Dog Attacks! What fun!

There is a team of dog handlers here whose dogs are called in when they have to go get bad guys.  One of the handlers is an Air Force female, one is Army and there were two Navy guys when I met them tonight.  There was also a Marine who was just passing through.  The dogs need to be trained to take down people and to obey their handler’s every command and that takes a lot of practice.  And it’s not as much fun or valuable training for the dog to practice on the same people over and over again.  So that’s where we come in.  they let perfectly gullible strangers come in and get chased down by their dogs.  I had a contact who set it up for me and we went tonight (9-8) so I could be an adjunct dog trainer (my terminology!).  Or maybe it’s just dog meat…

There were three dogs there- Rocky belonged to my Navy handler, Don was with the Army handler, and there was a pretty female dog who was with the Air Force female handler.  Then there was another one that was crazy.  His handler was Army, and left from another base for R&R last week.  He was in such a hurry that he told the guys there that the dog was “fine” and left.  Well, that dog is not fine.  It’s job is to track and chase bad guys, on his own, and then corner them and wait for the handler to arrive.  Apparently, he is mean and he bites.  The Air Force female (they guys call her Female Jones- not sure if there was a Male Jones or not!) went into the kennel a few days ago to change its water and it lunged at her and got a hold of her arm.  She was able to get it off her with her other hand and then it got her other hand.  She had to go to the hospital.  That dog was massive.  It’s really kind of sad because the Navy guy said that they will send it away and try to rehabilitate it, but if they can’t, it will have to be put down.  There’s no way a dog trained like that could go to a home.  I told him they should contact Cesar Milan and tell the story.  It would be great for him to save an Army dog and it would be great for the Army because they could look good for not killing this dog who is a hero in Afghanistan for catching a gajillion bad guys.

The nurse who took me over there has a German Sheppard at home, but she was afraid of the dogs hurting her, so she just wanted to watch and photograph.  Another nurse wanted to come watch.  Another Army guy decided to come and watch as well, thinking maybe he would do it the next day.  But I talked him into doing it tonight.  More on that later. 

First, I had to take everything out of my pockets that might stab me or get ruined if it got bitten.  Then I put on this giant suit- bottoms and top. It probably weighed 80 pounds and I could hardly move.  The handler carefully explained the procedure.  I asked him if the dog would bite my face….his response?  “Only as a last resort.”  WELL WHAT THE HECK ARE THE FIRST RESORTS?!?!?!?!?!?!  He said the first resorts are the arms, then the back, then the legs.  Oh…OK.

My dog’s name was Rocky.  He is a beautiful German Sheppard who looked so happy to see me.  Really!  He was jumping around and smiling and wagging his tail.  His ears were all perked up and you could tell he loved his handler.  The handler told me to move when he said move and when I was not supposed to run, to be absolutely still.  OK- I can do that!  The first exercise was for me to hold my arm next to my body with the elbow bent at a 90 degree angle.  The dog was released from about 15 feet away and came flying at me at full speed and leaped up and clamped down on my arm.  I gave him some good shakes and after a bit, the handler said to stop moving.  Moving stopped!  Then he yelled “OUT!” and the dog stopped and he told him to heel and the dog went tearing back to the handler’s side, then he was told to lie down and stay and he did.  Next was the running portion.  Lumbering is more like it, but I did as I was told.  I ran as fast as I could and then remembered to look over my shoulder as instructed and here comes that dog as fast as lightening and he leaped up and grabbed my arm.  Eventually he was able to pull me down.  I kept my face turned away so he wouldn’t think it would be great fun to eat it as a last resort. The handler called him off and then he asked me if I wanted to do it again- heck yeah!!!!!  So I did it again, but somehow I tripped and went down and just waited for him to pounce on me.  He sure did!  He grabbed my back first, then my right arm and he got some of my tricep in his mouth.  He tried to get a better grip and moved down a bit.  He let go as soon as the handler called him off.  The last exercise was where I was supposed to give up.  My job was to run and then stand there facing the dog like I wanted to give up and at some point the dog would decide to run past me.  I couldn’t wait to see if this would work!!  I ran and then stood there and the dog was running at me as fast as he could go and at the last second the handler yelled something I can’t remember and Rocky pulled to the side at the last second and then kept going, then the handler called him to heel.  He was just amazing.

After my turn was over, “John” decided to go.  Remember how he didn’t really want to do it tonight?  Keep that in mind.  He gets all suited up for Don to chase him.  Don is some other kind of dog that looks like a German Sheppard, but isn’t.  I can’t remember what.  Anyway, Don looked even happier than Rocky was to be getting himself some flesh!  So John runs out and is actually able to stand up as Don chased him down and then leaps up and grabs a hold of John's arm.  John did not go down as the 80 pound dog is hanging on.  Around and around they go until Don is called off- grinning from ear to ear.  The dog, not John.  Then they do it again and this time John goes down.  And then there is one last time.  John is running for all he’s worth, the dog leaps up and grabs his left arm again and John goes face down.  And he’s not moving much as the dog is pulling on him.  Next thing I hear is Doc! Doc!  I leap up and run full speed down the course about 50 yards and John is laying on his face, his forehead is bleeding and he is not moving.  Holy crap!   He head was bleeding A LOT and I couldn’t find a bandage or anything to stop it.  I almost ripped my shirt off and then remembered I had a soft reflector belt in my pocket.  So I fished that out and put it on his cut.  He was out cold for about 30 seconds. Then he started thrashing a lot and hyperventilating, completely unresponsive to any communication.  We held him down because his neck might have been injured and he slowly came around.  The handlers called 911 and brought a medical bag.  We washed and dressed his cut, which had stopped bleeding and then the firefighters and the ambulance arrived and we rode back with him.  Poor guy.  I felt sort of responsible for talking him into it.  He’ll be fine, but I hope he doesn’t end up with PTSD and a fear of dogs. 

.....Addendum 2 days later- John is still nauseated and dizzy, but we are hoping he'll be fine.  Also hoping they don;t put that activity off limits to us because of his accident.  You can't squelch all the fun! I am a bit sore from using muscles I don't normally use. But I still have my part of it as a great memory.