The trials indeed were so successful that orders were issued to erect, for all infantry regiments, kennels for a dozen dogs per unit, and at Beverloo a remount and training establishment for these dogs was to be formed.
It is even reported in the course of the campaign, in Belgium that the war dogs of the machine guns took a still more active part by “going for” German soldiery.
The Ambulance Dog at Work
Ambulance Dogs
Not until the history of the present European war comes to be written will it be known just how great have been the services of the dog for ambulance work. Shortly after the outbreak of this, the world’s greatest war, an Association in Germany, formed about the year 1893, known as the Ambulance Dogs’ Association, greatly increased its activities.
It has been found by experience that the best breeds for ambulance work are collies, retrievers, bloodhounds, Airedale terriers, German shepherd dogs and Dobermann Pinschers. It is absolutely essential that ambulance dogs should be extremely wiry and hardy, and capable of great hardship and endurance, otherwise they are of little use.
The manner in which ambulance, dogs are employed is to help the Red Cross men and doctors to search for wounded within a given area on the battlefield. A dog’s sense of scent and acute hearing enable him frequently to detect the sound of the breathing of a wounded man when inaudible to the human ear. Moreover, a puff of wind often suffices to carry to the dog’s nose the scent of a man lying possibly unconscious in some concealed place.
Fields of battle nowadays are widely extended, and soldiers have to take advantage of every possible bit of natural cover. The instinct of the wounded is to use their last strength in seeking protection from artillery fire, cavalry charges, the wheels of guns, and the other horrors to which they are exposed. They crawl away into the most hidden, safest places. The collection of the wounded is usually at night. This accounts for the large numbers that after each battle are reported as “missing.” In some instances the missing have been more than half as many as the known total of killed and wounded.
They are differently equipped in the armies of different countries. The Germans provide their ambulance dogs with a saddle with pockets in which are bandages and dressings, while around the neck is a wooden flask of stimulant. The Italians and French put the flask in a pocket of the saddle. British experts consider bandages and stimulant unnecessary, as every man has to carry his own first-aid dressing, and the extra weight hinders the dog’s action. In the English army the dogs wear a very light saddle with the Geneva cross on each side, and a loud bell hangs from a leather collar. The Russians provide their ambulance dogs with small lanterns and attach the bells elsewhere on the collar.