Special Operations Forces canines are overwhelmingly chosen from one breed, the Belgian Malinois. Only 1% of candidate dogs make the cut for training.
Training is arduous, and it requires dogs to overcome their instincts and develop complete faith in their handlers.
One of the first tests is training the dogs to be able to swim out past vision of the shore.
Sound conditioning is another major hurdle the dogs must overcome. They must become fully comfortable working around the sound of gunfire. Here, a handler shoots off blanks to familiarize his dog to the sounds of war.
All dog candidates must also pass through a series of grueling physical exams, just like their handlers, to ensure their overall health and well being.
Hurdles and obstacle courses, built to emulate a combat environment, are the corner stones of training.
Dogs and their handlers will spend around 15 hours a week running the courses.
“Dogs have been domesticated and bred for so long that the type of dog that is willing to stand up to and fight a human — a human that is not frightened by that dog and physically capable of disabling that dog — is a very, very rare animal,” former Navy SEAL Mike Ritland told the New York Post.
A series of exercises are used during training that, aside from further readying the dogs for their combat roles, also build a strong relationship between the handler and his dog. Handlers often refer to themselves as the dogs' 'dads.'
Prior to deployment, the dogs take part in simulated missions in order to fully bond with their teams.
In the field, combat dogs are an invaluable asset. Here, a dog scouts ahead checking for explosives.
Canine units are still more accurate than both man and machine at detecting possible explosive threats.
Due to the extreme nature of Navy SEAL deployments, all dogs are familiarized with riding in, and jumping out of, aircraft.
Special harnesses allow canine units to parachute into deployment zones while strapped to their handler.
The harness has been specially designed by the company K9 Storm, Inc. Aside from allowing parachuting, the harness provides Kevlar body armor for the dog, along with a host of other benefits.
In between deployments, dogs and their teams continue to train so that they may be ready for action at a moments notice.
