New Britain herald., 1915-02-12
''RfD CROSS DOGS
 SAVE MANY LIVES
Soldiers 1erm- Dumb Animas,
 Mans Best Friend"

pCndence of the Associated Press. )- The records of the German Red Cross department show that so far, after ! nearly four months of warfare, not a ! single wounded man has been over 1 looked battlefield searched by l Red Cross dogs' As a result of l this the term mans best friend"
 which is often applied to dogs, has
 real significance to the German sol 1 G;er today. Many a wounded soldier, l French, German and English alike, i has to thank one of the dogs for the 1 preservation of his life. Had it not been that the dog had found him and summoned assistance he might have perished.
 It has been shown that all breeds of dogs may be trained for this service The majority employed by the Ger man Red Cross are Dobermanns, Ger 1 man shepherds, Rottweilers, and Aire- dale terriers. There are representa- tives of other canine families, how ever, and not a few would be c1assed as "curs' In fact some of the mixed breeds have distinguished themselves for the rapidity with which they have learned their business A breed known in Belgium as the police deg" has also done we'll.
 Trained by Germans.
 Many Red Cross dogs had been trained by the German army before the war broke out. In this case train ing had started when the animal was about six months old. For about six months after the dog has been taken in hand he is taught no more than to obep his master implicitely. After that his professional education be- gins. Since the outbreak of the war it has been necessary to train dogs in a shorter period, and in many cases this has been done with the aid of another dog, who in addition to being an expert Red Cross worker had also the quality of not being misled by his apprentice. When a dog is trained in this manner he is paired with a veteran and soon begins to understand what is expected of him. Neverthe- less the schooling of the animal re- quires much attention on the part of the master.
 Trained Under System.
 The dogs are trained under 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 similates being wounded. or who, nowadays actually is slightly wounded
 Whether or not the scent helps the ! animal to find the wounded is an un- answered question. It is believed that such is5 the case, but in training the dog this is not taken into considera- tion. The dog is taught to search the field 1hy inspecting every bush, and ditch.
 The dogs are brought on the ground by man from the Red Cross company, who, as a rule has from two to four of them on leash. When the man considers the field safe for the dogs he turns them loose with ap- propriate command, and then attends to such wounded as he can find him. self.
 Dogs Return to Report.
 After a while the dogs return to l report. The manner in which the | animals do this depends upon their ! own traits. So far it has been found | very difficult to keep the dog from | barking when he has found wound ! ed man and instead teach signal 1 that would indicate that he had found i one. This is hardly needed, however. | As rule the dog which has not found 1 wounded man returns to his mast ar with a sauntering gait and shows | neither excitement nor eagerness to | leave again. His action is different | when his search has 3een successful. l In that case the dog generally comes l tearing across the field, circles about | his master and runs back and forth | in the direction of where the wounded | man has been found. The Red Cross | man then follows the dog, gives the l wounded man first aid and makes ar engagements for his removal to the | field dressing station or ambulance.
 Where the ground is difficult and 1 the area, to be searche, small, ur when the lines of the enemy are still l too near, the Red Cross man keeps l