Section V. ROAD CLEARING PROBLEMS 



98. General 



Mine and tunnel dogs have proven to be a valu- 

 able combat asset on road clearing operations. 

 Dogs in combination with engineer mine detec- 

 tor teams provide the best insurance against 

 mines. 



99. Requirements 



Road clearance problems should begin on second- 

 ary dirt roads about 15 feet wide. As the dogs 

 progress, training can be moved to 30-foot wide 

 roads. If available, the dogs can be worked on 

 hard surface roads. 



100. Roads 15-Feet Wide 



Road clearing problems can be conducted in the 

 same manner as training lanes. Antitank mines 

 are placed in the roadbed, or booby traps may be 

 placed along the roadside. Depending on wind 

 direction and the instructor's judgment, the dogs 

 may work in their individual search patterns, 



Section VI. OPEN 



103. General 



All operations using mine and tunnel dog teams 

 will not be conducted on road and trails. Since 

 the team must operate wherever the infantry 

 s, the dogs must be able to work open fields. 



104. Requirements 



A good training area for these problems would be 

 a relatively level, grassy field, approximately 

 1,000 by 3,000 meters, bordered by woodlines. 

 The field should contain some bushes and trees. 



105. Procedure 



a. Introductory problems should be limited to 

 short (200 to 300 meters) straight-line lanes. 



b. There should be no discernable path across 



or the handlers can work their dogs along the 

 downwind edge of the road. 



101. Roads 30-Feet Wide 



a. Due to the greater area to be covered, it is 

 usually necessary to work the dog in a zigzag 

 pattern, unless there is a good crosswind. For 

 those dogs that normally work in a fairly straight 

 line, targets may be emplaced in a left-right-left 

 pattern, so the dog will have to zigzag. 



b. In some operations, minesweep teams may 

 work on the road, while mine and tunnel dog 

 teams work along the roadside. On some prob- 

 lems the dogs should be worked along the down- 

 wind side of the road or off the road, with all 

 targets on that side. 



102. Hard Surface Roads 



On these roads, if there are mines beneath them, 

 dogs will most likely be unable to detect any- 

 thing. Again, the dogs are worked along the 

 downwind side of the road or off the road. 



FIELD PROBLEMS 



the field for the dog to follow. The handler will 

 be given a terrain feature to guide on, and will 

 work his dog toward that point. 



c. Dogs should be encouraged to work 50 to 75 

 meters ahead of their handlers. 



d. Personnel setting targets must not walk on 

 the route the team will follow. They should move 

 on a parallel track, 5 to 10 meters downwind, 

 and turn in to place their targets. 



e. When working their dogs, handlers must 

 be reminded that the so-called "safe lane" cleared 

 by their dogs consists only of that ground their 

 dogs have walked over (fig 54). Under most op- 

 erational conditions, this "safe lane" is consid- 

 ered to be 3 to 4 meters wide, upwind of the 

 line of march, unless the dog can be worked in 

 a wide zigzag pattern (fig 55). 



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