Random Thought Of The Day #672

Day 672

I think I want to adopt a War Dog.

I haven't done any major research yet as to how they get along with other dogs yet. It may turn out that war dogs don't get along well with other, non-war dogs and the idea might have to be forgotten. I do know that they often have forms of PTSD similar to humans that have served in active battle zones and this can lead to slightly more erratic behavior than even your standard rescue dog, and as a result, they don't understand "play" with other dogs in the same way that a shelter or breeder or run-of-the-mill "neighbor's dog knocked mine up & now we have puppies to give away" dog might understand it. I'm really not sure. I haven't don't much research on it yet. But assuming there's no major issues, I really would like to get on the list to adopt a War Dog.

These dogs are fucking amazing. They are full combat veterans. They've served on the front lines. They've been trained to near perfection & if they had been human, often would be wearing a number of combat-related medals and honors. Jesus.. They often even get dropped into hot zones like any other soldier & are immediately in the shit. They are part of special operations teams. They are soldiers. They are amazing.

But the thing is, they get older. In a similar way that a K9 officer is assigned to be partnered with a human police officer, War Dogs  are assigned a trainer/partner that they live with and work with and sleep with while they're deployed. However, the War Dogs aren't always discharged and get to go and retire to live with the family of their partner as a domestic pet once their service is done. They reach a certain age and are obviously discharged, but it's often while their partner/trainer is still deployed. In some cases, they may also lose their partner/trainer to enemy fire. Or they're injured themselves in battle and, while not life-threatening, make them unfit for combat situations. But the military often doesn't bring them home and had previously enthanized them once their tours of duty were complete.

That's changed and they can now be adopted. From everything I've ready, they're some of the best-trained animals you could ask for. Fuck, they've been trained to jump out of god damn airplanes and into the ocean at hundreds of miles per hour while wearing a parachute... how much more well-trained do you want? My dog is well-trained and I still can't get him to jump the 6 inches into a pool.

I think that, assuming they aren't any more likely to have an adjustment issue to living with playful dogs than any other dog would, I would really like to adopt one.

If anyone has any info that is not 2nd or 3rd hand stories... I mean can send me info or know someone who has adopted one and would talk to me about the experience, let me know.