They have been to war for ages now. They will continue to do so in future. After the classified canine that went along on the Navy SEALs’ raid which killed Osama bin Laden, dogs have generated a lot more interest, as their capabilities have come into sharp focus. Some reports have pointed out that a Belgian Malinois breed, named Cairo, was part of the elite Navy SEALs team.

The Belgian Malinois breed, which is stubbier and smaller than a German shepherd, was the choice as it fits into the operations which included tandem parachute jumping and rappelling operations.

Prior to 9/11, the US military had about 1,800 dogs and the number has swelled to 2,700 and many of them have been deployed in Afghanistan, helping the US Marines to take on extremists. Canines have been used for protection, pursuit, tracking, search and rescue and importantly for sniffing out bombs and till date there is no technology which can better this.

The breeds of choice are the German shepherds, Belgian shepherds or Malinois, labradors and dobermans. The labrador retrievers are most sought after as they have ‘good noses and non-aggressive temperaments’ which help in sniffing. These dogs have a sense of smell which is 40 times greater than a human being can and are trained to detect and identify both explosive material and ‘wanted’ individuals.