All Grown Up: "R" litter pups begin their careers as military working dogs

BY RANDY ROUGHTON

1 October 2012

The Belgian Malinois is poised to attack as he waits for the command. “Get him,” Army Sgt. John Reynolds says, and in an instant, Rroddie’s teeth lock onto a wrap on Spc. Omari Baker’s arm. He doesn’t let go of the bite until Reynolds gives him a one-word command. Rroddie immediately releases his teeth from the wrap and returns to his handler’s side.

Rroddie is one of four dogs from the “R” litter now on their first military working dog assignments. The litter of eight puppies was born June 2, 2010, in the Department of Defense Military Working Dog Breeding Program at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. The names of puppies born at Lackland begin with repeated letters to signify they are products of the breeding program.

With noses that can detect scents humans cannot, military working dogs can save service members from improvised explosive devices, some of the biggest threats to coalition troops in Afghanistan. Once fully trained and certified in patrol and explosives detection, a dog deploys with its handler as a team.

Rrisky greets visitors at the breeding program kennels in October 2010. Rrisky is one of eight “R” Belgian Malinois puppies that were born June 2, 2010. He’s now two years old and in his first assignment at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III)

“In the DoD and U.S. Air Force inventory, military working dogs are probably the single most effective countermeasure against terroristic use of explosives,” said Dr. Stewart Hilliard, 341st Training Squadron military working dog breeding program manager.  “As such, they are a cornerstone of U.S. force protection efforts. It is impossible to quantify how many lives and limbs of U.S. service members are saved by military working dogs, but any Airman, Marine, Sailor or Soldier who has served with them will contend that the number is substantial.”

Rroddie and most of his siblings in the “R” litter are among the dogs now working to protect service members and civilians both stateside and overseas. The litter not only provided more sorely needed military working dogs, but also showed a bloodline the breeding program manager hopes will lead to many more productive litters. It was the first of two litters produced from a breeding between Ssonya and a stud dog named Arnold des Conte d’Hoffman from France. Arnold has sired more than 10 litters for the program, and about half of those dogs passed training, Hilliard said.

Rroddie, a military working dog from the breeding program’s “R” litter, trains with his handler, Army Sgt. John Reynolds, at Fort Meade, Md. Rroddie is now two years old and Fort Meade is his first duty station. (U.S. Air Force photo/Val Gempis)

“The main thing we learned was that a bloodline of ours could be crossed with an outside bloodline and give us very good results,” Hilliard said. “What this litter represents to us is a third-generation of Department of Defense breeding.”

“The distinguishing feature of the “R” litter was the high quality in patrol, so these are dogs with high levels of aptitude for handler defense and apprehension. The litter was so successful that we repeated the breeding, and that produced the “U” litter. Four of the eight dogs from that litter passed their consignment testing and are succeeding in training.”

Seven of the eight “R” litter dogs passed their consignment testing, well above the program’s 45 percent overall success rate. Five passed their training, with another waiting to begin MWD training, said Bernie Green, the assistant program manager.

Catching Up with the “R” Litter

Rrigatoni was the only dog from the litter that didn’t successfully complete MWD training, and her foster parent adopted her.

Rroddie certified as a patrol, explosives and detection dog in mid-July and currently works at Fort Meade, Md.

“He is really hyper, but he really works to please his handler,” said Reynolds, Rroddie’s handler with the 241st Military Police Detachment at Fort Meade. “He’ll do whatever he can do to earn his reward. He still has a lot of puppy in him, but he’s a fantastic dog.”

Rrespect remained at Lackland because she was selected as an elite breeding dog, along with two dogs from the “U” litter. She is expecting her first litter, sired by Ffalcor, another DoD-bred dog, on Oct. 15. She also was assigned as a training aid for the supervisor’s and kennel master’s courses because of her potential as an explosives and patrol dog. Rrespect has helped to train six classes so far.

Reynolds and Rroddie end a day of explosive detection training at Fort Meade. (U.S. Air Force photo/Val Gempis)

Rromano was certified as a patrol dog after training but had some issues with detection. He’s still at Lackland and helps train MWD handlers.

Rruuk showed great potential early in his training, Green said, but had problems in patrol with aggression control, so he was sent to the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo., to work with experienced trainer Chris Jakubin.

Rrobiek was certified as a patrol and explosives dog and is assigned to the Army at Fort Myer, Va.

Rrisky has been assigned to Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

Rrevae remains at Lackland to be trained as a specialized search dog.