Photo By Sgt. Michelle Reif | Lance Cpl. Mercedes Roach, a K-9 handler with the Provost Marshal Office, and her dog,...... read more read more
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CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - As the first rays of the rising sun creep through the kennel gate, Myndi catches the familiar scent of her handler and raises her head off her paws to see him making his way across the parking lot. Her tail begins to wag enthusiastically, and her tongue pants out of her mouth in a happy grin. Her handler opens the kennel door and greets Myndi warmly with scratches behind the ears and a chew toy in hand. Together they head out to the fenced yard for a few minutes of playtime before gearing up for a hard day’s work. In the early hours of the morning, Myndi may seem like any other four-legged friend, but once it’s time to get to business, it becomes obvious that Myndi is not your average pet.
The working dogs of the Provost Marshal Office aboard Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, are much more than just handy tools or convenient sniffers. To the handlers who look after them, they are partners, teammates and friends.
As is the case with most dedicated Marines, the typical day for a dog in PMO’s K-9 unit begins with exercise and physical training. The handlers and K-9’s jog the trails through the woods in order to keep themselves and the dogs in shape and to promote good discipline.
Another important routine in the kennel is daily grooming, explained Trent Tallman, a dog handler with PMO. The handlers will brush their German shepherd’s or Belgian malinois’ fur and check them over for any ticks or scratches before sending them out for a long day of training. This grooming time is also important for building a bond and strengthening the trust between the handler and dog.
“We try to match the dog’s personality with the handler’s personality,” Tallman said. “Over time the dog will take on the personality of the handler and the handler will start to take on the personality of the dog. It’s a pretty neat transformation to watch. The longer that a dog team is together, you can see them kind of become one.”
The handlers then bring their dogs out to a training site where they will work on important skills such as drug or explosive detection techniques, building searches or controlled aggression. The dogs go through the scenarios presented to them happily, believing every challenge to be a fun game and working only for the handler’s praise and affection and the promise of the chew toy hiding in the handler’s pocket.
“If you have a dog that’s willing to work and you are willing to reward it and show it the love that it deserves, it will do anything you want it to do,” Tallman said.
If the dog team is not busy training they will spend the day patrolling and making sure that the base is safe for the Marines and civilians on board. The team does everything from standing guard at the base entrance gates to responding to police calls from the radio.
“A dog can do just about anything that a human can do in terms of police work,” Tallman said. “They just have ten times better sense of smell and hearing that lets them do certain things a little bit better than we could.”
Tallman explained that the K-9 unit is vital to the safety of the base. Their presence on the base is an invaluable resource that serves as a crime deterrent and the dogs have abilities that far exceed a human’s. The military has been using dogs since before World War II for a reason, Tallman said.
“Outside companies have come and brought in machines that are supposes to be able to detect different explosives,” Tallman said. “We will test them and run them against each other and our dogs will beat them every time. Technology can’t replace dogs.”
Tallman explained that the relationship between a handler and his dog can be very powerful and is one that they never take lightly.
“Your dog is willing to give its life for you,” Tallman said.
This relationship can be a huge responsibility, Tallman explained, and the handlers do not take it for granted.
“I try to be the person that my dog thinks I am,” said Cpl. Christopher Hoang, a K-9 handler with PMO. “It’s a blessing that I am able to do this. People see us and wish that they were able to do the things that we do.”
At the end of their shift, handler and K-9 return to the kennel, weary from a full day of duty and training. Together, they take the time to end the day on a positive note. They head out to the yard once again for some rewarding playtime. In this place, Myndi is not a highly-trained police K-9 and Tallman is not an officer of the law. They are simply a man and his dog, throwing and fetching the ball as the sun sinks in the background. They are partners, teammates and friends.
| Date Taken: | 05.14.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.28.2015 13:55 |
| Story ID: | 164798 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 249 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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