Today we are celebrating veterans, both the human and canine kind. Veterans have kept us safe for hundreds of years and there is not enough time in a day to say thank you for that. The staff at The Perfect Pup all come from families who have served and some of our staff have even served themselves. With Veteran’s Day happening, we wanted to highlight four famous military dogs and their stories.
Sergeant Stubby - The Most Decorated War Dog of WWI
Sergeant Stubby holds the distinction of being the only military dog nominated for a rank and promoted as a sergeant through combat. Stubby lived at Yale in 1917 and when Corporal James Conroy became fond of the dog, he hid the dog in his undercoat and shipped out to France! Conroy’s commanding officer found Stubby and much to his surprise, the Boston Terrier mix saluted him. After that, Stubby was allowed to stay as the official mascot of the 102nd Infantry Regiment.
Stubby participated in seventeen battles on the western front over a course of eighteen months.
Though the dog sustained multiple injuries, he was still able to locate missing soldiers and alert troops to duck for cover when he heard incoming artillery shells. He was given a special canine mask for protection from mustard gas. Stubby attended several parades across the country and received a gold medal after the war. He even became the official mascot of the Georgetown Hoyas football team.
Lucca – A Veteran of More Than 400 Bomb Detection Missions
Search dogs are extremely important in the military and one of the most notable ones was a bomb detecting dog named Lucca. Lucca was a German Shepherd/Malinois mix. She was deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. She served over four hundred missions during her time and these included finding ammunition, explosives, and insurgents. There were no human fatalities while under Lucca’s watch.
Lucca went on her final mission in 2012 where she discovered a 30 pond explosive device. Unfortunately, when she continued her search, another device detonated underneath her. Her handler rescued but she lost her left front leg. She was able to walk again after the ordeal and retired. Lucca was awarded the Dickin Medal in 2016.
Nemo - One of the Few Vietnam War Dogs to Return Home
Nemo was a German Shepherd who served with the air force in The Vietnam War. Nemo’s handler was an Airman names Robert Throneburg. Nemo is credited with saving Throneburg’s life when she alerted him to enemy soldiers approaching them. They put up a valiant fight and though both Nemo and his handler were shot during the fight with the guerillas.
Despite this, Nemo was able to keep the enemy soldiers at bay long enough for his handler to call for help. The dog guarded his handler from opposing forces until help arrived. Both of them survived their injuries and Nemo was allowed to retire and one of the first dogs to be allowed back in the United States after serving overseas.
Cairo - A dog who helped take down Osama Bin Laden
Cairo is a member of the SEAL team who performed the raid on the compound of Osama Bin Laden in 2011. This Belgian Malinois is extremely skilled and has gone through the equivalent of dog Navy SEAL training. On the night of the raid at Bin Laden’s compound, Cairo detected explosives, secured the perimeter, and attacking combatants. Cairo was allowed to wear a specialized combat vest made from Kevlar and even had special goggles that allowed him to see heat from humans hiding behind concrete walls.
