Posted on 10/18/2008 9:10:06 PM PDT by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA — Knuppel and Dag were inquisitive.
They tilted their heads and looked up as soldiers of the 18th Military Police Detachment rappelled down a 40-foot-tall tower on Fort Huachuca on Friday.
Sniffing the air, their eyes tracked the downward movement of the MPs as their ears were alert to noise from the soldiers.
They would occasionally wag their tails in anticipation of doing something, why else would they be on a lead with their handlers standing by them.
But it wasn’t going to be their normal exercise of searching for explosives, Knuppel’s specialty, or drugs, Dag’s specialty, or even patrolling, which they both are trained to do.
No, 4-year-old Dutch shepherd Knuppel and 3-year-old German shepherd Dag were going to rappel, too.
While their human partners, Staff Sgt. John Hughey, who works with Knuppel, and Sgt. Megan Hobson, who handles Dag, have rappelled, neither had done it with a military working dog attached to them.
Preparing the 92-pound Knuppel, Hughey put on the dog’s rappel harness and the MP picked up the animal by the device to make sure it would hold him while ensuring Knuppel would not slip out of the harness as high as three stories.
When it was Hobson’s and 83-pound Dag’s turn, the same process was done, with Hughey helping Hobson to ensure the harness was a proper fit.
Knuppel and Hughey have been partners for some time. Hobson and Dag are just becoming a team. The German shepherd has been on the post for less than two weeks.
“This is going to be some special bounding time for us,” Hobson said.
Hughey and Knuppel climbed up the three flights of steps first.
As the team prepared to rappel, with the soldier getting final safety instructions, Knuppel looked over the edge as his tail wagged in anticipation.
Hughey backed over the edge, suddenly, and as planned, his dog was between his legs as the soldier rappelled down the tower.
Knuppel was almost nonchalant as he was lowered to the ground, looking around, no whimpering, no barking, just a ho-hum appearance about the situation.
As soon as the dog’s paws hit the ground, it was if he had never left Earth. A second or two later, Hughey was on terra firma. He reached down, pet his partner and repeated “good dog, good boy.”
Once Hughey was unhooked from the ropes and Knuppel was detached from him, off they went, the dog in a more normal way with a lead being handled by Hughey.
Dag and Hobson had a slightly different experience.
Hobson was fine.
If there was any concern, it was how would Dag handle the situation. Unlike Knuppel, Dag is a little younger and a bit more hyper.
Dag looked over the edge once he got to the top of the tower, but his tail didn’t wag.
Hobson went over the edge, but unlike Knuppel, Dag didn’t want to be dropped between her legs.
Instead, the dog put his two front legs around her left leg for awhile, holding on for dear life.
MPs on the ground yelled up to the dog, telling Dag not to worry.
“Mommy isn’t going to drop you,” one of them loudly said.
Dag finally made it below and between Hobson’s legs, and down the pair came.
Dag kept watching as if the ground wasn’t coming close enough, fast enough.
Dag and Hobson then had their feet firmly planted on Mother Earth.
Once the rappelling ropes were detached, Hobson reached down and gave Dag a pat and hug.
“Good boy, you did good,” she told Dag, who looked up in what appeared to be a combination of appreciation and thankfulness that it was over.
Hughey said the rappel training is important “because it builds confidence between us, Knuppel and I.”
One never knows if as a team they would have to rappel down a building or even out of a helicopter, which Hughey said he would like to do with Knuppel.
For Hobson, since Dag is new to the military working dog program, he and she have to become a team, and rappelling was just one of many ways to build their partnership.
Herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Sgt. Megan Hobson rappels with her military working dog, Dag, a 3-year-old German shepherd, on Friday on Fort Huachuca. It was the first time the partners rappelled together. Members of the 18th Military Police Detachment went through the training session.(Beatrice Richardson-Herald/Review)
Very Interesting
Ropes are a lot of fun.
(Especially when they hold)
Gasp! What is PETA gonna say about this.
Dogs are one of God’s greatest gifts to mankid.
The are social animals, eager to take their place within a cooperative pack led by a competent and decisive leader. Their relative intelligence and communicative ability are a powerful multiplier to their amazing skills that complement humans. And they have some of the most “slippery” genes in the animal kingdom, allowing for easy breeding into highly specialized breeds.
If I could only get mine to stop eating my newspapers...
Why do you need to read a newspaper? It is likely just going to either infuriate or depress you.
So your pooch is looking out for your well-being, as always.
That’s one loyal puppy you have there.
We have a white German shepard, intelligent, strong, playful and very loyal. But his bad habit is eating packages delivered on the front porch. Whenever a package is delivered we place a picnic cooler on the porch for the UPS guy to place the package in. Still love him to death!
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