Barksdale Profile: Military working dogs protect and detect
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Updated: June 2, 2011
Don't be fooled by this friendly face.
Max is a military working dog. Staff Sergeant Jerry Blayock is a dog handler and trains Max 24 to 48 hours a week on Barksdale Air Force Base.
"They save lives. Everyday they go to work, they save lives" says Staff Sergeant Clayton Tebbetts.
The duo's been working together for most of Max's life. Together, the team's ready for anything.
"K-9 leads the way. That's our motto. We're out on point, searching, ensuring the soldiers and marines are not getting hurt or injured by roadside bombs or vehicle bombs" says
For security reasons, they cannot tell us much about specific tasks but we do know the dogs and handlers deploy to war zones, detecting targets and protecting soldiers.
"Our dogs are ten times more capable of finding someone than we are."
SSgt. Tebbetts would chose a dog over a gun.
"They're going to let you know someones there way before you need a gun. Way before."
Our dogs are trained to attack with or without command at any signs of aggression. Meaning if we're searching a suspect and that dog sees a suspect act as aggressive toward the handler, that dog is going to automatically protect the handler at any cost necessary.
The dogs will have a new home soon. A new kennel should be ready sometime this summer.
The old kennel, built in the 1980's, will be torn down.
Max is a military working dog. Staff Sergeant Jerry Blayock is a dog handler and trains Max 24 to 48 hours a week on Barksdale Air Force Base.
"They save lives. Everyday they go to work, they save lives" says Staff Sergeant Clayton Tebbetts.
The duo's been working together for most of Max's life. Together, the team's ready for anything.
"K-9 leads the way. That's our motto. We're out on point, searching, ensuring the soldiers and marines are not getting hurt or injured by roadside bombs or vehicle bombs" says
For security reasons, they cannot tell us much about specific tasks but we do know the dogs and handlers deploy to war zones, detecting targets and protecting soldiers.
"Our dogs are ten times more capable of finding someone than we are."
SSgt. Tebbetts would chose a dog over a gun.
"They're going to let you know someones there way before you need a gun. Way before."
Our dogs are trained to attack with or without command at any signs of aggression. Meaning if we're searching a suspect and that dog sees a suspect act as aggressive toward the handler, that dog is going to automatically protect the handler at any cost necessary.
The dogs will have a new home soon. A new kennel should be ready sometime this summer.
The old kennel, built in the 1980's, will be torn down.
