My fellow canines . . . Remembrance Day is on November 11th. My humans safety pin a poppy to my scarf so that I too am reminded of this great free country of ours. There were (and I imagine there still are), canines who served in the Wars, doing what dogs do in their loyal way. Thank you to those dogs, many of whom did loose their lives in service . . . and of course to all of our humans who have (even today of course) given their lives in the name of world peace. I've done some web research and have downloaded below some history on dogs serving in the military.

"A little known, but interesting chapter in Quartermaster History is the War Dog program. During World War II, not long after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the American Kennel Club and a new group calling itself "Dogs for Defense" mobilized dog owners across the country to donate quality animals to the Quartermaster Corps. Dogs donated by a patriotic public to the Army saved the lives of a number of soldiers in combat. Beginning on 13 March 1942, the Quartermaster Corps ran the Army's so-called "K-9 Corps" and undertook to change these new recruits into good fighting "soldiers." The readily-used phrase "K-9 Corps" became a popular title for the War Dog Program in the 1940s and 50s, and found wide informal usage both inside and outside the military. The term however is not official. Its origin lies in its phonetic association with the equally unofficial, alternative phrase "Canine Corps."

At first more than thirty breeds were accepted. Later the list was narrowed down to German Shepherds, Belgian Sheep Dogs, Doberman Pinschers, Farm Collies and Giant Schnauzers.

Sentry Dogs worked on a short leash and were taught to give warning by growling, alerting or barking. They were especially valuable for working in the dark when attack from cover or the rear was most likely. The sentry dog was taught to accompany a military or civilian guard on patrol and gave him warning of the approach or presence of strangers within the area protected.  

Scout or Patrol Dogs - In addition to the skills listed for sentry dogs, scout patrol dogs were trained to work in silence in order to aid in the detection of snipers, ambushes and other enemy forces in a particular locality. A prime example of the effectiveness of the dog was the caliber of performance in the Islands of the Pacific. Dense vegetation and continuous semidarkness of the Pacific Island jungles afforded opportunities for the enemy to infiltrate the American lines and conduct reconnaissance and ambushes. Scout dogs were instrumental in taking this advantage away from the enemy. In contrast, "dogless" patrols suffered casualties, usually as a result of ambush or surprise attacks.

Messenger Dogs - The most desired quality in these dogs was loyalty, since he must be motivated by the desire to work with two handlers. They learned to travel silently and take advantage of natural cover when moving between the two handlers.

Mine Dogs - Called the M-Dog or mine detection dog, they were trained to find trip wires, booby traps, metallic and non-metallic mines. (About 140 dogs were trained. Only two units were activated. Both were sent to North Africa where the dogs had problems detecting mines under combat conditions.)

Dogs continued to serve the armed forces with distinction in other conflicts. In the Korean War the Army used about 1,500 dogs, primarily for sentry duty. During the Vietnam War about 4,000 dogs were employed. Of these 281 were officially killed in action. Most recently dogs were deployed to the Persian Gulf War."

Bow your head in silence at 11:00 on the 11th day of the 11th month. Attend a Remembrance Day Ceremony or Parade if you can.

Happy Daytripping!

Email photo, pet name, breed and your mailing address to Echo at gervais@bmts.com.