194 British War Dogs 



nearly every case, the presence of the dogs enabled the 

 number of the sentries to be reduced, and giving to those 

 remaining a greater sense of security. 



In the first report, the dog is considered of greater value 

 than a sentry : 



Verwood Magazine 



I have the honour to furnish the following respecting the 

 Magazine Guard Dog under my charge at this station. I 

 have not the slightest hesitation in stating that this dog 

 was by far a greater protection than a sentry, and the part 

 patrolled by him was undoubtedly absolutely secure ; 

 he was so generally feared by the people here, that they 

 would not approach the precincts of the magazine, and 

 have approached the county police with a view to getting 

 the dog removed, a matter that met with no favour from 

 me ; the chief reason of this complaint was, that the R.E. 

 fencing was no boundary for him, as happened on two or 

 three occasions. 



The dog's work consisted of night patrol, resting through 

 the day, approximately 120 yards' run, and by the state 

 of the track he did it well, as it was beaten to a hard path ; 

 the dog was secured to a lead, and this ran on a line extend- 

 ing the 120 yards, as it was not fixed near the fence, and 

 a rather long lead ; the dog did practically one-half of the 

 sentry work of the enclosure. 



(Signed) C. Monk, 



O.C. Det., Verwood Magazine. 



The next report confirms this opinion : 



Thorne 

 I beg to report that the dogs I had under my charge at 

 Thorne rendered very valuable assistance to the sentries 

 on duty, especially during the night. 



