Book Review: War Dogs (military working dogs)

War Dogs: Tales of Canine Heroism, History, and Love, by Rebecca Frankel (Macmillan, 2014, 251 pages, $26)

A Good Book

I stand corrected: I used to say that a good book is a 24-hour book (you can finish it in 24 hours!) but War Dogs, a good book, took me more than 24 hours to read (the holidays interfered). However, it may very well be a 24-hour book for you!

The very readable War Dogs is one in a long line of recent books about military working dogs* (MWDs) but War Dogs may just be the best.

Rebecca Frankel, related by marriage to one of my long-time commentator heroes, James Fallows, whetted my appetite for War Dogs when she appeared on NPR’s (National Public Radio’s) Diane Rehm Show (October 20, 2014).

Frankel has now penned a non-fiction book that is a compelling read and informative, covering both sides of several controversial issues such as whether or not the dogs really love their handlers and vice-versa in Chapter 3, The Trouble with Loving a War Dog. Although most of the military handlers interviewed consider their dogs weapons and consider their relationship not to be one of mutual love, affection and bonding, their actions happily belie their words.

Quality Quotes

As I read and reviewed more and more books over the past years, I started to pay attention to the pre-publication quotes on the back cover (and front cover) and also to who writes the foreward. Of course, most of the names generally are other authors or friends rather than subject matter experts. Frankel, however, has quotes from quality folks: General Petraeus, Thomas Ricks, Dr. Patricia McConnell, Peter Bergen, Mike Dowling and Dr. Stanley Coren – all well-established military or dog people.

Organization

War Dogs is organized roughly into three parts but the reader may not be aware of them, becoming so engrossed in the stories of the dogs and their training and handlers which Frankel comes back to, time and time again. (In a pinch, you can read these stories in any order.)

Frankel has done her research thoroughly, from Kevin Behan** (not a trainer I would have chosen to write about since his ‘natural’ training methods [and Cesar Millan’s] are not based on science) to Dr. Juliane Kaminski’s current canine research to Frankel spending considerable time observing and interviewing (as well as taking part in and surviving) military dog training and just ‘hanging around’ trainers and handlers in the uncomfortable Virginia humidity and the excessive Arizona heat.

Although War Dogs focuses on current military working dogs, primarily in Afghanistan (in the province where I was deployed so I know of the veracity of her writing first-hand), and on their training, she also relates the history of military dogs over the past hundred years, especially their roles in World War II and Vietnam.

What you will learn and experience

Dogs are surprisingly astute in social intelligence, having to learn a second language – that of human body language and verbal sounds.

Although Frankel uses the usually misused term alpha entirely too often, she also spends considerable time on reward-based and praise-based training as opposed to compulsion-based training (the former uses KONGs and tennis balls as rewards – yippy skippy!).

You are there

Some non-fiction authors research thoroughly and write a factual report that turns into a book while others research just as well and literally ‘take you there.’ They report less and tell more, engrossingly. You are drawn into the book as if it were fiction, as if it were happening to you: Frankel is just such an author: I will read any future book she writes!

*Other books on MWDs:

Dogs of War: The Courage, Love, and Loyalty of Military Working Dogs, by Lisa Rogak (Thomas Dunne Books, 258 pages, 2011, $14.99) (click on the title to see my review)

Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond between a Marine and his Military Working Dog, by Mark Dowling

Top Dog: The Story of Marine Hero Lucca, by Maria Goodavage

Soldier Dogs, by Maria Goodavage

Trident Canine Warriors: My Tale from the Training Ground to the Battlefield with Elite Navy SEAL Canines, by Mike Ritland

**Perhaps being from Connecticut, Frankel knew of Behan (also from Connecticut) and was able to more easily interview him than leading dog trainers

Read More About It: Frankel's photo essay from 2011 on War Dogs

Book Review: Doing Good (OT)

Doing Good, by Pamela Morsi (Mira Books, 2002, 378 pages [PB], $6.99)

A funny thing happened to me on the way to becoming an 11-year dog book reviewer: I started to read all sorts of other book genres and have found some of them to be amazingly good, like Doing Good.

One more chance. . . please!

Yes, there is even the mention of a mockingbird in Doing Good, in this year of Harper Lee’s second novel. No, it is not a romance novel but a novel so full of talking moments, Doing Good is written by a USA Today bestselling author.

A saga is usually the story of a family over several generations but Doing Good is a saga of just about a year, with flashbacks to the past. (Life seldom happens this fast.)

What’s it all about?

A hard-working well-deserving woman wins an academic scholarship and eventually marries very successfully into the country club scene but is also a top-welling realtor, possibly due to her country club connections. One night she meets a semi-trailer gone amuck and is trapped in her convertible. How she escapes an inferno and the promise she makes before she is saved is the premise of this story. 

Doing Good is hard to put down until you finish it. You wonder how all the loose ends get tied up but they do. It makes for never-ending group discussions because Doing Good has it all: divorce, abused spouses, cancer, diabetes, Vietnam veterans, the elderly and otherwise-challenged characters, mouthy teens, volunteering, too much money - both new and old, antiques, college kids, affairs, golf.

Well-written, mostly conversational, fast-paced, likable characters, surprises – some that you have guessed correctly so you feel vindicated but others you are waiting impatiently to happen while still other surprises hit you blindsided, Doing Good will keep you company on a plane flight or a snow-day off.

Doing good

What is it about doing good? Are some people truly altruistic? Can someone actually change for the better, overnight? Are there levels of ‘good deeds’ with their associated different scores? Do people who make almost death-bed pacts really keep them in exchange for a second chance at life?

Besides being a good read, Doing Good may cause you to rethink your life - a few hours well spent!

Who's Number One?

Gotta Love those Labs!

Black Lab Buxton (credit: Lab Rescue -
Labrador Retriever Club of the Potomac)

Again this year, Labs* are America’s favorite dogs, according to the American Kennel Club (AKC)**, as they have been for 25 years!

Following in the lovely and lovable lab’s (black, yellow or chocolate) paw prints this year are the GSD, the Golden, the Bulldog and, in fifth place, the Beagle who has been in the top ten most of the time since the AKC started keeping records in the 30s (the Beagle has also won Westminster twice in the past few years – 2015 and 2008).

Yorkies, Poodles, Boxers, Frenchies and Rotties, in that order, make up the remainder of the Canine Top Ten.

Over the Years

Historically, Cockers took the top prize beginning in the 1930s, then the Snoopy dog, the Beagle, took over in the 50s. Poodles were the top dogs of the 60s and 70s and, in the 80s, Poodles retook the top spot.

Doxies fell off the list this year. Guess they were just too short!

Next year, watch out for GSPs, Havanese, Malinois, Wheaties, Shibas, Border Collies and Viszlas!

*In plain English: 

            1. Labrador Retrievers

            2. German Shepherd Dogs

            3. Golden Retrievers

            4. Bulldogs

            5. Beagles

            6. Yorkshire Terriers

            7. Poodles

            8. Boxers       

            9. French Bulldogs

            10. Rottweilers

            11. Dachshunds

German Shorthaired Pointers, Belgian Malinois, Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers, Shiba Inus

**Each year, the AKC releases the numbers of purebred dogs by breed

Read more about it here. 

Westminster 101, Your Guide to America's Dog Show

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about America’s Dog Show – Westminster

In Color and In Person!

The colors of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show are luscious grape-purple and sparkly gold on a backdrop of a rich green carpet. Westminster is a TV staple, a seemingly out-of-reach dog show where, yes! you can walk in off the street and, luck permitting, sit in a chair on the floor and theoretically even reach out and touch the competing dogs in the ring (a faux pas – but you CAN go ‘backstage’ and meet them with their owners’ permission – champions all!)

And did you know that the lights of the Empire State Building shine Westminster purple and gold during America’s Dog Show, this year on Sunday?

You’ve watched it on TV. This year is the year to attend in person. It’s nearby – in New York City AND Monday is a federal holiday, so you have no excuse! Here is all the information you need to have a grand time at America’s Dog Show! I take the train because Penn Station allows me to walk to the evening dog show at Madison Square Garden without even going outside!

Facts and Facts from Before

Last year, Sky, a Wire Fox Terrier, was declared America’s Dog, winning over approximately 2500 dogs in two days in New York City and on TV. The excitement was electric. The 2500 dogs competed in 7 rings, 7 groups, breed by breed. Group Finals were held each evening with winners from the day shows, and the final final was composed of one representative of each of the seven groups of dogs (Toy, Terrier, Working, Sporting, Non-Sporting, Herding and Hound).

Dogs are judged, not against each other, but against the written standard for their breed.

2015 Facts

Who: All the dogs entered are champions as of 31 October. The top five dogs of each breed receive an automatic ‘pre-invite invitation’ if their people choose to enter them. Other champions vie for the remaining of the approximately 2500 places by submitting an application during November and December of the previous year.

Highly populated (and popular) breed classes this year include 56 Labs, 58 Goldens, 43 Aussies (Australian Shepherds), 41 Frenchies (French Bulldogs), 38 Rhodesian Ridgebacks and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, and 33 Rottweilers, just to mention a few. Only one White Bull Terrier and only only Norwegian Lundehund are entered. The entry fee for dogs is very affordable and no fee is required for this year’s 88 junior handlers to compete although they must accumulate a certain number of wins prior to the show and be under a certain age.

Most of the dogs are American but this year you will also see champions competing from 48 states (none from Idaho or North Dakota), the District of Columbia, Canada, and 13 other foreign countries.

What: The 139th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the second longest continuously held sporting event in this country, just one year behind the Kentucky Derby (since 1877 – before even I was born!). A two-day event in New York City that is televised every year.

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York City (Penn Plaza, 7th and 8th Avenues, 31st to 33rd Streets), across from the Hotel Pennsylvania. Day tickets at The Piers are less than $30 and evening tickets are $40 or $55. You may even see someone famous (Bill Cosby and Lauren Bacall have attended in the past.) Some years the event sells out.

When: February 16 and 17, 2015 (always the ‘week’ of Valentine’s Day), 8 am to 11 pm. Hounds, Toys, Non-Sporting and Herding dogs (and junior showmanship) will be shown Monday 9 am to 6 pm at Piers 92 and 94) with their group finals Monday night at 8.

Sporting, Working, and Terriers are shown Tuesday with their groups Tuesday night as well as the finals for Best in Show on Tuesday night beginning at 8, preceded by the Junior Handling Finals from the afternoon sessions.

Make a week of it! There are related events starting the previous Friday and dog shows the weekend before, a reception at the AKC (American Kennel Club) Office Sunday afternoon, awards banquets galore, seminars, and celebration breakfasts the day after, as well as champion tours of the morning TV shows. And this year – the second Westminster Agility competition was Saturday with 330 dogs and their handlers competing as a team, including mixed breeds.

Red Carpet Treatment on a Green Carpet (and Purple, of course)

Watch live streaming video on the Westminster Kennel Club website and on the Westminster App, and social media. Monday and Tuesday’s competitions will also be shown live on CNBC and the USA Network during the day, as well as 8-11 pm each evening (Monday on CNBC and Tuesday on USA Network).

Why: Why not? It’s close by and an event you will always remember. You’ve seen it on TV, now catch it in person.

How:  Take the train for a comfortable, elegant, quiet, unrushed, scenic ride into yesteryear and arrive relaxed. Come just for the day or the week. Call Amtrak at 1-800-AMTRAK or visit www.amtrak.com for rates and schedules. If your train stops at Penn Station (trains from the south), where Westminster is located, you don’t even have to venture outside!

Details: General admission tickets will cost less than 30$ for one day or at little as $40 for an evening session (see www.westminsterkennelclub.org for much more information). And fortunately there is a huge TV-type screen that can be easily seen way up in the rafters during the evening shows. Since the event is sold out some years, you should plan ahead.

Breeds, Colors, Sizes, Varieties, . . . . 192 Breeds and Varieties in 2015

Some breeds have specialized classes for each variety. For example, black cocker spaniels are shown in a different class than parti-colored ones with a third cocker class, my favorite, being ASCOB (Any Solid Color Other than Black). On the other hand, black labs and yellow labs and chocolate labs all compete together.

New breeds this year include the Coton de Tulear and the Wirehaired Vizsla, in the Non-sporting and Sporting Groups, respectively.

So, a lab would compete against all colors of labs but a cocker competes only against cockers of the same color. Hmmmmm. . . . And I often wonder why our country’s favorite dog for years, the lab, has never won Best in Show. . . .

Benching

Westminster is one of the last benched dog shows in America. That means that dogs showing on Monday are required to be there all day, in the back, even when not competing. You can go ‘backstage’ and speak with the owners, breeders, and handlers, watch the dogs being groomed, and shop, shop, shop. However, it is very crowded and similar to the crowds during the holiday shopping season, winter coats and all.

Shopping

Ah, shopping! ‘Backstage’ at Westminster you can find leashes, books, jewelry, new gadgets galore. In the Hotel Pennsylvania and next door are even more vendors with canine first aid kits, T-shirts, artwork and demonstrations of Search and Rescue and agility. Plenty to do across the street! You can even mingle in the lobby as ‘dogs and their people’ check in Sunday afternoon at 3 and meet the hotel’s doggy concierge.

The required Westminster souvenir is the guidebook which you can’t do without (for only $20) but you can also pick up a poster, notecards, a print and DVD to watch over and over again. The catalog is $25 and allows you to keep score.

Judging

Word has it that the Best in Show (BIS) (the champion of champions) judge is selected a couple of years in advance and sworn to secrecy, his or her name revealed only six months before the show. During the preliminary two days of judging, this judge is sequestered backstage so when the finals begin, the BIS judge is as unbiased as possible. This year, that person is the Hon. David C. Merriam, originally a Bull Terrier person, of Bonsall, California.

Sensation – A Sensation!

Sensation, a Pointer, is the mascot of the Westminster Dog Show and appeared on the cover of the show catalog from 1936 through 1979. From 1980-1982, a head study of Sensation was selected for the cover, but in 1983 a foil embossed version of the full body engraving appeared on the cover and has been there ever since.

Charities

Veterinary school scholarships are presented Tuesday night and other charities are supported by the Westminster Kennel Club, including (in the past) the AKC Museum of the Dog, Take The Lead, the Animal Medical Center of NYC, the ASPCA, Angel On A Leash, Greyhound Friends, and Guide Dog Foundation For The Blind.

Two New Breeds

Two newly recognized dog breeds will be shown for the first time this year.

But, Only One Westminster

There is only one Westminster! Be there in person this year!

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You’ve seen it on TV, now come see it in person!

Read More: a series of six articles from 2014 here (and photo credit)