Military Working Dogs Participate in Joint NATO Training in Lithuania
Dogs and their trainers from 11 NATO allied nations gathered in Kaunas, Lithuania, on September 12, for practical training as part of exercise Engineer Thunder 23.
Footage released by NATO shows the canines and their handlers at work in the Darius and Girenas Stadium.
The dogs were put through their paces on explosives and physical training, followed by a bit of time to play.
Private Zovile from the Lithuanian Army said: "We have the dogs and they do most of the work. Of course we need to give them directions, but they use their noses, their senses, and they are supposed to show us where the explosives are.
“It’s always good to see how other countries communicate with dogs, how other countries are working, how other handlers are working with their dogs. So it’s not only that we can do different exercises, come with different ideas, but also get a lot of experience from other handlers who may be working longer or who had some other issues with the dogs and how they solve them,” Zovile said.
Military working dogs are a part of NATO’s forces, playing roles in allied military police, engineering, and special operations units, according to NATO..
Exercise Engineer Thunder 23 featured the participation by over 1,000 troops from 11 NATO countries. Credit: NATO via Storyful
Video transcript
- [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
[DISTANT BARKING]
- [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
- It's OK. Yes, Ava. So bad.
[BARKING]
- [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
- He's definitely the cutest.
[CHATTER]
- At the moment, we're in Darius and Girenas Stadium, and we're training for the explosive surge. So we have the dogs, and they do most of the work. Of course, we need to give them directions, but they use their noses, their senses, and they are supposed to show us where the explosives are.
It's always good to see how other countries communicate with dogs, how other countries are working with their-- how other handlers working with their dogs. So it's not only that we can do different exercises, come with different ideas, but also get a lot of experience from other handlers who may be working longer or who had some other issues with the dogs and how they solved them.
- It's very, very important for me. We are support to the other nations' and own nation's soldiers. We want to protect the life. We want to protect the territory, buildings, and so on. This is a playing together with the dog. And it's very, very important to play together, the handler and the dogs. And after then, when he found the different types of explosives, every dog is very, very happy because after that, he had a chance to play together with the handlers. [LAUGHS] Sorry.
[CLICKING] [NON-ENGLISH].
- The work from a dog is with his nose, and that can't be achieved, in my point of view, with a machine. That's, for me, the biggest difference between a machine and a dog. And also, like I said before, you have a connection with your dog. And I like more this type of job because you can play with them.
With a machine, you can't play. You do your job, you put it in a box, and it's finished. Here, you're never finished. You're always busy with your dog, and that's what I like about it.
