Attack, Defend, Search and Rescue

A dog’s acute sense of smell, keen hearing and ability to be trained has made it a valuable asset in wartime.

Dogs have performed a variety of tasks including guarding military personnel and property, tracking down and attacking the enemy, searching for the wounded and sniffing out explosives.

Dogs were trained to detect mines for the first time during the Second World War. One Russian dog called Zucha located 2,000 mines in just 18 days.

Nowadays hundreds of dogs are used by armies, charities and commercial mine clearance companies to clear landmines in countries such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia, and Mozambique.

Images: (left to right) Imperial War Museum Collection; © Reuters; Imperial War Museum Collection. (Left) Imperial War Museum Collection.