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On a recent assignment to Germany, Military Working Dog Brock was
part of the security detail for the president of the United States’
visit to the G20 Summit in Hamburg, where he worked hand-in-hand ...
or rather, paw-in-paw ... with the Secret Service dog teams.
Accompanied by Staff Sgt. Dominick Young, 100th Security Forces
Squadron MWD handler, Brock – a dual-certified, odor protection and
patrol training dog – searched rooms, luggage, vehicles and aircraft
equipment that went on or near Air Force One.
Back here at
his home station, the K-9 certainly stands out from the crowd of
German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois working dogs ... 4-year-old
Brock is a 98-pound black Giant Schnauzer, and causes people to do a
double-take wherever he goes.
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July 11, 2017 - Military Working Dog Brock, 100th Security Forces
Squadron, shows off his uniform after a training session on RAF
Mildenhall, England. Brock is unique as the only Giant Schnauzer in
the Department of Defense. Looking different to the regular German
Shepherd and Belgian Malinois working dogs means people often think
he is a pet. (U.S. Air Force photo by Karen Abeyasekere)
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“A lot of people ask, ‘What is that?’ or ‘Is he your pet?’ and
want to pet him,” Young said, laughing.
Giant Schnauzers were
used by the Air Force as military working dogs in World War II, but
weren’t used again until the early 1980s. While they were found
unsuitable for military duty in the past, the Air Force decided to
try one more time.
Military working dogs are officially
deemed as one rank higher than their handlers, explained Staff Sgt.
Kelly Webster, 100th SFS MWD kennelmaster.
“Although it’s an
unwritten rule, I think it’s because the dog is the asset and
although we’re a team, the dog does the majority of the work,
therefore he or she is the real boss,” Webster said.
“The
dogs are taught like brand new Airmen – they learn and are taught
basic odor detection and room searching, all the way down to bite,
holding and obedience – it’s not an easy task to teach a dog these
crucial tasks, and many dogs don’t make the cut to being a military
working dog.”
Brock is the first and only Giant Schnauzer in
the Department of Defense in almost 30 years. Young said his K-9
teammate passed his behavioral tests with flying colors, so those in
charge of choosing service dogs for the DoD decided to go ahead and
purchase him.
All Department of Defense military working dogs
are trained at the 341st Training Squadron, Joint-Base San Antonio-Lackland,
Texas, and while there, Brock gained the reputation of being the
hardest dog to train. Although originally earmarked for the
Transportation Security Administration, they couldn’t take him
because he bites. While unsuitable for them as they only use sniffer
dogs, Brock was a good fit for the Air Force because of the
requirements needed for patrol-training dogs.
Young admitted
that when he first became Brock’s handler, the dog was very
strong-willed and wouldn’t react to his commands. After talking with
the K-9 trainers in Texas and following their advice, Young and
Brock soon became a strong team and a force to be reckoned with,
though it took a lot of hard work and patience.
“Things that
worked for the other dogs wouldn’t work for Brock – he does things a
lot differently. He’s great now, but I spent a lot of my off days
working with him to gain his respect, and received a lot of help
from the kennelmaster and other handlers,” Young said. “When I first
got him, he was really dependent on his handler so if he missed
anything during training, it would be on me. I would try to give him
the independence to find the odor on his own, but he didn’t know, so
I had to steer him into it. He has a lot of personality and is
goofy, playful and very loyal. He’s also much easier to work with
now. We’ve been together for a while and have a bond that I don’t
have with any other dog here,” he said.
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July 11, 2017 - U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dominick Young, 100th
Security Forces Squadron Military Working Dog handler, and MWD
Brock, a Giant Schnauzer, perform odor detection training on RAF
Mildenhall, England. Brock is the only Giant Schnauzer military
working dog in the Department of Defense. This breed of dog was used
in World War II, then not again until the early 1980s. He is the
first one to be brought into the DOD since that time. (U.S. Air
Force photo by Karen Abeyasekere)
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Webster explained that depending on how well the dog and
handler mesh, it takes anywhere from 45 to 90 days to get a
team fully certified.
“As the kennelmaster, I need to know
how all my teams work and what their strongest and weakest
points are so we can build them to make them solid,” he
said. “Once I feel the team is capable to work the road and
detect substances, I’ll initiate a validation test, and
after the team passes that phase, we then do their
certifications.”
Webster added that during his time
as the trainer and kennel master, Brock has been relatively
easy to train.
“A large part of that is because
Sergeant Young has been his handler for two years and
they’ve built the bond which all handlers hope to build with
their dog. When we first received Brock, we initially
noticed how uncoordinated he was – it was definitely a
humorous sight to see a massive puppy of his size doing the
work we are required to do! Brock was like a bull in a china
shop – now he’s one of our best noses and MWDs,” Webster
recalled.
He explained how the issue is a common one
when a new handler is assigned to a dog.
“They’re
just like humans and they want to feel you out and really
test your patience and abilities,” he said. “A lot of the
rapport to become a good team is built upon trust, and the
handler is responsible for that. They play a lot of fetch,
as well as go on walks and spend time just playing with them
as a dog. We ask a lot from these dogs, so we need to take a
step back sometimes and let them be a dog. Rapport comes
with detection because it’s ultimately a game – if you can
have fun with your dog at the same time, it builds a better
bond.”
The giant dog and his handler work so well
together they were given the opportunity of working the
presidential detail in Germany.
“Brock was great out
there, but the environment affected him at first – he didn’t
want to eat and you could tell he didn’t know where he was,”
the handler said. “After a couple of days he got used to it
and was back to his normal self again.
“One of the
best things about that mission was working with the Secret
Service dog teams,” Young said. “They had a lot more
experience than I did, so there was a lot of knowledge being
thrown back and forth. Dogs are weird when it comes to new
environments so when Brock wasn’t eating at first, I talked
to the Secret Service guys and they gave me a few pointers
on what to do to help him. I was honored to be part of that
mission and couldn’t believe I was there with Brock,
standing right next to Air Force One.”
By U.S. Air Force Karen Abeyasekere, 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2017
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