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"Cookie," the unofficial mascot for the U.S. Army 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, sits inside a Soldier's backpack at Combat Outpost Jeleran, Afghanistan, Nov. 20, 2009.

AN Australian Army bomb dog survived almost 14 months in the Afghan desert after being declared missing in action during a bloody battle with the Taliban. Sabi, a bomb detection dog, was reported MIA after she fled from the same battle in which SAS Trooper Mark Donaldson won his Victoria Cross for risking his life to save an Afghan interpreter in September last year. Nine soldiers, including Sabi's handler, were wounded in the ferocious firefight that ensured after the Australian, US and Afghan army convoy was ambushed by the enemy. The black labrador fled from the chaos and was feared...

***Policy change comes after child died from bite at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune*** U.S. Marines are known for being aggressive, but service brass don't want the troops' dogs to have the same trait. Marine Corps headquarters in Washington recently instituted a ban on what it considers dangerous dogs at its bases worldwide. The policy specifically bans purebred and mixed breed pit bulls, Rottweilers, wolf hybrids "or any canine breed with dominant traits of aggression" that pose a risk to people living in base family housing. The Marine Corps' mascot, the bulldog, is not mentioned in the new policy. A spokeswoman...

He saw a squirrel the other day in his new back yard in Derby and chased it up a tree. First time he'd ever done that. He hadn't seen squirrels, or trees, in Afghanistan. It was a big moment for ETTy, a black and white mutt that was adopted in Afghanistan in December by 1st Lt. Chris Corman of Derby and some of his Marine buddies Corman, 28, was stationed with about 20 other Marines in Mehtar Lam, halfway between Kabul and Jalalabad. For nine months, they served as an embedded training team with a unit of the Afghan National...

~ ~ FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Working Dogs Train on Bagram Airfield!! ~ U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Chris Reynolds runs his German shepherd, Baiky, through a training obstacle course on Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Aug. 7, 2009. Reynolds, a dog handler assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron patrols the base with his dog to inspect mail, luggage and vehicles for narcotics. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. J.G. Buzanowski Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. U.S....

1st Lt. John Reed, a platoon leader with 15th Brigade Support Battalion, attempts to evade Capka, a military working dog, during a demonstration at Forward Operating Base Warrior, Kirkuk, Aug. 1. The demonstration was to not only entertain Soldiers but to educate leaders on the capabilities of the military working dogs. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Douglas, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. FOB WARRIOR — No matter how fast the dozen or so Soldiers ran, they couldn't outrun Buli and Capka, a pair of German Sheppard military working dogs, during a demonstration here, Aug. 1. Soldiers from the 15th Brigade...

What an amazing human being. She cares about this country so much..Check out what she did at the bottom, that outta piss off the libs Operation Military Care K-9 is a program that reaches out to military K-9 teams deployed in the Middle East. Both the dogs and their handlers are recipients of care packages thanks to the effort, which was organized by Beth White, a teacher at Henderson High School in South Carolina. Mud Creek Baptist Church is partnering with Beth to help send such useful items as cooling vests and bandannas for the dogs and sun block and...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, March 26, 2009 – She takes a few steps forward and then glances over her shoulder. A few feet up the road she stops and lies down on the ground, a sign of possible danger. Army Sgt. Stephen Netzley, a K-9 handler with 3rd Squadron, 71st Calvary Regiment, and his German shepherd, Lady, search for explosive devices during a route clearance patrol in Afghanistan’s Logar province, March 9, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Matthew Thompson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Lady is a German shepherd trained to sniff out explosives and their components. Her...

A U.S. soldier returning to Fayetteville, N.C., from Afghanistan got a surprise welcome from two dogs he saved from starvation while stationed in the war-torn country. WRAL.com, a FOX affiliate in Raleigh, reports that a charity animal-rescue program run by Internet search engine Dogpile.com reunited Staff Sgt. Daniel Barker with two dogs reportedly rescued by Barker and his fellow soldier, Adam Krause, during their 2008 deployment to Afghanistan. Barker and Krause found the malnourished puppies abandoned on the streets of Afghanistan and brought them back to their military base, where they named them Jack and Emma, the station reports. When...

1/15/2009 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- Dental Airmen teamed up with Army veterinarians to give an Air Force working dog a root canal and get her back into the fight Jan. 15 at an air base in Southwest Asia. Airmen of the 386th Expeditionary Medical Group and Soldiers from the 218th Medical Detachment to work on 5-year-old Belgian melinois Kitti who broke her tooth while trying to chew her way out of her kennel during the flight from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. "She doesn't like to be left alone," said Senior Airman Adam Belward, Kitti's handler from the 822nd Security...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq, Dec. 19, 2008 – A Multinational Division Baghdad soldier and his four-legged partner work with other military dog teams here in helping to make Baghdad’s streets safer for Iraqi citizens and soldiers to live and operate. Army Sgt. James Harrington, a military policeman and dog handler assigned to Multinational Division Baghdad, poses with Ryky, a Belgian Malanois, while out on mission Nov. 24, 2008, in southern Baghdad’s Rashid district. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. James Harrington  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Sgt. James Harrington, a military policeman and dog handler attached to the...

Awesome.

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...

A puppy adopted by a U.S. soldier has landed at Dulles International Airport outside the nation's capital, and is headed to Wisconsin this weekend. The puppy, named Boo, belongs to Spc. Ashley Siwula, of Antioch, Ill. Her brother, Nick Mitcheff, of Salem, Wis., will watch the dog for Siwula. The dog was one of six rescued by Operation Baghdad Pups, run by Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International. The group is returning to Iraq this weekend to pick up another batch of dogs, including a puppy named Ratchet adopted by a Minnesota soldier. That dog's cause has...

The US army is poised to unleash the dogs of war – four-legged, petrol-powered robots to help its troops in battle. Billed as ‘the most advanced quadruped robot on Earth’, BigDog has been devised to support American troops by carrying up to four packs of equipment on awkward terrain unsuitable for wheeled vehicles. Standing at over 2ft tall and more than 3ft long, BigDog comes equipped with all manner of high-tech gadgets, including laser gyroscopes, a video camera sensor system and a sophisticated on-board computer – but, sadly, no wagging tail. The 11 stone machine, created by Boston Dynamics, can...

The SAS is training dogs to parachute into enemy territory on missions to sniff out insurgents and warn of ambushes. The German Shepherds are being taught to jump from planes at high altitude wearing their own oxygen masks and strapped to soldiers. Once on the ground they can be released into enemy territory with miniature cameras mounted to their heads. Live images of enemy positions and possible ambush sites can be relayed back to special forces teams in safe positions. The dogs will be earmarked for use in Iraq and Afghanistan.

DOGS will lead the way in SAS raids after being parachuted in to spy out rebels for troops, The Sun can reveal. Fearless German Shepherds are being trained to jump from aircraft at 25,000ft wearing their own oxygen masks and strapped to special forces assault teams. Once down in hostile terrain in Iraq or Afghanistan, the dogs will be sent in first to seek out insurgents’ hideouts with tiny cameras fixed to their heads. The cameras will beam live TV pictures back to the troops, warning of ambushes or showing enemy leaders’ locations. The amazing tactic – on which The...

SMITHTOWN, NY – Newly enlisted Sergeants First Class Boe and Budge are two black Labrador Retrievers about to embark on a historic mission. For the first time in the history of the United States Army, skilled therapy dogs, provided by America’s VetDogs, will be deployed to Iraq to help relieve combat stress of soldiers in the field. These two specially trained dogs will work with a multidisciplinary team of Army professionals to address mental health issues as they arise in theater. Staff Sergeants Mike Calaway stands with a Black Labrador Retriever in a VetDogs jacket. Photo credit Christopher Appoldt.Says Major...

Marine First Lt. Nathan Nielson plays with his dog Gus on Saturday at the Rancho Coastal Humane Society in Encinitas with society volunteer Diane Johnson, left, and Susan McBride of Animal House Pet Care. Gus is one of a litter of 7 puppies that were transported from Iraq to the society where they were housed and cared for, including medical attention, for about a month until their Marine owners returned from deployment in Iraq Saturday morning. Marine Capt. Jamisen Fox plays with his 4-month-old Turkish sheepdog named Kirby on Saturday at the Rancho Coastal Humane Society in Encinitas. Kirby...