A Soldier Returns from Afghanistan to Find His Dog Sold on Craigslist

Brandon Harker is launching a campaign to find his dog, starting with his own ad on Craigslist.

Eight months ago, solider Brandon Harker was deployed to Afghanistan. Like many dog owners in the military who find themselves in this situation -- and there are many, as we learned when we talked to Dogs on Deployment a few months ago -- he had to find a place for his dog, a two-year-old yellow Lab named Oakley, to stay when he was gone. 

He asked his friend to take care of Oakley, according to Q13Fox.com. It was the wrong move.

This month, Harker returned home to find that his dog was gone. His friend told him he had given Oakley away. Harker wasn't about to give up; he turned to social media to try and locate his dog. 

What he discovered was shocking. A number of people contacted Harker, saying that they’d seen Oakley listed for sale in February on Craigslist.

It appears his "friend" did not simply give Oakley away, but sold him. 

Harker has reached out to vets and shelters -- his dog is microchipped and registered -- but thus far has no leads. 

So he too turned to Craigslist. Harker posted an ad, titled simply "Yellow Lab." It says, in part:

He is good with kids and other dogs. He has a unique coat, on his face he has spots of a darker yellow (champagne) he also has spots of the same color going down his sides and legs. If anyone has any information on this and can help me please do. I am just trying to get him back to me since he was wrongfully given away or sold with out my permission while I was deployed. I will also be able to verify the dog is mine because he is microchipped and registered to me. Once again thank you to everyone who sees this and tries to help. If you could spread the word about this issues that would be great as well.

So far, no leads, just a lot of sympathy and a few news stories. Hopefully, those will increase, and the person who has Oakley will find out that the person who really owns the dog is looking for him. No doubt Oakley is looking for Harker, too. 

"He never growled or anything at anybody, he always ran up with his whole body shaking, and then put his head down to sniff you," Harker told KCPQ. "He thought he was a lap dog and he'd crawl up on the couch and try to fit on your lap."

Via Q13Fox.com; photos via Harker's Craigslist ad

View the original article here

Help a Soldier Get a Service Dog with a Click of Your Mouse

Imagine you're a war veteran who needs help getting around because of a combat injury. You know a service dog could make your life easier, restoring much-needed independence and normalcy, but most service dogs are out of reach for you financially.

Or imagine you're a veteran with PTSD, and you can't function in crowds or when you can't see clearly around you. So you stay home, so you don't have to face the panic attacks at the store or the movies. You've heard about the tremendous help a service dog can be, but you don't have the resources to get one.  

Now imagine you can help these veterans, and not by donating money. All you have to do is click, and a deserving war veteran is one step closer to a life-changing companion. For every 1,000 new Likes on the wonderful Facebook page of organization Dog Bless You gets between Memorial Day and July 4, the nonprofit will donate a service dog to a war veteran.

I've spoken with veterans whose service dogs have given them their lives back. It's so easy to make a huge difference in the lives of these wounded warriors. All it takes from you is one tap of the mouse on the "Like" button of Dog Bless You's Facebook page during its Dog Bless USA Spirit of '76 campaign. (The group will donate up to 76 dogs!) 

I wish I could participate in this social media challenge grant, but I Liked them long ago. This almost makes me want to have many Facebook alter egos so I can Like them all over the place.

The campaign also applies to Dog Bless You's Pinterest and Tumblr pages. For every 1,000 followers on each site, Dog Bless You will donate a dog. 

As of last night, there were enough Likes for five dogs to be trained by excellent nonprofits that specialize in this kind of training. How many lives of wounded warriors will Dogster readers help change? Let's get clicking now! We can make a real difference here. 

View the original article here

Revisiting Buck, a Soldier Dog Recovering from PTSD

I'm heading to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, for about a week, to learn more about military dog teams, and to attend the DOD's Military Working Dog Competition. It's essentially a military Iron Dog event, and promises to be really exciting and show just what these teams are made of. It'll be great to see some familiar dogs and handlers and to meet new ones.

One of the highlights of my trip will be visiting a dog named Buck again. I'd met the chocolate Lab at the Lackland adoption kennels last summer while doing research for my book Soldier Dogs (now a New York Times best seller! I'm not the only one who loves these dogs). Unlike all the other dogs around him, he wasn't barking or twirling or standing excitedly and wagging. He was curled up in a ball on the hard kennel floor, gazing out into nothingness. My heart broke for him, especially when I learned he had PTSD.

Lynette and Larry Sergeant, and their dog, Buck, who had to get out of the military because of PTSD. (Photo copyright Estella Diaz)

I was relieved when someone told me that Buck was going to be adopted by a wonderful couple, Lynette and Larry Sargent, the very next day. That's them in the photo above. I've been in touch with them since shortly after they adopted Buck. They have done everything to help get him out of his skittish, oft-terrified, oft-vacant state.

This dog may have had bad luck in Afghanistan, but he could not have been luckier in landing a loving family. He has gotten much better under their care -- especially after they adopted him his very own puppy.

(The wagging you hear is from my happiness about being able to shake paws with Buck and his whole family tomorrow evening.)

And speaking of reunions involving military and dogs, here are a couple of uplifting videos to start your weekend on the right paw. I love the way the German shepherd in the video below is so excited to see his owner return from deployment that he can't help but talk with his mouth full. He has a ball in his mouth, and his beloved owner by his side; it doesn't get much better than this for a dog.

The video of another reunion, below, is also super sweet. It's funny; the reunions with little dogs often involve a lot of barking and yapping and yipping and running at hyper warp speed. But the bigger dogs, while their hearts are clearly just as joy-filled, often tend to be slightly more manageable. I'm not so sure that a giant Great Dane standing on his hind legs is manageable, but there's not usually the utterly chaotic frenzy with the bigger guys. There are exceptions galore, but humor me on this one.

And finally, here's a Siberian husky who's super stoked that his Marine "dad" has returned from yet another deployment.

Happy weekend! Next time I talk to you, I'll be in the Lone Star state!

View the original article here

10 Things You Might Not Know About Soldier Dogs

Until the now-infamous Navy SEAL Team Six raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound last year, most people had no idea that dogs are a vital part of the military. But these four-legged heroes have saved tens of thousands of lives since World War II, when the U.S. embarked on its military working dog program.

I grew up steeped in the importance of war dogs thanks to my dad, who was a very young soldier back then. He told me about the bonds the handlers had with their dogs, and how the dogs – as important as they were on missions – were just as essential for the morale of troops. His stories struck a chord with me, and I was thrilled years later when I got a chance to write a book about brave, loyal, amazing dogs and their devoted handlers.

My book, Soldier Dogs: The Untold Story of America’s Canine Heroes, was published two weeks ago, and I’m excited that after all the hard work and boots-on-the-ground reporting the book entailed, people are really starting to take notice of these incredible dogs and their handlers. The book has received a lot of attention, including a great review in the forthcoming April 9 edition of People magazine, and a fun stint for me on The Daily Show.

This puts a wag in my tail, because I am passionate about these dog teams. The more people know about them, the better off the dogs and handlers will be. So today I bring my loyal Dogster readers an exclusive look at 10 things you may really want to know about soldier dogs. All photos except the plane jumper are of dogs and handlers featured in my book. Here’s to our paws-on-the-ground heroes!

(Note from Dogster HQ: We are currently reading and loving Maria's book and think you'll dig it, too. Besides getting it at your local bookstore, you can order Soldier Dogs from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Indiebound. It's even available as an audiobook for all you commuters in the house, at Blackstone Audio.)

_______________

A job well done: For his detection of an explosives scent, a dog in training gets the ultimate reward: His handler's heartfelt praise and a Kong - a rubber toy beloved by most MWDs. (Photo copyright Jared Dort)

1. Soldier dogs are selected for the military based in part on their love of a ball or a Kong.

This reward is going to be part of their “paycheck” for years to come (a handler’s heartfelt praise is the other part), and they have to want the ball really badly to work as hard as they need to in order to save lives in combat situations.

________________

Kong is king in military working dog training. These hard rubber toys play a vital, almost magical role in training. (Photo copyright Jared Dort)

2. Soldier dogs believe in magic.

If they didn’t, they may not be the lifesavers they are. The main job for military dogs in today’s wars is sniffing out IEDs, which are the number one killer in Afghanistan. But how does a dog get to know the difference between an explosive and an interesting-smelling rock? Magic, of a sort.

A dog’s early encounters associating a scent with a reward are all about the surprising appearance of a Kong that seems to spring right out of the scent itself. Trainers hide a Kong toy or ball somewhere, and place a few drops of a scent in the area. When the dog hits the scent, he thinks, “Whoa! I’ve never smelled this before!” and shows a tiny change of behavior, perhaps stopping or wagging or tilting his head. At that moment, a trainer throws the ball so it lands right on the source of the odor, and the dog is cheered on for his “feat.”

This happens a few more times, placing the odor in various spots and having a ball “magically” land on it when the dog successfully sniffs the odor. Many dogs learn extremely rapidly to associate an odor and a ball. (Eventually they’re weaned from this and get the ball reward in a different way.) That dogs can believe the scent of something like potassium chlorate magically creates a bouncing Kong is just one of those things that makes them so loveable and endearing.

 ________________

Dog handler Marine Corp. Max Donahue stateside with MWD Ronni, his first dog - military or otherwise. Donahue, like most handlers, bonded deeply with the two military dogs who served with him, and vice-versa. (Photo courtesy of Julie Schrock)

3. The bond between a deployed handler and soldier dog is like no other.

I was blown away by the love that even the toughest of these soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have for their canine comrades. When you’re at war and you’re together almost 24/7 (sometimes sharing a tent, or even a sleeping bag or foxhole, for weeks on end), when you depend on each other for everything, including your very lives, an incomparable bond forms. Hearing a war-hardened Marine’s voice break when he talks about his best friend is a very moving experience.

________________

You don't have to be a big dog to be a soldier dog. Lars J274, a Jack Russell terrier with a Napoleon complex, proves that smaller is better for some jobs as he gets handed down into a nuclear submarine so he can sniff it out for explosives. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Paul D. Williams for Soldier Dogs)

4. Not all soldier dogs are big, tough warriors.

Sure, breeds like German shepherds and Belgian Malinois are the most common war dogs these days, but affable Labrador retrievers play a major role as sniffer dogs in Afghanistan. And there are also some very little dogs in the military. But I learned that “little” does not mean “diminutive.”

I had the pleasure of meeting a Jack Russell terrier, Lars J274, on a nuclear submarine as he sniffed around for explosives last summer. He was a jaunty little fellow with a Napoleon complex. Submariners would laugh has he trotted down the narrow walkways, but he didn’t care. “Inside, he’s a big dog with a big attitude,” his handler told me.

________________

Dogs know us much better than we may think they do. Their ability to read people comes in especially handy during war situations. The dog above, Rex L274, was a gentle giant of a German shepherd, who was always there when someone needed a helping paw. (Photo courtesy of Amanda Ingraham)

5. Dogs are the ultimate anthropologists.

They study us. They observe us. They smell changes in our very chemistry. They learn to predict us. And they seem to know when their people are having a bad day.

Rex L274 was a big, sensitive German shepherd. He had failed out of aggression training because anytime he bit someone wearing protective gear during practice, and they yelled or screamed in response, he immediately let go and seemed to look concerned and sad. So his career path changed, and he became a highly trained off-leash bomb sniffer.

His sensitivity to the people around him played out in the form of becoming a sort of unofficial therapy dog wherever he went. “He’d always find the one soldier who was having a hard day and hang out with them,” his handler, Army Sgt. Amanda Ingraham, told me. His favorite therapy was to cheer up down soldiers by getting them to play with a water bottle. After all, he liked playing with water bottles, so it would seem natural that they would too. He’d run up and bonk them with a water bottle (empty or full, it didn’t matter). Or he’d sit next to him crunching the bottle and periodically banging it against the soldier with the blues. Eventually the soldier would take the bait, and a grand game of tug-of-war or a big chase would ensue.

________________

Special Operations dogs can perform stunning feats of bravery from great heights. (Photo by Tech. Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez, U.S. Air Force)

6. Some dogs really do jump from planes.

These extremely resilient, super-high-drive dogs are specially procured and trained by military contractors, not the DOD’s Military Working Dog program. Some join their human partners in parachute jumps from planes, others rappel with their handlers from helicopters. The dogs who do this are known as multi-purpose canines (MPCs), and are used used in Special Operations teams, including the Navy SEALs. They’re a tiny subset of military dogs, but can serve very important roles, as Cairo, the dog involved in the SEAL Team Six raid on the Bin Laden compound, demonstrated.

________________

Lynette and Larry Sergeant, the caring couple that adopted Buck P207, have been trying everything to help him with his canine PTSD. He is very comfortable with them, and loves the new puppy they adopted to keep him company, but he still has a great deal of healing ahead. (Photo copyright Estella Diaz)

7. Soldier dogs can get PTSD.

Until last year, canine post traumatic stress disorder wasn’t officially recognized by the military, but now that it is, it’s being taken very seriously. Signs of Canine PTSD include hypervigilance, increased startle response, attempts to run away or escape, withdrawal, changes in rapport with a handler, and problems performing trained tasks - like a bomb dog who just can’t focus on sniffing out bombs any more.

As with people, some dogs can go to hell and back and not be badly scarred. Others are profoundly affected by less. There are treatments, but they aren’t as effective as they need to be. Research into canine PTSD is in its infancy, but I hope it will one day soon offer some better solutions for the dogs who are suffering so.

While at Lackland Air Force Base, which is where most military dogs get trained, I visited the base’s adoption kennels and was greeted by the loads of barking, energetic dogs. But this one beautiful chocolate Lab, Buck P027, was curled up tightly, staring out into nothingness. It turns out Buck had been a bomb dog in Afghanistan. He may have seen too much action or been close to one too many explosions. It was really heartbreaking to see this dog who was crushed by PTSD lying alone. Thankfully the next day he went home with a couple who loves him to pieces. They’re working on helping him through his PTSD every day. I am in touch with them and get regular reports on his progress.

________________

What’s in a name? Ask Davy N532, a female dog whose name does not match her gender. Oddball names are not uncommon among military working dogs, whose breeders, usually from Europe, name them. (Photo courtesy of Marcus Bates)

8. Soldier dog names can be downright embarrassing to their handlers.

Dogs are named by their breeders, who are hail from places like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, and Germany. There are plenty of regal or at least normal names, like Rex, Nero, and Rocky. And then there are the unfortunate or oddball ones. Imagine being downrange in a life-or-death situation, and shouting for “Baby Cakes!” “Baby Bear!” “Busty!” or “Moo!” Yes, those are real military working dog names.

Male dogs sometimes have female names, like Kitty, or Freida, and vice-versa. The handler of Freida said it was very awkward calling his name. He swears the breeders are just messing with American handlers, and I have a feeling he’s right.

________________

When a military working dog dies, his food/water bowl is turned upside down, and his harness and collar hung up, to symbolize he won't be needing them anymore. (Photo courtesy Emily Pieracci)

9. When soldier dogs die, their memorial services will rip your heart out.

Their bowls are placed upside down, to symbolize that they won’t need them anymore. Their collars and leashes are hung up in remembrance of the dog. And if the memorial is at a kennel, the dog’s kennel door is left open, indicating the dog will not be returning home. The handler, or someone who can handle the heartbreaking duty, reads a poem called Guardians of the Night. I can’t even think about it without tearing up. A lot of handlers can’t either.

________________

Dogs are anything but equipment to their handlers. Military working dog Blek H199 and his handler, Air Force Staff Sergeant Brent Olson, had a rough deployment together. Both were badly injured. Today, Blek is part of Olson's family. Olson was able to adopt him after the dog was retired due to his injuries. (Photo courtesy of Brent Olson)

10. Soldier dogs are still officially considered equipment by the Defense Department.

Most handlers consider their dogs their best friends, but to the DOD, military working dogs are still officially equipment.

“I try to articulate dog is not a piece of equipment, but a working, breathing animal that needs to be treated respectfully and kindly,” says Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Antonio (Arod) Rodriguez. “Your dog is your partner, and values meaningful interaction. You just don’t think about equipment in the same way.”

There’s some fantastic legislation in Congress right now that seeks to change this status. You can read about it in a post I wrote for Dogster. In it I explain how you can weigh in on this very important bipartisan bill, The Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act. These dogs deserve all the support we can give them.

Maria Goodavage is a former USA Today reporter, and Dogster’s news editor.

View the original article here

I’m Marching Off with Soldier Dogs for a Few Weeks

My Dear Dogster Friends,

As many of you know, I have been very hard at work researching and writing my next book, Soldier Dogs, which goes deep into the fascinating world of military working dogs.

It has been a very exciting few months of immersing myself behind the scenes with these four-legged heroes and their devoted handlers and trainers. I’ve traveled to some incredible places during my research, and have seen some amazing things. I’ve been told dozens of riveting stories of military dogs during both wartime and peacetime. Some are gripping adventures, others are heartrending, and a few are even quite humorous.

The book looks at every facet of the lives of military working dogs, from breeding to training to deployment to what happens when they are no longer able to serve. Soldier Dogs even explores dogs’ senses — some of which may surprise you, and all of which are groomed by the Department of Defense to help save lives.

The focus always returns to the deep bond between most dogs and their handlers. We all know how well bonded we are with our own pets, but imagine being in a war zone and having your life and the lives of possibly dozens of others depending on your dog’s nose and your ability to read its signals. Add to this the fact that in war settings, dogs can be with their handlers almost 24/7, even sleeping in the same sleeping bag or cot, and the bonding is profound.

I’m getting a little sidetracked from my main reason for writing this post, because I am so intrigued by the subject (which is always handy when writing a book), and could talk about it for hours. But now the reason for this post:

I want to let you know that because my deadline is so fast upon me, I have to devote every possible moment to the book. You may have noticed I’ve already cut back on the number of blog posts I’m doing, but it’s getting to the point where I am going to need to march off with the Soldier Dogs for a few weeks with no other writing obligations. Dogster’s supergreat managing editor, Janine Kahn, is very supportive, and will be in charge of making the blog an awesome place to visit in my absence. (Thank you, thank you, Janine!)

Well, off to my “deployment” to my writing cottage in the backyard. I’ve got Jake at my side, so I am in good hands. (He could never have been a military working dog … or could he? Find out next spring when the book comes out! Jake isn’t telling a soul before then.)

I will miss the blog and all of you, but will see you again in late October/early November.

If you’re interested in pre-ordering Soldier Dogs so you can be the first on your block to have it, do so via this Amazon page.

View the original article here

I’m Writing a Book on Soldier Dogs, and Could Use Your Help!

Jake was not happy when he learned that Dutton Penguin wanted a solo head shot of me. He has grown used to always being at my side for my dog-writing photos. So we let him sit at my feet and we cropped him out. He'll never know. (Photo: Laura Altair Hanson)

My professional life is going to change dramatically for the next several months, Dogsters. I’m giving up all my freelance writing and editing jobs — except my Dogster blog! — to take on a very exciting new project: A book called Soldier Dogs, about incredible four-footed troops and their handlers.

I’ve been reading books on war dogs and dogs in history for a long time, and I’ve been writing about these amazing soldier dogs whenever possible. I am in awe of their feats, their loyalty, their enthusiasm for the job, and all the high-tech trappings used by some dog/handler teams.

So when literary agent Deirdre Mullane contacted me about writing a book on military working dogs (MWDs) after it came out that a dog was a vital part of the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, I went right to work on the book proposal. It was the perfect fusion of my journalistic background and my fascination with these extraordinary dogs.

With very helpful guidance and editing from Deirdre, and the super agenting skills of my regular agent, Carol Mann (they decided to co-agent the book), we ended up with a bidding war among publishers last week. Once I spoke with Dutton Penguin executive editor Stephen Morrow, I knew I had to have him as my editor. I was thrilled when this worked out, and we’ve embarked on this remarkable project together.

The book is going to be a tremendous amount of work in a short time, but I am thrilled. The end result is going to be riveting. Soldier Dogs will look at every facet of military working dogs’ lives, and will tell engaging true stories of the extraordinary courage of dogs under fire, and the soldiers who share their fate. The book will explore the heroism and heartbreak of these faithful four-legged warriors and their devoted handlers.

Here’s how you might be able to help:

I’m looking for really interesting true stories about these dogs and their handlers — stories that demonstrate the deep bond between them, or exciting stories, or anything that help shed light on how they live and work together.

Sergeant Martinez and his dog, Argo II, practice an "over the shoulder hold" that helps build trust (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Allen Stokes)

If you know any military dog handlers (past or present, although present handlers will likely have to get the OK to speak with me) who have intriguing stories to tell about their time with their MWDs, I’d love know more about them, and to be able to communicate directly with the handlers. If they are not available for whatever reason, I could talk with their parents or spouses. You can go to my fledgling Soldier Dogs website and click on the “Contact” button to leave a secure message for me.

I’m also looking for people who adopted retired military dogs – especially people who still have the dog.

Note: Please don’t leave detailed information in comments below, as I might not be the only person writing about this topic right now! That said, I greatly welcome general comments below. If you don’t feel like heading to my website to contact me, you can leave a comment below simply asking me to contact you; I can view email addresses on my end, so I’ll email you back.

Please feel free to send this message out on Facebook,  interest groups,  and any veterans’ groups, local military organizations, or anywhere you think there might be stories. And while you’re out there, come on over to my Facebook page and Like it if you like!

I’ll be providing updates there as the project moves along.

Thank you!

View the original article here

Video: Overjoyed Beagles Greet Soldier Returning Home

Talk about a hero’s welcome! These beagles are over the moon — and very vocal — when their soldier walks through the door after deployment overseas. Check out their super-fast-motion tails!

I hope you have a tail-waggin’ good weekend yourselves, Dogsters!

View the original article here