Tag Archives: military dogs

Military dogs on stamps

Posted on February 20, 2019 | Leave a comment

The United States Postal Service has announced a new release of stamps for 2019 dedicated to military dogs.

The Forever stamp set includes five, four-stamp blocks (20 stamps in total). Each block has a German Shepherd stamp, a Labrador Retriever stamp, a Belgian Malinois stamp and a Dutch Shepherd stamp.

The release date for the stamps isn’t known yet; but they are going to be hot property for dogs lovers and stamp collectors alike!

Military Dog stamp set

Kathleen Crisley, Fear-Free certified professional and specialist in dog massage, rehabilitation and nutrition/food therapy, The Balanced Dog, Christchurch, New Zealand

Heroes Wear Fur

Posted on November 15, 2016 | Leave a comment

Retailer Orvis has published a very useful infographic concerning Working Military Dogs (WMDs). Deployment of these dogs has increased 400% in the United States since the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Orvis Military Working Dogs Infographic

When a military dog retires…

Posted on May 27, 2015 | Leave a comment

Photo courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society

The US military trains and uses dogs for a variety of reasons – and the dogs and their handlers develop a deep bond with one another.

The 2016 fiscal year military appropriations bill recently passed the House of Representatives and included a provision that mandates that all suitable military animals be made available for adoption. It also says that each animal’s handler — the person who these veterans most trust and rely on — shall be given priority when it’s time to adopt.

The bill is making its way to the Senate and it’s time to let Washington lawmakers know that you think this special provision should stay in the final version.

The Best Friends Animal Society has started an online form that enables you to ask your U.S. senators to support section 594 of the bill. Follow this link to the Legislative Action Center to take action.

Over the years, I have written a number of stories about dogs, military service, and the health and welfare of these special service animals. Visit these posts:

Kathleen Crisley, specialist in dog massage, rehabilitation and nutrition/food therapy, The Balanced Dog Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand

Hero Dogs – National Geographic June 2014

Posted on May 31, 2014 | 1 comment

I have just finished reading the June 2014 issue of National Geographic. As you can see, the feature story is about the military dogs and the magazine has done a really wonderful job depicting the lives of the soldiers and their bomb detecting dogs.

Some facts:

at the height of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US military had a force of approximately 2,500 working dogs
MWDs is the abbreviation for Military Working Dogs
A dog’s sense of smell is up to 100,000 times more acute than a human’s
The Belgian Malinois has been particularly successful in Iraq and Afthanistan because it can withstand the hot temperatures

Happy reading!

1 Comment

Posted in Dogs, special dogs and awards

Tagged Afghanistan, belgian malinois, Iraq, military dogs, military working dogs, MWDs, National Geographic