Tiny Boy

Working dogs get old fast.  Most working dogs live to about 8 to 9 years old.  They are not pets and literally work themselves to death.  When USAF working dogs are no longer able do their jobs, they are euthanized.  When a handler's dog is, as most people say, "put to sleep," the handler is sent to Lackland Air Force Base to train a new dog and bring it back for service.  In the U.S., the Air Force trains all of their dogs at Lackland Air Force Base and the handlers take the dogs back to the base to which they are assigned.

One of our handlers from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton Ohio, brought back a dog named Tiny Boy.  During training, Tiny Boy did not bark. The instructors told the handler working him that this was the dog they would want if they were in Viet Nam.  They did this young handler a disservice. The instructors should have known better.  A dog that could not do its job was put into service.  Tiny Boy was not aggressive and, therefore, saw no need to bark at anyone or anything.

All of the other handlers helped Tiny Boy's handler as he tried to improve his dog's skills.  It did not take long before Tiny Boy got a nickname, Timid Boy.  We were unable to make him aggressive. Today, Tiny Boy would probably have made a good drug sniffing dog.  A gentle dog that could walk amongst people.  But, he did not have the temperament which would make him an attack dog.

Everyone decided that Tiny Boy and Dawn should work together as much as possible. The Weapons Storage Area had two posts and we were paired up frequently. I guess the hope was that Tiny Boy would learn from the aggressiveness he observed in Dawn.

Tiny Boy's last night on post was a night that Dawn and I were working the Weapons Storage Area together with Tiny Boy and his handler.  The alert truck showed up to give us coffee.  Dawn was barking her head off when the truck drove up to the other side of the gate.  Tiny Boy just stood there watching Dawn, but did not bark at all.  One of the guys got out of the truck and kicked the gate.  Dawn went berserk and would have torn the guy to pieces if she could have gotten through the fence.  "Timid Boy" quickly ran and hid behind his handler.  That was the last straw for the handler.  Tiny Boy was relieved of duty.

Tiny Boy was retired from duty and euthanized.  The necropsy revealed that Tiny Boy had a weak heart.  Tiny Boy would have made a great pet, but he was not healthy enough to be an attack dog. The Air Force did not allow attack dogs to be rehabilitated to civilian life. It is sad that when a dog is no longer able to work that it is euthanized.