American dogs
The United States of America also used their canine companions to help fight in World War II. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States only had a few sled dogs in the Arctic trained in their possession. Following Pearl Harbor, a group of civilian dog owners went to the government with the intent of convincing the government to begin training and using dogs for special military purposes. A coalition was formed, and the leaders began asking the public to donate their dogs to the military. The dogs were donated with the intention that they would be trained to become sentry dogs that would patrol certain locations. As the movement spread, the military became more and more interested in the potential capability of dogs in the military. While most healthy dogs were accepted at first, the military soon began narrowing the list of acceptable breeds. The list was narrowed to just seven dog breeds, which are, according to armyhistory.org, "the German Shepherd, Doberman Pinscher, Belgian Sheepdog, Collie, Siberian Husky, Malamute, and Eskimo dog. These dogs all proved to be hearty in various conditions, eager to work, and capable of the tasks assigned them by the Army." Dogs were trained individually with their assigned handler, which allowed for the formation of a strong bond between the dog and person. The first most pressing job for the new dog recruits was as a sentry. However, as the war drew on, this shifted to a need for scout and messenger dogs.
At this time, another eccentric idea for the dogs was created. William A. Prestre, a Swiss emigrant who lived in New Mexico, wanted to train dogs to recognize and kill specifically Japanese soldiers without human guidance. The government was interested and gave Prestre the resources to train the dogs. He resorted to cruel tactics and whipped and otherwise abused the dogs in an effort to instill more aggression within them. However, after a lack of results and progress, the project was abandoned.
The United States Army was also interested in training canines to detect mines. The dogs designated for this position were known as "M-dogs." To train them, the dogs were exposed to partially-buried live wires. When the dog would discover a wire, it would be shocked. Instead of the dogs smelling the landmines, they merely noticed the human disturbance in the ground and learned to be wary of those spots. It was eventually discovered that the M-dogs only had a thirty percent success rate, and the Army put an end to the project. It was not until later that scientists discovered that a dog's sense of smell was so good it could be trained to detect chemicals within explosives. This is why dogs can detect mines and bombs today with success.
