K9 veterans: history & tribute

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K9 Veteran Day is celebrated in March, on March 13th, a day to look back at their history and to honor our K-9 heros. These are military and rescue dogs trained for war and disasters to help our fighting military and our police and fire fighting troopers. There is quite a history, I have found, for using dogs in these ways. Take a look at a history chart below from National Today.com:

K-9 Veterans Day Timeline

600 B.C.

Lydian War Dogs

Alyattes of Lydia uses war dogs to fight the Cimmerians.

434 A.D. — 453 A.D.

Late Antiquity Military Campaigns

Attila the Hun incorporates large Molosser dogs into his military campaigns.

1861

Sallie Ann Jarrett

Jarrett, a canine attached to the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry, becomes the mascot of the Union Army during the American Civil War.

1918

Sergeant Stubby’s War

Sergeant Stubby begins his military service and becomes the most decorated military dog of World War I.

1942

The United States Canine Corps

The U.S. Canine Corps is established.

I had no idea dogs were used in this capacity so very long ago. They are such amazing creatures and we are so lucky to have them in our lives.

K9 Vet Day Start

How very sad that K9 Veterans used to be euthanized when their service was over. Now, thankfully, that has changed. A Vietnam veteran and dog handler by the name of Joe White from Jacksonville, Florida started the K9 Veterans Day as a way to honor their life-saving work. Today a K9 vet is a part of their handler’s family and retires with their last handler.

These dogs have served by hauling large guns, medical kits, carrying messages, guarding posts, finding wounded soldiers, and downed pilots for our military. Today they locate explosives and help in search and rescue disaster missions like our 9/11 in New York. See my post on that subject entitled: Search and Rescue Dogs at Ground Zero. They are also used at the border, at our airports, by the Coast Guard, our police, and the FBI.

This commemorative day also includes Service Dogs, the dogs who help disabled friends, and support those with mental health issues. See my past post “All about Service Dogs”.

K9 Vet Facts

• Dogs have unbelievably strong senses of smell, said to be 100,000 times better than we humans.
• K9 trained military dogs have a rank higher than their handler so they get the respect they deserve!
• A well trained K9 cuts back on military and police man hours by 600 to 1,000 per year.
• Each K9 is trained in a specific area, ie, sniffing for human scents, explosives, arson clues, narcotics, and, now finding elecronics like thumb drives.
• The majority of working dogs in our military come from special breeders in Germany and The Netherlands.
• The K9 Corps emerged during World War II and set the standards for today’s K9 training.
• Rin Tin Tin was actually an abandoned military dog found in France and brought to the USA where he debuted in films in 1922.

Help for Veterans

The following are groups who train service dogs to help our veterans with PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder, in their trials and tribulations of coming back home.

K9 for Veterans.org

This group has two training centers: Chicago, Illinois with another location in Joliet. They not only train the service dogs but make it easier for a retired vet to get a K9 partner. These are veterans with PTSD who need help transitioning home. They also provide free food and medical care for the life of the service dog. Rescue dogs from kill shelters are the only dogs they train for our vets.

Sounds like a double blessing!

K9s for Warriors.org

This organization is determined to end veteran suicide. They report there are 20 suicides by vets every day. They too train service dogs for vets with “PTSD, and traumatic brain injury, and/or military sexual trauma”. The majority of their dogs are rescues.

Their headquarters is located in Ponte Vedra, Florida, with two additional training centers in San Antonio, Texas.

So, it is a well deserved commemoration for not only our K9 Vets but also our K9 Service Dogs and the groups and volunteers that make these services possible to assist our troops, our first responders, our veterans, and our disabled.

If you want to honor our K9 Vets and are able to, please do donate to one of the above listed groups. Also check out “Honoring K9 Vets: A tribute to Military and Working Dogs”.

Funny Animal Videos

First in line, compliments of Big Geek Daddy, is on dogs of course .

Second is a mighty dog .

And last we have smart and clever dogs.

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