It's Schutzhund... ;~D
I was tryin' not to get into this one, I try to not fight ugly ideas until I've had more coffee :~D
The truth is, the dog could work for someone else... Those dogs are professionally trained and then handed off to handlers when they're ready. The dog would indeed adapt and bond, and continue to work with another handler, as would yours if she found her destiny suddenly at the hands of another. They bond strongly, it's true, but will bond again without reservation.
But I don't think that's the point. The point is the morale boost for this soldier. The point is that war is not, and has never been unemotional. It is emotion that brings us to tears at the sight of our fallen and injured. For those that sacrifice much, we have always fallen short in repaying. This time, repaying her, at least in part, for her sacrifice is easy. So we do it.
I'm sure there are retrainable dogs. Like mine . . . she has been called a slut . . . she would happily adapt to anyone, which is kind of discouraging but I'm glad for her, because no matter where fate might take her she will always have a welcome and a home. She had to board out over Thanksgiving, and the folks at the farm where she stayed didn't want to let her go. She WAS glad to see me though, which was a relief.
"The truth is, the dog could work for someone else... Those dogs are professionally trained and then handed off to handlers when they're ready"
That's what the Lackland school publishes.
The question (not an easy one) is:
If it was your dog and you had the choice of leaving it in the field or taking it home, which would you choose?
My gut tells me the right thing to do is leaving it in the field saving soldiers lives.
Agree w/Hair.
Yes, Shepherds are "1-man" dogs but they are adaptable. Esp. if it involves people they already know! (I call them more accurately, 1-family dogs.)
I think another point is that this is a male. Males generally aren't as possessive as females, and hence are likely less "bonded" anyway w/their handlers than a female would be. I don't know the exact reason, but I think this is 1 of the reasons males are preferred for these types of patrolling tasks. (That along w/the fact they're generally stronger and also more motivated to attack regardless of "possession". Females are supposed to be better pure guardians because they are very possessive, but they don't see the point in being aggressive w/anything not threatening what's "theirs".)