RAAF Dogs Considered For Retirement

[icyfroth]

Man's best friend is being given a new lease of life within the Royal Australian Air Force.

For the first time at RAAF Amberley, a new program is allowing Military Working Dogs to be considered for retirement with their handlers.

Historically, the animals have been put down at the end of their service as they were considered too dangerous to go back into the community.

"We now can release dogs from military service into their handlers' care and they can spend the rest of their years out in the home environment rather than the service environment."

After eight years of service in the RAAF, Turk's gentle nature made him a prime candidate for retirement.

However, the highly-trained German Shepherd still had to pass a rigorous assessment process to prove he was suitable for civilian life.

But since the animals are bred and specially trained to detect and detain intruders, not all dogs will be suitable for release.

"Some dogs just can't be let out into public," Sergeant Durre said.

Aaawww.

[twinkles**stars]

Lovely story! I imagine they need to be debriefed as such....like the guide dogs that don't quite make it. We have a friend who waited a long time for a rejected guide dog. Not cheap by any means and needed a lot of retraining but she's beautiful 🙂

Nice to know they get to have a life of luxury in the end.

[lyndal1838]

The Army dogs have retired to civilian life with their handlers for years.

My daughtr married an Army Dog Handler in the late 1990s and he had a lovely old german shepherd who had retired.  When her time came (she was quite arthritic) they had to get permission from the CO of the dog squad to have her put to sleep and then buried in the grave yard at the base.