The first animals in human military service were not horses or elephants. Gathering to plunder a neighboring village, primitive tribes took dogs with them. They protected the owners from enemy dogs, and also attacked opponents, which greatly facilitated hand-to-hand combat. The dogs chased the defeated enemy, quickly found the escaped prisoners. In peacetime, the dogs helped the guards - they guarded villages, prisons, military detachments on a campaign. In the sixth century BC, dogs were adapted to wear special collars covered with sharp blades. Later, the animals began to be clothed in special metal shells that protected them from cold weapons. The armor covered the back and sides of the dog, and the chain-mail connections covered the chest, forearms and abdomen. Even later, dog helmets made of metal appeared.
For thousands of years, the dog has been a special war animal. The Celts worshiped the god of war, Ges, who took the guise of a dog. Dogs were prized, raised and trained as professional soldiers. However, a lot has changed in the twentieth century. New types of firearms have appeared, such as the rifle and machine gun. The cost of living of individual fighters, including four-legged ones, fell to a minimum. Indeed, what could a dog oppose to small arms. However, the man's friends did not disappear from the battlefields, they just had to master completely new professions.
The cynologist Vsevolod Yazykov is considered the ancestor of service dog breeding in the Soviet Union. He has written numerous books on the training and use of dogs at the front. Later, the methods he developed were used as the basis for theoretical and practical training with dogs in the army.
Back in 1919, the canine scientist suggested that the Red Army Headquarters organize service dog breeding in the Red Army. After thinking no more, no less than five years, the Revolutionary Military Council issued an order numbered 1089, according to which a kennel for sports and military dogs called Krasnaya Zvezda was formed on the basis of the Shooting school in the capital. Its first leader was Nikita Yevtushenko. At first, there was a huge shortage of specialists, hunters, criminal investigation officers and even circus trainers were involved. To popularize this good deed in the fall of 1925, the All-Union exhibition of watchdog breeds was organized, which was widely covered by the press. The cadets of the kennel demonstrated with the participation of dogs a very effective staged battle with shooting and a smoke screen. Shortly thereafter, service dog breeding clubs and sections began to appear throughout the country in the Osoaviakhim system. Initially, four-legged friends were trained for intelligence, sentry, communications and sanitary needs. Beginning in the thirties, dogs began to be trained to blow up tanks. And at the beginning of 1935, the dogs were already being tested for suitability for sabotage activities. The dogs were dropped in special boxes with a parachute. On their backs, they had saddles with explosives, which they were supposed to deliver to the alleged enemy targets. The death of the dog was not implied, since it could easily be freed from the saddle thanks to a special mechanism. Tests have shown that dogs are quite capable of performing such acts of sabotage activities as undermining armored vehicles, railway bridges and various structures. In 1938, Vsevolod Yazykov died during the Stalinist repressions, but his work flourished. At the end of the thirties, the USSR was the leader in the effectiveness of the use of dogs in military affairs, preparing four-legged fighters for eleven types of services.
Our dogs passed their first baptism of fire in 1939, taking part in the destruction of Japanese troops at Khalkhin Gol. There they were used mainly for sentry and communications purposes. Then there was the Finnish war, where dogs successfully found snipers-"cuckoos" hiding in the trees. When the Great Patriotic War began, more than forty thousand service dogs were registered with Osoaviakhim throughout the country. Only the clubs of the Moscow region immediately sent more than fourteen thousand of their pets to the front. The club specialists have done a great job of preparing special equipment for dogs. Many of them were sent to the front lines as ambulance leaders of the riding units. The rest of the service dog breeding clubs, as well as ordinary citizens, also helped. To train the necessary military profession, Central Asian, German, South Russian, Caucasian shepherd dogs, huskies of any varieties, hounds and mestizos of these breeds were accepted. Other breeds fought on the territory of Ukraine and the North Caucasus: short-haired and wire-haired continental cops, great danes, setters, greyhounds and their mestizo. During the war years, the replenishment of the canine troops took place in most cases right on the spot due to the withdrawal of dogs from the population or capture from the enemy. According to some estimates, about seventy thousand four-legged human friends took part in the Great Patriotic War on our side, of which 168 separate detachments were formed. Pedigree and not so, large and small, smooth and shaggy dogs contributed to the Victory. From Moscow to Berlin itself, they marched side by side with the Russian soldiers, sharing with them both a trench and a ration.
On June 24, 1945, a grandiose Victory Parade took place on Red Square in Moscow. The number of participants was more than fifty thousand people. There were soldiers, officers and generals from all fronts from Karelian to the fourth Ukrainian, as well as a combined regiment of the Navy and parts of the Moscow Military District. After the Soviet tanks rumbled over the cobblestones, the artillery drove through, the cavalry pranced, … a combined battalion of dogs appeared. They ran at the left foot of their guides, keeping a clear alignment.
Soviet military dog breeders of a separate communications battalion with connected dogs
The service of dogs during the war years was very different. Sled dogs and sanitary dogs have brought perhaps the most benefits. Under the fire of the Nazis, on sledges, carts and drags, depending on the season and terrain conditions, dog teams took out seriously wounded soldiers from the battlefield and brought ammunition to the units. Thanks to training and quick wits, the canine teams acted in amazing coordination. There are many stories about sled dogs on the Karelian front. In difficult wooded and swampy terrain, among deep snow and impassable roads, on which even horse-drawn sleds could not move, light sled teams became the main mode of transport, delivering food and ammunition to the front line, as well as quickly and painlessly evacuating wounded soldiers.
Alone, the dogs made their way to places inaccessible to orderlies. Crawling to the wounded, bleeding fighters, the four-legged friends substituted the medical bag hanging on their side. The soldier had to bandage the wound himself, after which the dog moved on. Their unmistakable instinct more than once helped to distinguish a living person from a deceased. There are cases when dogs licked the faces of fighters who were in a semi-conscious state, bringing them to their senses. And in harsh winters, dogs warmed up frozen people.
It is believed that over the years of the war, the dogs took out more than six hundred thousand seriously wounded soldiers and officers, delivered about four thousand tons of ammunition to combat units.
The dog team of the leader Dmitry Trokhov, consisting of four huskies, transported fifteen hundred wounded Soviet soldiers in three years. Trokhov received only the Order of the Red Star and three medals "For Courage". At the same time, the orderly, who carried out eighty or more people from the battlefield, was given the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
About six thousand mine detecting dogs, together with their sapper counselors, discovered and defused four million mines, land mines and other explosives. Having saved many human lives, the dogs were of great help in the clearance of such large cities as Belgorod, Odessa, Kiev, Vitebsk, Novgorod, Polotsk, Berlin, Prague, Warsaw, Budapest and Vienna. In total, they took part in the clearance of more than three hundred cities. They checked fifteen thousand kilometers of military roads. Fighters working with such dogs were firmly convinced that the sites and objects tested by their four-legged pets were completely safe.
The grave of a German service dog in the USSR. The inscription on the sign "Our watchdog Greif, 11.09.38-16.04.42." Territory of the USSR, spring 1942
Message from November 17, 1944 to all fronts from the chief of the Red Army engineering troops: “Specially trained mine detecting dogs successfully completed their task in the Yassko-Kishinevsky operation. Their platoon accompanied the tanks to the full depth of the enemy's obstacle zone. The dogs rode on armor and did not pay attention to the noise of engines and gunfire. In suspicious places, mine detectors under the cover of tank fire carried out reconnaissance and detection of mines."
In a difficult situation, dogs more than once rescued soldiers and as signalers. Their small size and high speed of movement made them difficult targets. In addition, white camouflage robes were often worn on them in winter. Under a hurricane of machine-gun and artillery fire, the dogs overcame places impassable for humans, swam across rivers, delivering reports to their destination. Trained in a special way, they acted mainly under cover of darkness, quickly and secretly, performing tasks that decided the fate of entire battles. There are cases when the dogs came running or crawling already being mortally wounded.
During the war years, the dogs delivered more than 150 thousand important reports, laid eight thousand kilometers of telephone wire, which is more than the distance between Berlin and New York. Another function was assigned to the connected dogs. They were entrusted with delivering newspapers and letters to the front lines, and sometimes even orders and medals, if there was no way to get through to the unit without loss.
The main problem of all communication dogs was German snipers. One dog named Alma had to deliver an important package of documents. While she was running, the sniper managed to shoot her in both ears and shatter her jaw. But still, Alma completed the task. Unfortunately, it was her last, the dog had to be euthanized. Another equally brave dog, Rex, successfully delivered more than one and a half thousand reports. During the battles for the Dnieper, he swam the river three times in one day. He was repeatedly wounded, but became famous for always getting to his destination.
The most terrible role, of course, was assigned to the tank destroyer dogs. During the war years, four-legged fighters carried out about three hundred successful detonations of the Nazis' combat vehicles. Especially kamikaze dogs were noted in battles near Stalingrad, Leningrad, Bryansk, on the Kursk Bulge and in the defense of Moscow. Such losses, equal to two tank divisions, taught the Nazis to fear and respect furry opponents. There are known cases when an enemy tank attack ended in a shameful flight, as soon as dogs hung with explosives appeared in the field of sight of the Nazis. Fast, stealthy dogs were very difficult to stop with machine-gun fire, attempts to use nets against them also failed. Animals instantly reached dead zones, ran up to the tank from behind or dived under moving fortresses, hitting one of the weakest points - the bottom.
Only by the end of 1943 did the German tankers learn to kill the dogs that suddenly appeared in front of them in time. It is not known for certain how many dogs performing such tasks died. I dare to suggest that there are many more than three hundred. Initially, it was supposed to equip the dogs with a special saddle with explosives. Being under the bottom of the tank, the dog had to bring the release mechanism, activating the fuse in parallel, and go back. However, the use of such complex release mines showed their ineffectiveness in real combat, after which they were abandoned.
The dogs were accustomed to the task by placing a bowl of food near the track-track of a running tank. In battle, dogs with tied mines were released from the trenches at a slight angle to the line of movement of enemy tanks. Well, and then they themselves instinctively ran under the tracks. If the dog was not killed on the way to the goal and did not complete the task, then the bug returning to its owner was shot by our sniper, included only for this in the dog squad. This is how, for the sake of victory in the war, man, with the help of deception, sent his four-legged friends to certain death.
Delivery of the Soviet wounded to the medical battalion on a sled with dogs. Germany, 1945
From the report of Lieutenant General Dmitry Lelyushenko in the fall of 1941 during fierce battles near Moscow: “In view of the massive use of tanks by the enemy, dogs are an important part of the anti-tank defense. The enemy fears exterminating dogs and even deliberately hunts for them."
Separate tasks for kamikaze dogs were sabotage operations. With their help, trains and bridges, railway tracks and other strategically important facilities were blown up. The sabotage groups were specially prepared. A specially created commission carefully checked every person and every dog. After that, the group was thrown into the rear of the Germans.
Dogs were also used for sentry purposes. They found the Nazis at night and in bad weather, went with them to military outposts and sat in ambushes. Four-legged friends did not bark or run towards him when they spotted an enemy. Only by the special tension of the leash and the direction of the body could a person determine the type and place of impending danger.
There are known cases of capture of German dogs. For example, on the Kalinin Front in 1942, a dog nicknamed Harsh, who had previously served in a punitive detachment, looking for partisans, fell into the hands of Soviet soldiers. Fortunately, the poor dog was not put up against the wall, but retrained and sent to the ranks of the service dogs of the Soviet Army. Later, Harsh was able to demonstrate his wonderful watchdog qualities more than once.
The scout dogs, together with their leaders, successfully passed through the forward positions of the Germans, discovered hidden firing points, ambushes, secrets, and helped in the capture of "tongues". Well-coordinated teams "man-dog" worked so silently, quickly and clearly that at times they got up to truly unique things. There is a known case when a scout with a dog imperceptibly entered the fortress, which was teeming with Germans, stayed there and returned safely.
Soviet soldier leaders lead tank destroyer dogs
During the defense of Leningrad, a message from a German officer was caught, reporting to headquarters that their positions were suddenly attacked by rabid Russian dogs. Such were the visions of the fascists of completely healthy animals standing in the service of a special military unit and taking part in hostilities.
Dogs were used in the Smersh detachments. They were looking for enemy saboteurs, as well as camouflaged German snipers. As a rule, such a detachment consisted of one or two rifle squads, a signalman with a radio station, an operative from the NKVD and a leader with a dog trained in service-search work.
The following interesting instructions were found in the archives of the Smersh GUKR: "We consider it necessary to remind you that during the operation in the Shilovichi forest, all dogs with a distant sense or experience in finding caches and hiding places should be used in the most promising places." And here further: “During the morning exercise, the dogs walked sluggishly and looked sad. At the same time, the cadets did not try to cheer them up. The detachment out of turn is announced to the unit commander."
Of course, not all frontline dogs have been well trained. The skinny mongrels who came across the Soviet fighters in the liberated cities often became living talismans of military units. They lived with the people at the front, maintaining the morale of the soldiers.
Among the mine detecting dogs there are unique ones that have gone down in history forever. A dog named Dzhulbars, who served in the fourteenth assault engineer-sapper brigade, had a phenomenal flair. Despite the fact that he was trained in all the types of services that existed at that time, "Rogue", as he was also called by the military, distinguished himself in the search for mines. It is documented that in the period from September 1944 to August 1945, he discovered seven and a half thousand mines and shells. Just think about this number. Thanks to the German Shepherd Dog alone, many monuments of world importance have survived to this day in Prague, Vienna, Kanev, Kiev, on the Danube. Dzhulbars received an invitation to take part in the Victory Parade, but he could not walk, recovering from his injury. Then the top leadership of our country ordered to carry the dog in their arms. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Mazover, who is the chief dog handler of service dog breeding and the commander of the thirty-seventh separate mine clearance battalion, fulfilled the wishes of his superiors. He was even allowed not to salute the commander-in-chief and not to mint a step. And after the war, the famous Dzhulbars took part in the filming of the film "White Fang".
The Great War proved the effectiveness of the use of service dogs in the army. In the postwar years, the USSR ranked first in the world in the use of dogs for military purposes. Our allies also used dogs in the service. The most beloved breed of the American military was the Doberman Pinscher. They were used on all fronts as scouts, messengers, sappers, demolition men and paratroopers. The four-legged pets perfectly followed the trail and worked on patrol, stood to the end in the most hopeless position, were not afraid of fire or water, jumped over any obstacles, could climb ladders and perform many other useful functions. When these dogs were officially accepted into the US Marine Corps, some seasoned officers said indignantly, "Look where the Corps has sunk to?" However, life has judged who was right. According to statistics, not a single Marine died on patrol if the squad was led by a Doberman. Not a single Japanese was able to secretly penetrate at night into the location of the Marine Corps units, if they were guarded by four-legged guards. And where they were not there, sorties by Japanese troops led to tangible losses. Subsequently, the Dobermans of the Marine Corps received the formidable nickname "devil's dogs."
In the Pacific Ocean, on the island of Guam, there is a bronze monument depicting a seated Doberman. It was installed by the Americans on July 21, 1994, fifty years after the liberation of the island. The assault on the Japanese fortifications cost the lives of twenty-five service dogs, but at the same time they saved ten times more infantrymen.
The French mainly used a smooth-haired shepherd dog of the Beauceron breed at the front. After the war, only a few dozen dogs that were their pride, similar to both Rottweilers and Dobermans, remained. It took a lot of effort to find a few purebred Beauceron and revive the French Shepherd breed.
For their exploits, dog counselors received new titles, orders and medals. Their pets, who shared all the hardships of army life on an equal footing with them, and often found themselves in the heat of hostilities, were not entitled to any awards in the Soviet Union. At best, it was a lump of sugar. The only dog awarded the medal "For Military Merit" is the legendary Dzhulbars. The Americans also had an official ban on rewarding any animals. However, in some countries, such as the UK, dogs have been awarded titles and awards. Everything took place in a solemn atmosphere, like the ceremony of awarding a person.
There is a curious case that happened with Winston Churchill, who wished to be present at the presentation of the order to one glorious dog along with members of the high command. During the ceremony, the husky, emboldened, bit the Prime Minister's leg. According to the story, the dog was forgiven. Whether this is true or not is not known for certain, but later Churchill admitted that he loves cats more.
In 1917, Maria Deakin founded a veterinary charity for the care of sick and injured animals (PDSA) in England. In 1943, this woman instituted a special medal for any animal that distinguished itself during the war. The first dog to receive the award was a British spaniel named Rob, who has completed more than twenty parachute jumps, taking part in dozens of combat operations. In total, during the war, eighteen dogs, as well as three horses, thirty-one pigeons and one cat were awarded such a medal.
In the thirties of the last century, a number of German scientists put forward the idea that dogs have abstract thinking, and, therefore, can be taught human speech. Obviously, the Fuhrer got acquainted with this theory, historians found documents in Berlin indicating that Hitler invested a lot in the construction of a special school for dogs. The Fuhrer was very attached to his German shepherd Blondie, whom he ordered to kill with a cyanide pill before he committed suicide. He was firmly convinced that dogs are not inferior in intelligence to humans and ordered the SS officers to prepare a project to train these pets. In the newly built school, German trainers and scientists tried to teach the dogs to speak human, reading and writing. According to the reports studied, the military even managed to achieve some success. One Airedale has learned to use the alphabet in half with grief. And another dog, a shepherd, according to the assurances of scientists was able to pronounce the phrase "My Fuhrer" in German. Unfortunately, no more weighty evidence of this was found in the archives.
Today, even despite the rapid scientific and technological progress, dogs still remain in the service of the state, continuing to faithfully serve people. Trained dogs are necessarily included in the teams of inspection teams at customs, they are used when patrolling cities, in search operations for firearms and explosives, including plastic.
One British bloodhound, nicknamed Tammy, is adept at finding smuggled consignments of valuable sea molluscs. She was sent to "undergo service" at customs in South America and in just a couple of months threatened the entire criminal business in the region. Desperate criminals "ordered" a dog, but luckily the attempt failed. After that, for the first time in the world, the dog had several bodyguards. Armed guards watch the valuable dog twenty-four hours a day.
