Military Working Dogs in training

They might look cute and cuddly, but Military Working Dogs are all business when it comes to doing their jobs.

In Yuma, some dogs from the Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy train at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground before being deployed with the handlers to work various jobs overseas.

YPG is an Army test facility located about 24 miles north of Yuma, off Highway 95. And since April 2007, YPG has been home to the Military Working Dog Team Deployment Training Course.

Chief instructor Staff Sgt. Brian Burgess said YPG is perfect because it closely mimics some parts of the Middle East, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, where U.S. troops are currently deployed.

"The environment is untouchable," Burgess said.

The only base that comes close is Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., he said.

From all over the U.S., teams of handlers and dogs train at the course, designed to help the Military Working Dogs (MWDs) prepare for situations they could encounter downrange. They train to find explosive ordnance and work in the tough environment.

At YPG, they're able to simulate gunfire, high temperatures and other things that test the teams' ability to function in a very different environment than on base in the U.S.

Here, the teams perform training exercises in a simulated town at YPG, all under the "fire" of a simulated 50-caliber rifle.

"You can know real quick if a dog cannot take gunfire," he said.

A lot of the terrain is similar, right down to the unpaved roads in the nearly 1,400 square miles of desert environment at YPG.

Marine Cpl. Mark Behl, stationed at Twentynine Palms, is currently in the course at YPG.

With six years in the military as a dog handler and several years on the civilian side, Behl said the conditions at YPG are very realistic.

Behl said that helps a lot.

And while every team can react differently, Burgess said, they try to introduce and prepare the teams for the rigors of combat.

"It is specifically designed to show the teams the capability and limitations of their team. We try to simulate everything you can think of."

Burgess said there's a screening process involved for both the handlers and the dogs.

"It takes a special person to get behind a dog," Burgess said. "At the end of the day, it's our job to locate the devices."

Most of the MWDs that come through the course are trained for both patrol and explosive detection.

And while they all work most of the time, Burgess said they still get time to "be a dog."

It's important that the teams have to keep thinking about the reward at the end, he said.

"The possibility that you finding something that keeps people safe, that's the ultimate reward. Today could be the day you find it."