CHAPTER II 



HOW THE MOVEMENT BEGAN IN THE BRITISH ARMY 



" But if you visit the Morinian shores .... 

 And thence across to Britain, — 

 Set aside the form and colour. 

 Which in British dogs are the worst points, 



But when the tug-of-war and inbred courage spur them to their work, 

 Then is their mettle seen ! " Gratius. 



WHEN the war opened, in 1914, there were practically 

 no military dogs of any sort attached to the British 

 Army. The sole exception was an Airedale which I trained 

 as a sentry, and which went to manoeuvres with the 2nd 

 Battalion Norfolk Regiment, and on the outbreak of war 

 accompanied it to France, where it was eventually killed 

 by a shell on the Aisne. For many years previously I had 

 been studying this subject, and as the result of my con- 

 victions had accumulated a large kennel of dogs with which 

 I made constant experiments. The study was also applied 

 to the use of dogs with the police, and my conviction of 

 the great value of trained dogs to the Army and police 

 became of the most emphatic character. I brought the 

 matter from time to time to the notice of the authorities, 

 and, although the police supported the idea to a certain 

 extent, especially the forces in provincial towns, who used 

 a number of dogs for patrolling suburban areas, I could 



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