Author tells story of military working dogs at NPC Book Rap

The emotional bond between military dogs and their handlers has made combat for the human soldiers easier, Rebecca Frankel says in her new book "War Dogs: Tales of Canine Heroism, History, And Love."

“There was something about having a dog there that not softened the experience but allowed them to keep more of their humanity intact,” Frankel said at a National Press Club Book Rap on Wednesday.

Veterans of several conflicts, including War II, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, told Frankel they "can come back more whole because they had the comfort and companionship of a dog.”

Dogs have helped veterans who come home with psychological or physical disabilities, Frankel said. “At every stretch they [the dogs] have a hand – or a paw – in the lives of [soldiers],” she said.

While Frankel admitted she might charm her audience with the running loop of “cute dog pictures” of military dogs dating back to the Civil War, their story, she said, was an important one.

“It is not a fluffy story. It is not a cute story. It is not about cute dog pictures,” said Frankel, who began covering the military dog beat five years ago after she put together a photo essay for "The Best Defense," a blog at Foreign Affairs.

The U.S. military did not recognize dogs as part of the force until World War II, Frankel said, even though she dogs had been present in combat since the Civil War.

It took a civilian, Alene Erlanger, to persuade the military that dogs could be useful, she said. The military set up the Dogs for Defense program with donated dogs from civilian families. This boded well for the dogs after World War II was over because the civilian families expected their dogs back, she said.

By Vietnam, the dogs had become a military asset, but the importance of the bond between handler and dog was not recognized. When a soldier left Vietnam, their dog stayed. When the military left Vietnam, it left the dogs, she said.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the dog and handler trained together, deployed together and came home together, Frankel said.

A big issue currently is whether military dogs should receive veterans’ benefits, Frankel said in response to a question. When a military dog retires, the government policy is to place the dog in a loving home and leave responsibility for the care and feeding of the dog with its adoptive family. Organizations are fighting for the dogs to receive veterans’ benefits because dogs will often have combat-related injuries that may require costly medical care. The U.S. War Dog Association, a non-profit, runs a program that helps defray these costs, she said.