Doberman Military Service
One of the more interesting aspects of Doberman history, was the use of this great breed during war times. Dobermans are known for their protective guarding abilities but because of their intelligence and easy trainability they were also found useful for service in the military.
Dobermans were used in both WWI and WWII, assisting soldiers. These war dogs were trained to find and rescue wounded soldiers, detect enemy locations and mines, act as messengers, sentries and guard dogs A testament to the cruelty, wastefulness and sadness of war, was the use of suicide dogs. These dog victims of war were packed with explosives that were remotely detonated once the dog was near an enemy tank.
In WWII the U.S. Marine Corps had their own K-9 Corps known as the “Devil’s Dogs”. (Not the most flattering name for a heroic group of dogs). These dogs received specialized training as messenger dogs to deliver messages, ammunition or medical supplies and sentry dog training to alert handlers of any enemy strangers approaching. These dogs prevented many ambushes as they stood watch protecting their sleeping, tired soldier handlers. Of these Marine War Dogs, 25 died in 1944 at the Battle of Guam.
Read more about the Marine Dog Platoon
In honour of these dogs a memorial was created on the island of Guam in the South Pacific. Fourteen dogs were killed in action and others died from exhaustion, tropical illness, heat stroke, accidents, and anemia from hookworm. All were buried in Guam in what is now the first war dog memorial (created by former 1st Lt. William W. Putney, who was the veterinarian for the dogs on Guam). A beautiful life-size bronze statue, “Always Faithful” was created by Susan Bahary.
June 7th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Dustin provided these comments to clarify further the use of dobermans as suicide dogs. Thankyou Dustin.
“I was enjoying reading about the use of dogs ( specifically dobermans ) in war time until I ran across misleading, and incomplete historical fact. What I found particularly disturbing was the following:
A testament to the cruelty, wastefulness and sadness of war, was the use of suicide dogs. These dog victims of war were packed with explosives that were remotely detonated once the dog was near an enemy tank.
While it is true, ONE COUNTRY did use dogs in this manner. It was ONLY one country ( The USSR ) and it was only for a period of approximately a year. Starting in late 1941/early 1942 and was discontinued by 1943 due to the fact that German troops countered this tactic by shooting every dog that crossed their sights. It is disingenuous to imply that Doberman’s were used for this terrible task. The Soviet Army used ANY & All dogs big enough to carry the required explosive charge. Given the historical origins of the breed, it would be unlikely to think they were used or even available in the Soviet Union. Doberman’s have such a noble history of military service it taints their contributions by suggesting this was a wide spread act and that Doberman’s were commonly used in this way.”
June 17th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Thank you for the clafification, that would be absolutely devistating if ANYONE thought we used any dog as a suicide dog!
June 25th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Jaki,
Germany used dogs laden with explosives as well. They used mainly german sheppards.
I don’t deleive they used Dobermans but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. If you look on YouTube you will find videos of this tactic being deployed on the russians during the retreat of late 43 and 44. It’s a shame that such woundedful animals would be used in such a brutal way and this speaks volumes regarding the hard truth that there are no rules to war.