Military Working Dogs Present Wiesbaden Law Enforcement’s ‘Secret Weapon’ | Article

WIESBADEN, Germany — Recently, local school-age children were able to watch a demonstration of the abilities of a military working dog as part of CYS’ summer program at the School Age Center on Clay Kaserne.

“Each year we set up an interesting summer program for children. This year it includes a visit to the fire department, an airfield tour and a demonstration of MWD by the Military Police,” said Kori Lekar, Training and Programs Specialist at Clay Kaserne SAC.

Members of the public were able to see the dog’s ability to smell, detect and apprehend ‘stuffed suspects’ and witness the close partnership each handler has with their working dog. After the demonstration, the children present were allowed to meet with the handlers and their K-9 partners to ask questions.

Learning about the abilities of working dogs to detect and sniff out suspects and then apprehend possible criminals sparked the curiosity of many youngsters in the audience, including eight-year-old Lee, who wanted to know more about the ‘bad guys’ . Montauk military working dog caught.

“There are very few bad guys in the footprint of the US Army Garrison Wiesbaden,” the master sergeant replied. Mathew Dobson of the 525th Military Police Detachment (MWD) following the demonstration of the abilities of his dog Montauk.

The fact that there are so few “bad guys” can be attributed to Dobson and Montauk’s partnership and the excellent police work of Garrison’s law enforcement professionals.

US Army military working dogs receive their “basic training” at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. The mission of the 341st Training Squadron is to provide trained military working dogs to the Department of Defense, other government agencies and their allies. Future and potential military dogs arrive for training at 18 months of age and go through a rigorous training program that includes spending time and training with their potential handler. While at Lackland AFB, a future working dog will be trained in activities such as detecting and detecting explosives or drugs, or performing protective duties.

Dogs that successfully complete the program will become police working dogs at approximately three years of age. A good working dog can expect to serve for about nine years before retirement. Retired working dogs are often adopted by their owners and will spend a comfortable retirement relaxing on the couch and enjoying a slower pace of life.

Ability to detect and separate odors

Humans rely on their eyes to negotiate their surroundings, but a dog depends on their strong sense of smell. A dog’s sense of smell is so precise that it can remember and detect a scent long before a human can detect the same scent.

“How do dogs know the difference between right and wrong?” asked audience member Jiraiya.

“His extremely well-developed nose helps him do that… (and) that’s why we use German Shepherds or Belgian Malinois,” Dobson said in response to one of many questions. “Both breeds have long snouts and therefore an excellent sense of smell.”

A dog’s olfactory organ is its nasal mucosa. Due to the elongated shape of the snout, the nasal mucosa is proportionally larger than in other mammals, including humans. The dog perceives and stores, in its memory, the odors that it has detected throughout its life and these “olfactory memories” can be recalled as needed. A dog’s nose has an additional feature that allows it to interpret two distinct smells. The two nostrils of a dog’s nose can work independently of each other to separately detect two different smells and not be confused as to which smells are detected. This is important for military working dogs when tracking “bad guys” or doing other searches.

“Once Montauk knocked on the door of an abandoned house…as it was in a residential area, we called the German police,” Dobson said. “In fact, homeless people had broken into the house to spend the night,” Dobson recalled. event from his time with Montauk and a time when the dog’s keen sense of smell detected trouble.

Unique aspects of a dog’s olfactory abilities:

– While the human nose has around 5 million smell cells, dogs have up to 250 million smell cells, depending on their size and breed.

– Wolves can sniff their prey over a distance of up to 3 kilometers

– Avalanche dogs can smell buried prey up to a snow depth of 8 meters and more

– Like the human fingerprint, the dog’s nose print is unique in the world.

– A moist (not wet) dog nose is an indication that your dog is in good health.

– Dogs are able to sense if a person is aggressive, sad or friendly.