Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1915-01-15
RED CROSS DOGS
SAVE WOUNDED IN
LARGE NUMBERS
After Nearly Four Months OF Warfare
These Faithful Animals Have Not Over
looked a Single Wounded Man on Field
of Battle, Records Show.

Correspondence of the Associated Prcss.l
AK la Chapelle. Jan. l5-The records
of the German Red Cross department show
that 80 far. after nearly fonr months of
warfare, not a single wounded man has
been overlooked on a battlefield searched
by "Rcd Gross dogs A. a result of this
the term ''man's best friend" which j.
often applied To dogs, has real significance
to the German soldier today. Many a
wounded soldier, French. German and Eng
li>h alike, has Ia thank one Of these dogs
Tor the preservation Of hi life. Had il
not been that the dog had found him and
summoned assistance he might have per-
Iished.
Ii has been shown that all breeds Of dogs
may be trained for this service. The ma
lority employed by the German Red Cross
are Dobermann>, German shepherds. Rott-
weiler> and Airedale terriers. There are
representatives Of other ,nnine families,
however. and not a few would he clasScd
~ "cur>.' In fact some of the mixed
breeds have distinguished themselves for
the rapldity with which they have learned
their business. A breed known in Belgium
n the police dog" ha> also done well.
Many Red Gross dogs had. been trained
by the German army before the war broke
out. In this ease training had started
when the animal wa> about six months old.
For about six months after the dog has
been taken in hand he i taught no more
than To obey hi master implicitly. After
that hi professional education begins.
Since the outbreak of the war il has been
necessary 10 train dogs in q shorter period.
and IN many eases this has been done with
the and of another dog. who IN addition 10
being an expert Red Cross worker had also
the quality of not being mislead by his APP
prentice. When q dog j. trained in this
manner he i paired with a veteran and soon
begins Ia understand what j. expected of
HIM. Nevertheless the schooling Of the
animal requires much attention on the part
of the master.
The dogs are trained under "A system in
which patience and kind treatment are the
principal elements. Again and again the
master of the dog will take the animal to
- man who Stimulates bein. wounded. or
who. nowadays actually j. slightly wound
ed. Whether or not the scent helps the
animal Ia find the wounded i an UNI
answered question. II i, believed that such
i the ease. but in training the dog this j.
not taken into consideration. The doc i,
tanuht a.. -a...I al. a.Il L.. "
every bush and ditch.
The dogs are brought un the ground bv
. man from the Red Gross mpan who,
q, a rule. has from two to four If them on
a leash. When the man consider, the field
safe for the dog> he turns them loose with
AN appropriate command. and then attend,
TO such wounded a he can find himself.
After a while the dogs return Ia report.
The manner IN which the animals de- thi,
depends upon their own traits. - far il
has been found very difficult to keep the
dog from barking when he has found q
wounded man and instead teach n signal
that would Indicate he had found one. This
= hardly needed, however. A. 4 rule the
dog which has not found a wounded man
returns Ia his master with a sauntxing
gait and shows neither excitement nor
.e%agcrne>> To leave again. Ii action i
different when hi~ search ha~ been success
iul. Ia that ease the dog generally come,
tearing acro>, the field. circles about hi,
master and runs back and forth in the di-
%rcction where the wounded man ha> been
found. The Red Gross man then follow,
the dog. gives the wounded man fir>t aid
and makes arrangements for hi, removal 10
The field dressing station or ambulance.
Where the ground j. difficult and the
area 10 be- searched small. or when the lines
OF the enemy are >till too near. the Red
Gross man keeps one Of hi dogs on a lone
line and searches the field in this manner.