Getting To Know The Dog Behind The Handler
by U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kerstin Roberts February
2,
2020
Imagine putting your life into the paws of a Labrador retriever
or German shepherd. Would you feel safe?
“Don is like a
lifeline to me and our bond is everything. I would most definitely,
one hundred percent, put my life in his paws,” said U.S. Marine
Corps Cpl. Zachary Devaney, a military working dog handler with the
Provost Marshal’s Office, Security and Emergency Services Battalion,
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. “I’m just glad that he is here
with me.”
For many Marines this becomes their reality when deployed to a
combat zone. German shepherds and Labrador retrievers are specially
trained for drug detection, suspect apprehension and explosive
detection.
“Before Don was assigned to me, I noticed that his
detection was impeccable,” stated Devaney. “When I heard that Don
was being assigned to me, I couldn’t have been happier.”
Don’s training started when he was just 6 months old at Lackland Air
Force base in Bexar, Texas. He then finally made his way to Camp
Pendleton at the age of 2 and was assigned to another Marine prior
to being assigned to Devaney.
“You could see the adjusting
from Don’s prior handler to me,” said Devaney. “There were
adjustments that needed to be made on both of our parts. Knowing
that we both had the same goal to protect the base and the people
that reside on the base, we needed to create this bond between us.”
It is the handlers’ job to ensure that they are both ready at
any time to deploy. Trust and understanding between the handler and
the dog keeps the team and everyone around them safe.
“It was a lot of extra time on my part. Coming to the kennels on
my off days or staying after work and just spending the time with
him. Getting to know all of his quirks and understanding all of the
pieces that make up his personality,” said Devaney. “Through this
one on one time, Don learned my limitations too. Together we learned
how to successfully achieve the mission.”
The first couple
of months after a handler is assigned to a dog it is crucial to
their training. A handler is expected to spend roughly fifty hours a
week with their dog developing a relationship. Beginning as a pup,
the dogs are trained to listen to their handlers. The dog needs to
trust and know the individual before they begin to listen to the
commands given to them. Without the strong connection between the
two, there is a hesitation on completing the mission.
“Don, he is kind of a weirdo. He has a lot of quirks and it took
me some time to learn all of them,” stated Devaney. “One of Don’s
favorite things to do is chew on my boots when we’re spending time
together. He is everything to me now and he is the drive that gets
me out of bed in the morning.”
Having military working dogs
on Camp Pendleton is a force multiplier. Military working dogs
protect Pendleton during building searches, suspect apprehension,
active shooters, threat identification and alarm activation calls. br> “For the Marine Corps, I believe
that dogs are invaluable. They are so applicable in different
situations,” said Devaney. “For our forward deployed Marines, they
are out there searching for IED’s, tracking and looking for high
value targets. When you pair a good dog and a good handler together,
they’re unstoppable.”
The image above shows U. S. Marine Corps Cpl. Zachary
Devaney, a military working dog handler with the Provost Marshal’s
Office, Security and Emergency Services Battalion, commanding his
military working dog, Don, to heel at Marine Corps Base Camp
Pendleton, California on December 17, 2019. Handlers and their K9,
spend over 50 hours training and developing their bond every week. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Lance Cpl. Kerstin Roberts)
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