Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-17
Whole Regiments Being Trained by
the Great Powers of Europe
BREEDS SUITED FOR THE WORK.
Brutes That Instantly Attack Men Wear
ing an Enemy's Uniform.
BRIGHT SENTRIES AND MESSENGERS
WRITTEN FOR THE D1sPATcH.l

QOSS as auXIllar1eS IN battles, ana Ine Ddr-
barous progenitors of our present stock
were first taught to assist their savage own
ers in the chase and battles. But there is
something novel and exquisitely modern in
the scientific methods of training and drill
ing whole regiments of soldier dogs for the
purpose of aiding ambitious leaders in pre-
serving the equilibrium of power" in
Europe.
The experiments with balloons and carrier
pigeons for war purposes were but the fore
runners of the present movement to impress
dogs into the military service. The natural
propensities of the dog make him willing
and effective servant in this respect, and he
learns his drilling lessons so aptly that his
education becomes a matter of pleasure to
the war trainers. If France has no friendly
feeling toward Germany dummy is dressed
up in the German regimentals, and the dog
is taught to attack it until the intelligent
animal has inbred in him deadly hatred
for anyone wearing similar uniform. If
Italy or Russia be the offending nations the
property man and trainer simply change the
dress of the dummy, and make the dog go
through the lessons again.
The Breed Not Decided Upon.
The best dog for this purpose would
probably be the bulldog or savage blood
hound; but as they have to unite other quail
tiles besides fighting ones into their make
up to prove effective war dogs, other breeds
might come with better recommendations
The right breed has not yet been decided
upon by military experts The Germans
use their peculiar ugly, numbering blue
hounds for this purpose, but the other na-
tions are experimenting with various other
breeds. Settlers have been found good for
sentinel duty, as also the fox terrier, and
the fox hounds have found much favor for
their trailing qualities; but crosses with the
st. Bernard and the mastiff make splendid
all-round "war dogs" Several of the
breeds, however, are used, each one having
a special duty to perform. Those with
keen scent are employed for trailing pur-
poses; the strong, savage ones are taught to
attack sentinels on.post, and to fight in bat
tie; the noble st. Bernards are trained to go
over the field of battle after the fight, and
to rescue the. wounded, while the fleet
footed, sly and adroit varieties are used for
carrying dispatches.
In the German army the dogs of regi-
ment number at least couple Of score, all
of which are trained for some special duty,
and under the supervision of skillful mas
ters. They are made great deal of by the
soldiers.
Ministering to the Wounded.
One of the interesting features of the dog
drills is that which teaches them what to do
after a conflict The proper duty of the
war dogs then is to accompany the search
party, and to range over the fields to ascer-
tain the whereabouts of the wounded and
dying, and then to conduct the relief party
to them. In the drills sham battles are
fought, and then soldiers pretend to be
killed or wounded. The dogs are trained to
single out the different ones needing assist
ance, and to lead the surviving members to
their side.
For seminal duty one Of the first lessons
is to preserve absolute silence, and instead
of announcing the approach of an enemy by
furious barking to intimate their discover
les by low, growls, or even by gestures,
which some of the highly-bred ones do.
The German dogs are taught to distinguish
the different uniform5 so well that they
give the signal Of alarm on the approach of
anyone clothed in foreign dress. The dogs
sense of smell is exquisite, and his hearing
is much more delicate than that of man, and
sentry dogs are thus particularly useful at
night
The most difficult part of the training is
to make the war dogs good carriers of mes
sages. 1t is essential that they should be
able to carry the dispatches as well by night
as by day.. and long patient training is re-
quired for this work. In fact, they do this
work better by night than by day, for then
IL
stacles can delay them in their Journey
After the dogs have once learned the way
between two points they can always travel
swiftly between them on the darkest of
nights.
Fate of Armies on Their Necks.
The German war dogs used for messengers
have small collars around their necks, and
to these strong packet-holders are attached,
in which messages can be securely locked.
Another use is to carry ammunition to the
soldiers in the heat of the battle. Dogs are
naturally disinclined to stand fire, and the
chief difficulty to overcome is to make them
fearless and careless of the noise around.
Experiments have been made which show
that as soon as their propensity to turn and
run when the rifles begin to crack is over
come, the work is comparatively easy to
train them to run up and down the line,
stopping whenever a soldier calls for them,
and then returning again to get a fresh sup
ply of ammunition.
1t is the natural vigilance of the dogs
which makes them desirable fcrwar purposes,
and it is supposed that if each sentinel has
his dog no sudden surprise at night would
be possible. In reconnaissance the dogs
run on in advance and signal the presence
of the enemy, no matter where concealed,
1 ,rba ha ic at L. l.
distance away. Dogs are to be used in the
advance of an army or regiment to prevent
blundering into an ambuscade, and in flank
ing support they are likewise required for
service. Again, they will be used to bring
up the rear guard to prevent sudden attacks
from behind, and, when in camp, they will
be regularly stationed around the outposts
to give timely warning of approaching
danger.
Better Than Pigeons and Balloons.
Anotler service to which they have been
trained by the Germans and Russians is to
carry messages to the forts and outposts
along the frontiers, and so useful are they
in this respect that whole regiments of
trained dogs are kept in constant practice in
times of peace. Many of these frontier posts
are unconnected by wires, and the dogs
carry communications much faster than
horses In cold weather tnsy are capable of
travelling over ground and through dangers
which any other message-bearer could not
A war dog will swim a river
which man on horseback would find very
In the same way in times of
trouble the war dogs would be able to carry
to different parts of the army
where every other method might fail. The
honing pigeons and balloons are far more
than the dogs in, delivering mes
saees, The former can easily be run down
by fierce falcons and hawks, trained for this
purpose, and the latter are always subject to
the wind and weather; but the dogs with
their natural intelligence and superb train
ing, could pass through lonely part of the
avoiding everybody, and if neces-