Daisy to the Rescue by Jeff Campbell
Author:Jeff Campbell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zest
Published: 2014-09-15T16:00:00+00:00
Finally, what makes these dogs even more rare is their willingness, really their eagerness, to be aggressive to humans. This goes against the very domesticity that canines evolved to possess and that usually makes dogs such ideal human companions.
These dogs aren’t just annoyingly assertive. Ritland said, “Without the proper training and the control of a well-trained handler, these dogs would be a potential threat to folks.”
Nevertheless, these elite dogs are not trained to kill, which has been and remains controversial. In what’s called apprehension work, they are trained to subdue and capture; this neutralizes the threat and allows the enemy to be interrogated afterward. Bullets and bombs can’t make such distinctions. This is why Ritland characterizes elite combat dogs as “a very highly skilled nonlethal force.”
A DOG IS STILL A DOG
In his book, Ritland describes a dog named Cairo who was the first Navy SEAL canine warrior to be deployed, sometime in 2008. Coyly, Ritland does not confirm whether or not this is the same Cairo involved with the 2011 bin Laden raid. Given that the dog has the same name, we might presume he is the same dog, but Ritland deliberately leaves this Cairo’s specific deployments unclear. All Ritland says is that this Cairo first served in Iraq, mostly for IED detection, and he saved many lives that way.
Even if this Cairo is not the Cairo, Ritland’s description of him is universal to all elite combat dogs.
Most of all, Ritland makes clear that Cairo’s effectiveness, as with all working dogs, depended on his relationship with his handler, Lloyd. The same handler-dog dynamics of trust, intimacy, communication, companionship, and love applied. In other words, even elite dogs are still dogs, just as elite soldiers are still human.
“Cairo was inspirational,” Lloyd said. “To see how tirelessly he went after it, running and searching night after night and day after day, you felt like you had to keep up with him. . . . Maybe this is a bit of an exaggeration, but for me, even if Cairo hadn’t had any finds or apprehensions, he would have been a valuable asset for us. Just having him as a companion, one bit of home out there, was huge for us. And I don’t mean just for me. Cairo was great with all the other team members. You’re out there. You’re hungry. You’re tired. A dog comes up to you, and you feel better.”
Today, Cairo is retired, and he lives at home with Lloyd and Lloyd’s other two dogs. Cairo still likes to work, and so he helps Lloyd haul lumber and put away the groceries, “and for as powerful as those jaws are,” Lloyd said, “when he carries a carton of milk or whatever, he never busts through the package.”
Then, as if to drive home the point that a dog is always still a dog, Lloyd said Cairo lets Lloyd’s beagle get the best of him in wrestling matches and he carries a blanket with him “all the time.”
“He’s had it for years now,” Lloyd said, “and I guess having it makes him feel secure.
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