HAMPTON, Va. — The Military Working Dog Team at Langley Air Force Base have some incredible canines that train everyday on patrol, obedience and detection work.
The K-9's are ready for the call to monitor presidential, congressional, or deployment missions.
When I visited, they were working on a basic 6-phase training where the dog works on how to behave in different situations with their handler.
They practice everything from a civilian having a normal conversation with the handler and keeping the dog relaxed, to a subject being non-compliant and running away, which is when the dog needs to engage and bite the subject.
Part of this training also includes the dog releasing from a bite on command and learning how to observe their surroundings and protect their handler in potentially dangerous situations; These dogs are even trained to jump through vehicle windows.
Most of the dogs at Langley are German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois, which are all good working dogs dedicated to the job.
All U.S. military working dogs start their journey at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, starting at 6 months old, training for about a year.
Then, they get assigned to their permanent base where they work until their retirement around 10 years old.
And before anyone asks, yes, I did get to suit up and take a bite myself! But I'm not in the clear yet… I was tasked to outrun K-9 Bobby II. But I didn't make it too far. You can watch the attempt in the video player below!
