Navy SEAL Dogs by Mike Ritland Read Free Book Online Page B

oil platforms in the middle of the night. I was one of the main breachers, meaning I used a shotgun to open about thirty metal doors to begin clearing each area. Ultimately, we found twenty-three Iraqi soldiers on board, a mixed bag of Republican Guard and paramilitary, Fedayeen Saddam guys. We also captured a few Iraqi intelligence officers and a couple of their navy divers. Our strike took the Iraqis totally by surprise. They never got to use the explosives or the antiaircraft artillery piece that was positioned to take out approaching watercraft.
    We also discovered a treasure trove of weaponry and ammo. In total, it took six hours to take the whole thing down, including handling and conducting initial interrogation of the Iraqi prisoners. Thanks to our element of surprise, we executed the takeover without a single casualty on our side.
    The same was true at the second platform. At the metering station the resistance was even stronger and a few Iraqi soldiers were killed, but again, not a single American casualty, wound, or injury. That’s pretty much a raging success in my book, and I was, and remain, extremely proud to have been part of SEAL Team Three’s role in setting the tone for what was to come.
    Since that night, and given what I do today, I’ve often wondered how Navy SEAL multipurpose canines might have helped us on that mission. Certainly the mission was a resounding success, but we’d placed our troops in great peril. We all understand that dangerous missions are the name of the game, but I can’t help wondering how dogs might have made our jobs a bit easier that night.
    When I made the transition to training SEALs and later to training dogs to assist them, that mission played a large role in my motivation and in my understanding of the importance of the work I was doing. I knew firsthand just how important proper training is and how crucial and serious preparation is. I wanted the dogs I trained to be able to meet the high standards of effort and execution that were exhibited that night in 2003. I knew they would have to. Because of that first mission I went on as a SEAL, I was determined that the dogs I trained were going to be like the men they served alongside—ready for anything, anywhere, anytime.
    Today I make my living and stake my reputation on training dogs. Also, as a former SEAL team member, I take very seriously the responsibilities that the dogs and their handlers shoulder. I couldn’t live with myself if I knew that I didn’t do everything in my power to make certain that the dogs I provide live up to the standards expected of SEAL team dogs. Lives depend on it.
    It helps that I know that the dogs I’ve trained are going to be rigorously tested. When the SEALs come to test my dogs, they’re going to throw everything and the kitchen sink at them to make sure that the dogs are what they need. If there is a single flaw in one of these dogs, they’re going to find it. So you have to set these dogs up for success or they’re not going to be the best. I never heard my parents say, “That’s good enough.” I wasn’t raised that way, and the SEALs didn’t train me to think that way. The SEAL operators deserve, as they say, “nothing but the best for the best.”
    The great genetic background of the Belgian Malinois isn’t enough on its own. The dogs all need to go through rigorous training in order to become qualified to work with SEAL teams. It takes hard work with no shortcuts on the part of both handler and canine, though I believe that the dogs actually enjoy the training work. They get to exhibit the traits that their breed was refined to produce and to give expression to their true nature. What can be better than that?
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    The key to training and working with a dog is to establish a bond of trust between you and him. I do that with puppies from the very beginning, and you can also do that with