A fur-footed force: love, attention and care breed elite military working dogs

Airman, Dec, 2003 by Tammy Cournoyer

Glock, who made it to the 11-month mark, didn't meet the high standards of a military working dog and was finally cut. Smith says he did show enough potential for police work and is currently making a north Texas police department very happy.

If a professional career is just not in the cards, Smith said there's always private life.

"All of our dogs end up having really good lives even if they don't make the program," Smith said. "If they fail out at 7 months, and they don't want to do anything, not even chase a ball, they get to go lay on somebody's carpet for the rest of their lives."

Currently, most dogs cut from the program are ending up in adoptive homes rather than full-time jobs.

Officials are trying to figure out the fiscal benefits of the program: How much money is saved because these puppies are bred for 12 years of service instead of 10? How much is saved because the pre-trained puppies only need 50 days of intense training instead of 120?

"I think if you look at a very large scale, you'll see that it saves quite a bit of money," Smith said.

But for Smith, it's not just about the money. She wants to see the program grow.

"I want to see military units looking forward to receiving our puppies because they know the puppies are better quality," she said. "I want the military to support the program. I don't want to keep telling people that [we produce] a better dog, I want them to see it and believe it for themselves."

What's in a name?

Most people have a hard time coming up with a name for one new family pet, so imagine how difficult it can be coming up with names for a litter of pup pies. That's why the staff of the Department of Defense Puppy Program begins well in advance of a pending delivery.

The staff would think of cool names, like any pet owner would, and then pick the best ones.

Traditionally, the litters are named alphabetically and start with "A" litter. Each puppy wears a collar with his or her name For easy identification.

Thanks to ultrasound, the staff has a good idea how many names they need, but they've learned to have plenty of names available just in case. For example, Lacy Smith, the program's manager, was overseeing the birth of "F" litter which included 14 puppies at first count. A second count revealed 15. Fortunately, it was "F" litter, and the last edition was appropriately named Fifteen.

Beginning with the birth of "J" litter, all puppies have been named after deceased war veterans as a way of honoring those who have served. The litter includes Jackson, Jasper, Jaycee, Jordan, June, Joy and Jody. Both first and last names are used, but nat together--Jordan is a last name, June is a first name.

The staff finds veterans' names from different Internet sites.

One breeding female is notorious for producing small litters, so Kylee is the sole representative of "K" litter.

The latest litter to be born includes Lucy, Lilly, Lola, Lindy, Lizzie, Law, Lance, Leo, Lewis and Lane.

Because the current naming protocol will probably rule out a "Spot" in "S" litter, the staff may be inclined to make an exception should they need to use "Sixteen."