Military working dogs train daily Published March 7, 2012 By Senior Airman Jack Sanders 99th Air Base Wing NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Members of the 99th Security Forces Squadron's military working dog unit here put a new meaning to the phrase, "dog tired." Military working dogs and their handlers train constantly to stay ahead of threats. When not directly involved in a mission assignment, working dog teams' days are full of training across a wide variety of scenarios and environments. "Every moment the dogs are out of the kennel is considered training, whether it's obedience, bite work, scouts, detection, building searches, or whatever we want to try and use the dog for we're going to do," said Staff Sgt. Tanner Grutz, 99th SFS working dog handler. The dogs are put through tough-but-fair training to ensure they can detect explosives, locate drugs or perform take-downs in hostile situations. The diverse training prepares the working dog team to get the job done while performing missions in unpredictable, potentially dangerous circumstances. "Our primary mission now would be finding explosives and fighting the war overseas," Grutz said. "That's our main mission. Most of our dogs are bomb detection dogs, but they have to be able to transition between a detection stand point to a bite stand point whenever necessary." The training received builds a close bond between working dogs and their handlers, allowing them to work efficiently together to protect the base and its inhabitants. Grutz said that bond is what enables the handler to trust his canine partner to detect threats, respond appropriately to commands and react correctly if the team encounters a hostile act. When people see military working dogs, they often have trouble making the distinction between these professionally-trained animals and regular house dogs. Grutz said there are a lot of differences. "The biggest difference between a working dog and a house dog is what we expect out of the dog," Grutz said. "You go home and you expect your dog to come up to you, jump in your lap, cuddle all night, and watch TV. I expect my dog to find bombs and bite people. "If they don't do that, it's nothing personal -- I'm sure they'll make a great house pet, but not for what we need," Grutz said. "We have to look at the business side of the working dog rather than the home side of them, and that's difficult especially for us," said Staff Sgt. Felipe Alvarado, 99th SFS dog handler. "Because, if the dog doesn't work what good are we?" The extensive training the handlers and dogs undergo daily helps them increase their proficiency. "We enjoy what we do," Grutz said. "We love to test the dogs and whatever we can think of to test them we'll try, whether that's climbing a wall or seeing how well they can go from bite work to detection work, detection work to bite work."
