champ is already impressively obeying the commands of his trainer, Bill Hoeft.

Sitting off to the side, a few steps away from the sizable crowd gathering around the puppies-in-training, to take a breather after the vigorous power walk were Mark Gwathmey and his VetDog, Larry. The two have been together since November 2007. Gwathmey is an Iraq war vet who suffers from a host of residual problems from injuries -- debilitating leg pain, seizures, and PTSD. Having Larry with him, he says, has been phenomenal.

Gwathemy calls Larry an emotional dog, a big teddy bear who can not only intuit his medical needs, but his moods. "I get so mad or depressed and [Larry] comes out of the blue and wants to play, to distract me."

The 5K run managed to bring in 450 participants and over $30,000, which will go a long way to meeting the goal of raising enough money to cover the full cost of getting a VetDog service ready to be another Larry or Champ in the life of a vet sometime soon.

For more information about how to contribute or submit an application for a VetDog, you can visit their website or their Facebook page. 

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense chief canine correspondent

Last weekend a Royal Air force team and their dogs took a sponsored-stroll to raise funds for charity. Starting at half past midnight on Saturday morning the determined group walked a whopping 37 miles following a predetermined route in order to raise "more than £14,000 for Help for Heroes and Children's Hospice South West." The press release posted by the RAF made it clear that: "All of the dogs are very friendly and can be approached by the public on route."

The incredible canines who made the journey were:

Campbell, a Springer Spaniel, is a Vehicle Search Dog who can search any type of vehicle [who did tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan]; Kontessa, a Shepherd, is a police dog and carries out very similar duties as civilian police dogs; Zeus, a Shepherd, is a Patrol Dog who patrols and guards RAF Lyneham and the Service Families Accommodation; Jack, a black Labrador, is a Drug Detection Dog.

A 37-mile walk over two days is no stroll in the park, and the officers -- both four-legged and the two-legged alike -- had to be physically up to the challenge in order to participate.

A British Forces News reporter caught up with the walkers along the way and spoke to Cpl. Chris Archard who called the walk as a bit of a "roller coaster." For while the first leg relatively easy, as the group moved into a more open area, the temperature dropped. Soon after the walkers encountered a series of hills that, as Archard described, appeared "to [grow] incredibly as we were walking them." The team, which carried on straight through the night, made it to their destination in one piece albeit tired and sweaty. This wasn't the first time the do-gooding dogs and their handlers had marched to raise money for a cause. After that first, long walk in 2009 Archard recalls, "we said never again, [but after] a year ... we thought, let's do it again."

And in news a little closer to home, here's a PSA for the DC area. America's VetDogs -- a nonprofit organization that matches up disabled Vets with specially trained dogs -- is sponsoring its first annual 5K Run/Walk in Annapolis, MD on Sunday, April 3. The group's goal is to generate the funds necessary to cover the cost of one of these remarkable canines -- $50,000. To register or for more information, you can visit their site or on facebook. "Every participant will receive a free shirt, a free raffle ticket, and free food and drinks after the race! The top three finishers in each age division will receive a beautiful medal." And I've been told there will be plenty of dogs on site...

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense chief canine correspondent

There's a new program in the works to get U.S. military dogs combat-ready -- by giving them an old school work out. A small group of canines (and their handlers) are hitting the track and the treadmill in an attempt to see if dogs that are more physically fit are more successful in the battle field.

The conditioning that these dogs are undergoing is part of a test physical training program that originated at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and so far only a handful of bases are participating. The program centers around of two basic components, the foundation of any exercise regime -- strength and endurance. The strength conditioning consists of: "power fetch, obstacle work, pulls, center line drills, [and] weight pulls," while the endurance component is broken down into "brisk walks, runs, walk, [and] then a jog." As the dog improves the workouts increase in length and difficulty.

Pier, the Yellow Lab on the treadmill, is with the 460th Security Forces squadron at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado, and one of the participating in the trial who certainly appears to not only be benefiting from the new routine, but thoroughly enjoying it. And Pier's handler, Sergeant Duritsky, is already seeing the upsides to having his canine partner join him for an invigorating workout.

I love the fact that I am able to PT with our K-9's. When we are down and do not feel like running they are always up for it. Like today when we were running, [Pier] started pulling me like 'hey, dad come on lets go.'"

In other, more somber, war-dog news, Theo and his handler, Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, who died in Afghanistan last week, were returned home to Britain yesterday together. Hundreds of people -- including dog handlers and their dogs -- gathered along the streets of the small town of Wooten Basset, to pay their respects.

Reports of the scene were heartrending:

As has become tradition, local people and Royal British Legion members joined [Tasker's] family and friends in tribute. A dozen dogs also joined the mourners, sitting respectfully with their masters as the hearse went by. Movingly, as a single bell tolled to mark the arrival of the cortege into the Wiltshire town, several dogs could be heard barking."

The Telegraph hosts a video of the pair while they were in Afghanistan here.

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense chief canine correspondent 

At 56 lbs, Edy, a three-year-old Sable Shepherd, is small for his breed. He's also the survivor of recent surgery to remove a cyst from one of his hind legs, but according to his handler Staff Sgt. Pascual Gutierrez Jr., you'd never know it. A relentless worker with boundless energy, the "pint-sized" Edy is tough and was quick to get back to work --  which is why Gutierrez likens his partner to Rudy.:

He has a big heart and never gives in or gives up. He's very driven and it more than makes up for his size. He's a pure threat now but if he had a little more weight on his side, he'd be a powerhouse."

Read on

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense chief canine correspondent

The Canine Detection Research Institute of Auburn University -- the very same that developed the vapor wake dog -- has a new technology, a remote and potentially long-range guidance system for military and police-enforcement dogs.

The idea behind this new invention is that it allows working dogs to maneuver through areas -- whether to search for drugs or hunt down explosives -- all without a human handler. The "hand" that guides can be from a remote location, even miles away if they're able to perfect the technology.

Here's how it works:

The handler conceivably commands the detection-dog via auditory tones, and steers it by triggering vibrations on the sides of the harness's 'backpack.' Initial tests apparently generated positive results, as subject 'Major' responded to commands with an 80-percent accuracy rating."

From what I've read, the idea is that a dog, unencumbered by its human handler, can take on the really "risky" jobs. This increases the "stealth" factor since the dog is less visible and free to go where man can't. But, as you can see from the photo above, the system is external, and large and cumbersome at that. Military dogs -- typically very well-trained, purebred dogs in excellent health of recognizable breeds -- already stand out. This large satellite contraption seems to me little more than a giant target on a dog's back. The only clear benefit is that the danger for the dog's handler has altogether been removed, while I wonder: Is the danger now greater for the dog?

Read on

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense chief canine correspondent

Long before there were bomb detector dogs, canines found their way into the soldiers' battlefields and onto sailors' ships. And while they were generally considered pets and mascots, these dogs served loyally beside their human masters as messengers and sentries among other things. I discovered this week that Australia's Royal Forces have a particularly rich war-dog history.

I came across a remarkable find, an on-line cache of old photos dating back to WWI and extending through the Vietnam War, compiled by the Australian War Memorial, of Aussie soldiers with their four-legged companions. The collection is so good -- like the photo above featuring Flight Lieutenant G. A. Greenwood and Sergeant B. Agnew with their unit's mascots  that we compiled a photo essay, a Best Defense war-dog first.

Enjoy the show: Australia's Fighting Dogs ... and cats. And koalas.

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent

With the number of military dogs in combat zones only continuing to grow, it stands to reason that more dogs in the field will require medical attention. (Like this photo above of war dog, Taker, who's getting a root canal at Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province.)

While there are on-the-ground veterinarians standing by in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere military dogs are employed, what happens to those dogs with more severe, long-term injuries? Dogs that need therapy -- physical or otherwise -- and time to recuperate before they can return to their tour of duty?

Such a hospital exists --  the Holland Working Dog (MWD) Veterinary Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, and is reportedly the only one of its kind.

Read on

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent

There's some good news on our campaign to life the "don't pet, don't feed" ban -- even if it's not official … yet. Stars and Stripes reports that military bases in Afghanistan are "going to the dogs -- and cats."

It seems, the number of soldiers "smuggling" stray animals into their bases to "adopt and spoil" is on the rise. According to S&S reporter, Jon Rabinoff, despite strict regulations against adopting pets or "mascots" one could "pick any U.S. military base in Afghanistan and find yourself a heartwarming pet story worthy of an 'Animal Planet' feature."

These dogs and kittens who have been smuggled in by soldiers and given names such as Bacon, Butterscotch, and Momma -- all are cared for and coddled by the soldiers around them, including having dog/cat houses and dining on eggs, tuna, and chocolate milk. (The six-picture gallery is definitely worth viewing.)

One soldier told S&S: ""I can honestly speak for everybody else -- it definitely boosts our morale and gives us another bit of responsibility. It keeps our energy positive, playing with them and spending time with them." But Best Defense readers know that calling these strays "pets" or "mascots" is a misrepresentation of the invaluable contribution the offer. Not only are these stray dogs helping to protect and sustain soldiers on base, but they're going out on foot patrol -- a dangerous job for a mere "pet." Two of the dogs, Thumper and George, who rolled with troops at a combat outpost in the Arghandab district were killed after accidentally setting off an IED.

But the official military lines and rules still stand -- no indigenous pets allowed on base -- but it looks like even the higher ups are starting to consider the weight of the benefits against protocol -- letting this rule bend out of sight entirely.

Lt. Col. Matthew Reid told S&S, "he has a lot more important things to worry about in the life-and-death world of a war zone than who might be sneaking a puppy or kitten into their bunk at night. ‘I really haven't given it too much thought, to be honest,' adding that he was aware of cats employed on some bases to address rodent concerns. "My focus is usually elsewhere…'"

In the last few months our war-dog posts on the role canines play in soldiers' post-war recovery -- and the recovery of their families -- has evoked many fervent and passionate notes. Whether we've profiled trained therapy dogs like Anna, the 4-year-old German Shepherd above with Sgt. Jesse R. Duenes, or former military dogs who've been adopted into military families like Gunner, it's clear (as we said last week) these dogs are contributing at the highest level.

So this time around I'm going to ask not just for stories about war dogs in the field, but for tales of those dogs waiting on the other side of the warzone -- the therapy dogs. If you have experiences or photos to share, send them along to the e-mail address above the postage stamp photo on the right. 

On another note, tonight is the night of the candle light vigil being held in Target's honor at Pima County Animal Care Center, the pound where she was mistakenly euthanized.

Chondra Perry (Brooke Army Medical Center)

Read on

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent

Target, one of three stray dogs who battled a suicide bomber, keeping him from entering an Army barracks in Afghanistan and ultimately saving the lives of the 50 soldiers inside, met an unjust and sad end this week.

The heroic Target, who got her name because, according to one soldier, local Afghans made sport of trying to "off her" (she was shot in the shoulder and even run over by a car), was picked up last week by animal control and brought to the Pinal County Animal Care and Control Shelter in Arizona where she was euthanized by mistake.

Ironically, Target was hardly a stray when she was brought to the shelter. This summer, Target had been safely delivered from Afghanistan to her adoptive family, that of Sgt. Terry Young, one of the soldiers she'd saved.

The outpouring of response to the news about Target has been tremendous. (A quick Google search shows over 400 articles in only three days time.) As has the outcry of support for the Youngs and anger toward the shelter. The employee responsible who failed to follow standard procedure and snuffed the dog too quickly has been suspended. A full investigation is expected.

Sgt. Young and his family are devastated. He told the New York Times:

"My 4-year-old keeps saying: ‘Daddy, bring Target home. Daddy, get the poison out,' " Sergeant Young, a father of three, said in a telephone interview, his voice choking with emotion. "Obviously, at first there was extreme anger and horror. Now that a couple of days have passed, the anger has been replaced by sorrow."

Perhaps it's little consolation at the heartbreaking end of an otherwise happy story, but here's one detail that doesn't appear to have been widely reported:

Target was pregnant when she helped thwart the suicide bomber by attacking him. She had her litter of puppies in Afghanistan [and they've] since been brought to the United States.

A candlelight vigil in Target's honor is scheduled for Dec. 3.

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent

President Barack Obama flies off on his big trip to Asia this week, and traveling with him, among others, will be 30 bomb-sniffing military dogs.

Working security detail for the president has its perks -- these dogs will be traveling in style, staying in 5-star hotels where they can receive the kind of proper care they need, including special diet food sent ahead from home and a temperature-regulated environment to help the dogs adjust to a new climate.

Some of these reports of the dog detail traveling with the president -- like others alleging that the cost of Obama's trip is a $200 million per day expense -- seem a little sketchy.

But according to an English-language website based in India, a source inside the Mumbai travel agency arranging transportation for Obama's service detail told reporters that the preparations for Obama's sniffing dogs have been in the works for months when prior to the trip, the U.S. consulate "asked for more than 10 customised cars for dogs during the president's visit" to apparently "move with the president's convoy. …"

The cars, apparently, had to be specially outfitted: "For the comfort of the dogs, the back seats in the cars were removed and the interiors were refurbished to ensure they [sic] were no sharp edges." The source added, "Never before, have we seen such VIP treatment for animals."

It seems the arrival of one U.S. military dog in Obama's bomb-sniffing troop to India -- allegedly named "Khan" -- is already causing something of a media storm.

By Rebecca Frankel
Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent

The Marines operating in southern Afghanistan have sent out a call to arms: they want more war dogs, specifically more Labrador Retrievers, intending to double the number they have now to 647 canines. This particular breed of dog has done quite well in the field detecting IEDs.

And it's a good thing -- the number of insurgent attacks using roadside bombs is at an all time high -- in July the number was 1,358 -- and the Marines, heavily dependent on their bomb-sniffing pups, are keen to replenish their troops. "We want as many as we can get," said Lt. Joshua Diddams, a Marines spokesman told the USA Today.

The Pentagon announced last month that it will spend "$34 million to a Virginia firm to supply it with IED-detector dogs and provide care for them until September 2012." And it's not just about bulking up the number of dogs -- it's about giving the animals that have been on active duty time to rest and recuperate. War wears on these military dogs, too, and their performance suffers because of it. According to Doug Miller, working dog program manager at the Pentagon, after months in a combat zone the dogs return looking "thinner, just like Marines."

In the photo above Marines take a break from duty and go for a swim with their bomb-sniffing dog, a black Lab named Bee, in the reservoir above the Kajaki dam on Oct. 12 in Kajaki, Afghanistan.

If you have any war-dog stories to share -- if you know of any adopted military dogs, or have stories of strays in the field, do send them in to Best Defense!