K-9 Veterans Day - Let's Take a Moment to Honor our K-9 Heroes

Wolf of the FiveSibes™ Salutes all K-9 Heroes

Today, March 13, marks K9 Veterans Day in honor of our four-legged heroes of the past, present, and future. We salute you. March 13, 1942 marks the official birthday of the United States K9 Corps when more than 10,000 dogs were recruited and went through eight weeks of basic training.

We don't often think of Siberian Huskies as being war dogs. But they were one of the seven breeds of the K-9 Corps. According to History.com, "The K-9 Corps initially accepted over 30 breeds of dogs, but the list was soon narrowed to seven: German Shepherds, Belgian sheep dogs, Doberman Pinschers, Collies, Siberian Huskies, Malamutes, and Eskimo dogs....After basic obedience training, they were sent through one of four specialized programs to prepare them for work as sentry dogs, scout or patrol dogs, messenger dogs or mine-detection dogs. In active combat duty, scout dogs proved especially essential by alerting patrols to the approach of the enemy and preventing surprise attacks."


Each Veterans and Memorial Day, I like to talk about a very special war dog, a Siberian Husky named Buck, who was the U.S. War Dogs Ambassador. Buck crossed the Rainbow Bridge on  March 23, 2006. You can read more about Buck in the beautiful book, Buck's Heroes, written by his handler and Vietnam War veteran Johnny Mayo.

“The capability they (Military Working Dogs) bring to the fight cannot be replicated by man or machine. By all measures of performance their yield outperforms any asset we have in our inventory. Our Army (and military) would be remiss if we failed to invest more in this incredibly valuable resource.” - GENERAL DAVID H. PETRAEUS, USA

For more information on the U.S. War Dogs, visit the United States War Dogs Association. 

To read more about the heroic Dogs of 9/11, and see photos of them bravely at work, check out the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) article.

Canines proudly carry out their roles as war dogs, search and rescue canines, K-9 military and domestic police dogs, and therapy dogs, and so many other important roles in our lives. They are dedicated and devoted and ask nothing in return.

To all our K-9 Heroes - We Salute You.

The Soldier Dog  

by Joe Ferra 

I was trained to use my eyes to

watch and protect you from harm.

My ears to alert you of impending

danger like an alarm.

My keen sense of smell to detect

an enemy close at bay.

Yes I was a soldier who gave my life

so you could fight another day.

So remember me as time goes by

This soldier dog so true.

For I had only one life to give

and I gave that life to you.