Learning how to give first aid to a Military Working Dog injured in combat was just one of the lessons undertaken by the latest intake on the Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC) Initial Trade Training (ITT) Course.
Military Working Dog Rexo attacks Private Luke Walker in a training exercise.
Private Mia Ebony listens to training advice from Corporal Rachel Harrison whilst assessing a mannequin resembling an injured dog.
Private Harvey Gilbert with Rexo, an Alsatian.
Eight soldiers successfully completed the seven-week course and will now join the 1st Military Dog Regiment as qualified Patrol Military Working Dog (MWD) handlers.
The Regiment provides the only deployable military working dog and veterinary capability within the whole of the British Army. It deploys Arms & Explosive Search Dogs, High Assurance Search and Patrol MWDs.
Defence Animal Training Regiment
The Initial Trade Training course is run at the Defence Animal Training Regiment (DATR) in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. The unit has been based in Melton Mowbray since 1905. Its name and role have changed over the years. Today it is made up of a Regimental Headquarters, a Canine Training Squadron, an Equine Training Squadron and Veterinary Training Squadron.
Initial Trade Training Course
The Initial Trade Training course covers the fundamentals of dog handling, where the handlers learn everything from dog safety and husbandry to kennel management and basic veterinary care.
The first five days involve a lot of classroom work, everything from the health and welfare of the MWDs to the history of MWDs. This is followed by practical training including obedience and bite training to restrain a perpetrator. The final stage sees them assessed whilst living out in the field with their MWD.
The soldiers also start an 18-month Apprenticeship Level 3 Animal Care and Husbandry course.
Sergeant Sean Birdsey is an instructor for ITT. He said: “The job of a MWD handler is unique and can be challenging because dogs have minds and feelings of their own. It takes patience, hard work, and dedication.”
The soldiers’ first-aid lessons used life-sized life-like dog mannequins to provide realistic training for medical techniques that may be needed in the field. Whilst the dog handlers are not expected to be veterinarians, they do need the required skills to help them keep their MWD alive so that it can be transferred to specialist care.
The mannequin features include working lungs and an artificial pulse which enables the soldiers to practise airway management and CPR.
Veterinary Nurse Corporal Rachel Harrison is the vet instructor on the course. She said: “If the handlers deploy and something happens to their dog, they need to be trained to act without a second thought. Being able to help your dog when its in distress is vital.”
The scenario saw the soldiers have to treat a dog with a catastrophic bleed. Corporal Harrison could change pulse rates to add to the realism of the training.
She continued: “It’s putting their training into practice and getting them to work under pressure. They’re the ones that provide that immediate care at the point of injury.”
Military working dogs and their handlers have helped save countless lives in conflicts including Afghanistan and Iraq. Eight dogs from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps have been awarded the PDSA Dicken Medal – the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross – two of them posthumously.
