# New interest in adopting retired war dogs!!!



## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

This is a great article about military war dogs and people adopting them!

The article says in part, "_War dog organizations say the number of people asking about adopting retired military canines has risen dramatically since the mission involving Cairo, the Navy SEALs dog tasked with tracking anyone who tried to escape from bin Laden's compound and alerting the special operations forces to anyone approaching._"

SEALs canine commando piques interest in war dogs - CenturyLink


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## Jessiewessie99 (Mar 6, 2009)

I am thinking about adopting a retired war dog.=)


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## Minnieski (Jan 27, 2009)

Now EVERYBODY Wants to Own a War Dog -- Daily Intel

I don't like this. It reminds me of people getting their kids puppies for Christmas or bunnies for Easter. These are serious working dogs, and I hope they have a great screening program to prevent Joe Schmo from adopting them.


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

Minnieski said:


> Now EVERYBODY Wants to Own a War Dog -- Daily Intel
> 
> I don't like this. It reminds me of people getting their kids puppies for Christmas or bunnies for Easter. These are serious working dogs, and I hope they have a great screening program to prevent Joe Schmo from adopting them.


You make an excellent point.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

We planned on adopting a canine veteran when Stosh is a little older. Maybe by then the wave of popularity will die down and I agree with Minnieski- I hope the dogs are going to homes that are prepared and able to handle them. But it is wonderful that people are more aware of the value of these amazing dogs and their handlers


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Minnieski said:


> These are serious working dogs, and I hope they have a great screening program to prevent Joe Schmo from adopting them.


They do.  Our scent detection trainer was at Lackland AFB as one of the first civilian trainers of military working dogs and he said there's someone whose sole job is to screen people who want to adopt out retired military dogs.


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## ken k (Apr 3, 2006)

I would hope whom ever is in charge of adopting these dogs out has some strict guide lines, last year we had a fellow in one of the class`s that adopted a "War Dog", 4 year old GSD, they retired the dog because he became afraid of load noises


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## ken k (Apr 3, 2006)

I would hope whom ever is in charge of adopting these dogs out has some strict guide lines, last year we had a fellow in one of the class`s that adopted a "War Dog", 4 year old GSD, they retired the dog because he became afraid of loud noises


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

Wow this is just occurring to people now? I've ALWAYS wanted to adopt one but figured there would be a line down the street for one and I'd in no way qualify... So I never even bothered to look.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Guess I've gotten too cynical! That's great to hear the screening is strict and responsible.


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## Silvermoon (Apr 2, 2011)

My nephew is in Afghanistan with his bomb sniffer "Argo" (GSD) right now. I know that he hopes to bring him home with him. 

Holly


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Send your nephew and Argo big woofs and thanks from me and Stosh. My nephew is there too


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Silvermoon said:


> My nephew is in Afghanistan with his bomb sniffer "Argo" (GSD) right now. I know that he hopes to bring him home with him.
> 
> Holly


Andrew said that dogs are usually assigned to a particular place, not a particular handler, so they may have several different handlers over their working career as they handler may be re-deployed, but the dogs are not. The handler has the opportunity to adopt their dog when it retires if they want to, otherwise the military handles the adoption.


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## Jessiewessie99 (Mar 6, 2009)

Yeah, I wouldn't be adopting let alone getting another dog anytime soon. I am glad they have strict policies when it comes to adopting war dogs.


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

I'm with Minnieski on this one.

I think it's great that there is more of an interest in adopting these dogs when they are being retired (or, as the military likes to put it, declared excess). But a lot of those people have no idea what they're getting in such a dog. They're certainly not a great choice for the first-time dog owner.

Fortunately, there's a great deal of screening required before they are allowed to adopt, and I believe they also require that you have a yard with a 6ft privacy fence to even be considered (at least they used to).

Lastly, for those considering adoption - you don't necessarily need to go to Lackland to adopt a former dog. You can find out whether your local base is retiring any dogs and see if you can adopt from them. I know we're getting ready to retire 8 dogs up here, but 6 of these will go to Lackland for training new handlers, and the other 2 are considered too aggressive for adoption (sadly) and will be PTS.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

Before we got Killian, we were going to get a retired working dog, since we know the lifestyle, and they deserve nothing more than a forever home. We were on the list for a retired female, but she had some medical issues that were putting her out for a long wait. There was only one retired here at Campbell. We ended up getting a puppy though.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> Andrew said that dogs are usually assigned to a particular place, not a particular handler, so they may have several different handlers over their working career as they handler may be re-deployed, but the dogs are not. The handler has the opportunity to adopt their dog when it retires if they want to, otherwise the military handles the adoption.


The Army has a contract with ONE company for those working dogs. They go over there and they don't come back. Before, the dogs would come back. Now, once the dog is over there, thats what he does, he stays there. He gets put to sleep there. Were hoping they change their policy soon though....


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## BGSD (Mar 24, 2011)

What sucks is that the DoD considers these dogs as equipment, rather than canine veterans or something. They should seriously change that.


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