Dogs of all nations / a complete work, profusely illustrated, bearing on the world's different varieties of the dog, grouped under their several nationalities, with descriptive matter explaining the characteristics and utility of each

However trite may be the saying that history repeats itself, it is unquestionably apposite in regard to the employment of dogs in warfare. Great hounds were used to guard the camps of Rome. In even more primitive times they were formidable adversaries in hand-to-hand conflicts, while to come to more modern days Frederick the Great and Napoleon—two of the greatest soldiers the world has ever seen—held a very high opinion of the value of canine sentries. Napoleon, in fact, is said to have urged Marmont to fasten dogs to stakes around the circuit of the walls of Alexandria to keep guard.

Recent wars have served to emphasize the advantages which may be gained by the use of the peculiar qualities of scent and hearing which dogs possess. Their sense of scent we human beings lack almost entirely, while they not only hear audible things more quickly than we do, but also hear things which are quite inaudible to us. Is it to be wondered at, therefore, that military experts have not been slow to recognize such potential properties?

What They Have Done

The present-day tendency consequently is to bring dogs more and more into the foreground in warfare. During the Russo-Japanese War the whole of the Manchurian Railway line was guarded by dogs, who gave the alarm, and on several occasions prevented the Japanese crossing the line. Those which were sent out from England with the Abor Expedition, N. W. Frontier, more than once prevented the sentries from being rushed during night duty, owing to their keener sense of hearing. In the Tripoli campaign their value was frequently demonstrated, while the dogs belonging to Major Richardson, the famous English trainer of war dogs, rendered yeoman service to the Bulgarians at the siege of Adrianople, where they were able to give warning of attempted sorties by the Turks. Some of Major Richardson’s well-trained animals were also used in the Spanish trenches in Morocco, being responsible for the finding of hundreds of wounded men who would otherwise have been left to their fate.

At the present moment most of the modern armies employ dogs, although naturally opinions differ as to the most suitable type of dog. The Russians have adopted the Caucasian dog; Austria, Dalmatians; Turkey, Asiatic Sheepdogs; France and Belgium, the smugglers’ dogs of the Belgium frontier; while Germany uses Collies, Pointers and Airedales. So far the British Army has ignored the value of trained dogs, though the Admiralty some five years ago instituted a scheme for the use of dogs in naval stations ashore. Major Richardson believes that the only really useful dogs are the Airedale, Sheepdog, and Bloodhound.

What part dogs will play in the present great conflict time only will show, but that it will probably be a large one may be gathered from the fact that the German army alone possesses over 6,000.

The importance of determining some efficient and economical form of traction for Infantry machine guns had been under consideration in Belgium before the war. Up till recently, pack-horse transport had been considered the most satisfactory system. Exhaustive trials between this method and that of wheel traction by a pair of dogs of a breed known in that country as the Belgian Mastiff, have, however, resulted in favour of the latter, and the final adoption of this mode of transport for the Machine Gun Units of the Belgium Army. This form of traction is not novel in Belgium in civil life. According to the Journal of the Royal Artillery the breeding of dogs for light draught purposes has long been in vogue in that country, for the purpose of conveying farm produce from the country into the towns. Dog traction is employed by the country people—milkmen, bakers, greengrocers, and many artisans with light carts—in conducting their trade and business. There are reckoned to be 50,000 dogs available for this purpose in Belgium, of which 10,000 are in Brussels alone. They are found to be admirably suited for the purpose. Their bodies are thick-set, loins strong, and they have deep chests, and muscular limbs. A dog of 110 lbs. weight is capable of drawing on a good road a load of 880 lbs., and a horse 1,100 to 1,300 lbs. (or ten times and upwards the weight of one of these dogs), cannot draw much more than the equivalent increase of his weight. With an average load of 660 lbs. behind the team on good roads, a dog can keep up for long distances a pace of 4 or 5 miles an hour; for several hundred yards he can attain a speed of from 6 to 7 miles an hour.

The price of a pack-horse is not less than £40, and his daily forage may be reckoned to cost about ¼–½ a day, without taking into consideration the construction and upkeep of his stable. The pack-saddle costs about £15, whereas dog harness can be purchased for the pair of dogs for something less than £4. A male dog costs £4, and his food per day amounts to about 4½d. Finally, the small carriage for the machine gun or ammunition cart costs about £8, and the net cost for construction and upkeep of kennels is something small. Moreover, as the dog does not require shoes, lameness is rare, which we well know from the enormous distances he can go when hunting. He is intelligent and docile, and puts all his heart into serving his master faithfully under all circumstances. The length of his military service may be taken at from eight to nine years. The discipline of the trained dog is such that an untrained dog, harnessed with him, would be compelled to submit to all the movements of the former. On the march, and under fire, one can rely on his working till absolutely exhausted or mortally wounded. These are the qualities which can be developed in the breeding kennel, and in his subsequent training. The four wheels of the little gun carriage are made of tubes of steel, light, low and stable, and fitted with pneumatic tires. The carriage complete does not weigh more than 220 lbs., and is easily dragged by the team of two dogs, or eventually carried by the four members of the detachment. Its height and breadth are each about 31 inches. The trials were carried out to test the following: Visibility, mobility on roads and across country, overcoming obstacles, and resistance to fatigue. They lasted three weeks in bad weather, during which a distance of 250 miles was covered. The six pack-horses were wither-galled, and had to be successively replaced but not so the dogs. On the march across country, or commons, of from 1½ to 3 miles, where the ground presented obstacles or was broken up, the dogs gained without doubt in mobility and speed over the horses, especially when ditches, hedges and low walls had to be negotiated. The teams crossed with ease ploughed land and crops, copses and banks. Assisted by the detachments they crossed over deep ditches and steep slopes. The horses showed signs of fatigue long before the dogs. The latter were afraid of nothing, and followed perfectly the member of the detachment charged with leading each team. They lay down or resumed the order of march on a signal, without even barking, and in perfect order.

The smallest fold in the ground concealed the teams, and at 300 yards distance, nothing of them could be distinguished. Coming into or out of action was more rapidly effected than in the case of the pack-horses.

The regiments to which they were attached had three sections, each of 2 guns and 4 ammunition carts, requiring 36 dogs for the 18 vehicles.

In action the dogs gave every satisfaction, and whilst halted in positions of readiness for often considerable periods, they lay down quietly waiting in their harness.

In coming into action the Nos. 1 had sometimes to creep on in front, accompanied by the team driver of each gun, in order to choose their positions in actions. At a signal, the teams moved quickly up into the emplacements when, the detachments having brought the guns into action, the empty carriages with their drivers proceeded to the rear and rejoined the ammunition carts under cover.

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.

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.

In some of the European armies the ambulance dog is trained to return to his master and guide him to the wounded man; in others he is taught to bark and give the news of his discovery in that way. Still another method is to have the dog on a long leash and thus lead the searcher in the right direction.

The Japanese also use scouting dogs in this way, and so do many of the European armies. They are trained to growl at any sudden surprise, their natural temptation to bark being thwarted by muzzling with a leather strap. In sentry duty the muzzle is moved. With an upwind blowing these sentry dogs are able to detect the approach of men and horses an extraordinary distance away.

On the whole, it is found that the speediest method is for the dog to stay beside his “quarry” when found, and bark until the ambulance arrives, but there is the drawback that if several dogs are being employed in a restricted area and several bark simultaneously, it is not always easy to locate whence the barking comes.

The Germans, unlike the French, do not permit their dogs to wear even a collar, as it is thought that this may hinder him in pushing his way through the thicket or hedges. It has often happened that the wounded are found adjacent to some hedge or other cover not easy to search by human aid alone. On the other hand, the French fasten water bottles around the neck of the dog and train him to search for wounded, who, if still conscious, eagerly grasps the welcome and ofttimes life-saving beverage.

Constant practice in this, as in other kinds of dog training, is an absolute essential. As the war proceeds more and more use will be made of the special functions and gifts of dogs, a resumé of which, when peace again reigns, will surely prove one of the most interesting phases of the hostilities now taking place in Europe.

In the annals of the French army Mustache is still a celebrity. Mustache was one of the war dogs in the Italian campaign when Napoleon was first consul. He saved the French army from a night surprise and annihilation. Later he tracked and captured a spy who had secured valuable information. But this dog’s crowning achievement was at the battle of Austerlitz.

The standard bearer of the regiment had just fallen dead. Mustache’s teeth and an Austrian soldier’s hands grasped the tattered, bloodstained banner simultaneously. Mustache flew at his enemy’s throat and bore him down. Then, seizing the flag, he carried it back to the regiment. Napoleon gave Mustache the highest decoration for valor. He met a soldier’s death not long afterward, racing forward beside the flag, leading the regiment in a furious charge.