History of Drug Dogs

Dogs were initially used for hunting, hauling, and guarding camps and settlements. At some point they began to be used for military purposes and for social control, particularly to control slaves and to guard properties. By the 5th century B.C., various societies had adopted these strategies. Persians, Greeks, Assyrians and Babylonians recognized the advantage of war dogs and deployed them as forward attacking elements.

The Romans used dogs both for war and for internal control. After Rome fell, the use of dogs for offense and repression tapered off somewhat, until it was revived with unprecedented brutality by the Spanish Conquistadors.

The British arrived in Jamestown and by 1610 the intentional extermination of the native population was well along. They were hunted down by dogs, blood-Hounds to draw after them, and mastiffs to seize them.

By the time of the American revolution, the use of dogs for repression had been scaled down, although some, most notably Benjamin Franklin suggested that dogs should be used against the Indians.

Ben Franklin's suggestion was not adopted until 1840, when Secretary of War Joel Poinsett authorized the purchase of the 33 bloodhounds from Cuba for offensive use against the Seminole Indians and escaped slaves who had taken refuge among them in western Florida and Louisana.

Meanwhile, bloodhounds were regularly used to recapture escaped slaves. During the Civil War, Confederate regiments used bloodhounds.

The Nazis employed dogs in various capacities, most notoriously in the concentration camps. During Second World War every concentration camp had its dog unit. The dogs were trained to attack inmates. (from Axis and Allied War Dogs). The aid of dogs was also sometimes employed when prisoners were corralled into gas chambers.

Dogs were utilized in Vietnam by American troops to clear Vietcong tunnels and caves and to sniff out land mines and booby-traps. At any given time there were 4,000 dogs employed in Vietnam for military purposes. All but 200 were left to the Vietcong, many of whom were tortured.

Police started using police dogs for riot control. When a German shepherd dog attacks, it doesn't just intimidate. When it bites, the upper and lower incisors connect like scissors and the large canine teeth remove chunks of flesh. The wounds infect easily and the scars usually are permanent.

Police and the Military also started using dogs to find drugs, explosives, tracking, etc.

The Military Working Dog Program has come a long way since the Army tested the original nine dogs in 1942. We have used dogs for sentries, scouts, trackers, casualty dogs, and the list goes on. For an all-around type animal to perform in both security and law enforcement functions, dogs have been the answer. As of now there is no single piece of police equipment that can perform as many functions, or perform as reliably as a well-trained detector dog team. As a detector dog handler, you must insure your animal is kept at a high degree of proficiency. As a supervisor, it is your responsibility to insure that detector dog handlers have the training aids, facilities, and time needed to keep them "honed to a fine edge" as a detector team.

HISTORY OF GLOBAL TRAINING ACADEMY

In October 1984, Global was born and found its present home at 7705 Patton Road, Somerset Texas, May 1985. There are three owners: Dan Hayter, Ken Nelson, and Jim Parks. In May 1985 Bob Barnes, who had been involved with the dog program for twenty-six years and had been the Superintendent of the Department of Defense Dog School for a number of years, decided to join the team.

Two of our dogs with the U.S. Border Patrol wrote themselves into the Book of World Records (1991) as having seized more drugs then any two dogs in the history of drug dogs. Another team in New Mexico seized 2.5 million dollars worth of drugs in five months. That is not abnormal for a Global detector dog and detector dog handler.

eMail:

Link to K9GTA.com using our banner:

Just copy & paste the code below on your website:

<a href="http://www.k9gta.com" title="Drug Dogs, Bomb Dogs, & K9 Training."><img src="http://www.k9gta.com/_img/k9gta-banner.jpg" alt="Drug Dogs, Bomb Dogs, & K9 Training." longdesc="Drug Dogs, Bomb Dogs, & K9 Training." /></a>

Other K9 & Police Dogs Related News & Information
History of Drug Dogs