DVIDS – News – Military Working Dog Handlers Collaborate with the University of Arizona

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE- Ariz. – Three U.S. army working dogs demonstrated their talent units for the Canine Cognition Center, a veterinarian analysis group affiliated with the University of Arizona, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on Feb. 7, 2024.

MWD handlers shared data and experiences with the analysis group to showcase their dealing with capabilities.

Three explicit workouts demonstrated the dogs’ talent units and capabilities in unexplored terrain.

“When deployed in ‘outside the wire’ missions, our job is to have the dog out in front of us and in front of a squad behind us,” stated U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Ryan Duggan, 355th Security Forces Squadron army working canine handler. “The dog is searching for dangerous scenarios.”

As the main MWD navigates the terrain, the handler’s detect potential behavioral modifications. If such a change happens, a vulnerability has been discovered of their proximity. Different MWD are educated in distinctive capabilities akin to drug or bomb detection.

MWDs study at a young age to hunt particular smells and react to them accordingly. Their handlers use strategies akin to sorting completely different odors into packing containers for young dogs to odor.

“The MWDs encounter an odor that they are trained to find, and then show what’s called a ‘change of behavior,’” said Duggan. “We then show that we have seen this behavioral change, and then we let the dog in training go into a final response.”

MWDs and their handlers stay paired throughout their deployments, like U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Dillon Johnson, a 355th SFS MWD handler, when he was deployed to Africa. There Johnson carried out route clearances, sweep workouts, and patrol work together with his MWD.

During patrol work, handlers might act as ‘decoys’ and conceal out in fields earlier than open space searches had been prompted. MWDs are educated to pursue aggressors or ‘decoys’ as sure instructions are issued to them by their handlers.

“I did an ‘outside the wire’ mission, and I was able to clear a route for the convoy that I was with,” stated Johnson. “It was awesome watching my dog work, picking up all the scents, and making sure that we were able to be safe.”

Through deployed experiences and deliberate coaching, the Canine Cognition Center discovered and watched an illustration of the MWD’s method to attack an aggressor beneath the handler’s command. The following demonstration showcased the canine’s means to chunk onto a slippery object with its full mouth, and the handler’s means to reply to its efficiency.

After the handlers and their dogs accomplished the workouts, the handlers held a query and reply session with the Canine Cognition Center representatives. Both events constructed relationships and attained a greater understanding of how analysis, coaching, and dealing with of dogs is carried out at Davis-Monthan.