Glory Hounds

http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/glory-hounds

The picture and video above is of K.C. Farrell, a current member of the United States Military, formerly positioned in Afghanistan.  K.C.'s position in the military is a handler, which means his role is to train dogs to sniff out bombs so that they can accompany him into battle and protect him and his unit from any form of planted explosives.  These dogs are referred to as MWD's, or Military Working Dogs (K-9's).  The picture posted above is a picture of K.C. and his dog who was recently and unfortunately killed in battle by an enemy explosive.  The link is a trailer video for a show on Animal Planet named Glory Hounds in which K.C. is featured in, and can be seen in multiple times throughout the video and the show itself.  I met K.C. through a friend of mine while he was home training another dog to take into the field.  I had a brief conversation with him about the Military and his experiences.

The conversation taught me about the unique relationships that are developed between the MWD's and their handlers, and how they are unlike any other relationship between a man and his dog.  The handlers literally trust their MWD's with their lives on a daily basis when in battle, and only make advances in the areas their dogs have first sniffed out.  The fact that these dogs have saved their handlers lives on multiple occasions, and constantly give their own lives for the sake of their handlers is what makes their relationships so unique, and simply unobtainable by the common man and his dog.  Obviously K.C. was still very upset over the loss of his dog and did not want to talk to me too much about it, but he did end the conversation by telling me Zora (his dog) was his best friend, and that losing her was one of the hardest things he has ever had to go through in his life.