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F.O.B. SPERWAN GHAR, Afghanistan - Sniffing out bombs that kill and maim hundreds of Western soldiers in Afghanistan each year is a game for Eggy, rewarded with a lightly boiled chicken breast.
"It's as simple as that, she just wants to go out and have fun," said Sinisa "Bullet" Erkman, a Croatian who works as the handler for the five-year-old German shepherd.
But her games helped save lives, and when the Canadian forces she works with head home next month, their U.S. replacements hope to recruit even more canine help.
"There should be more (dogs) than the Canadians have; their arrival is just a matter of space," said Captain Sean Allred, who is taking command of Forward Operating Base Sperwan Ghar, currently crammed with both U.S. and Canadian troops.
Eggy and the other sniffer dogs she works with are mascot, protection, and a reminder of home all rolled into one for the troops they serve.
"This is my second tour and it made a big difference having the dogs, rather than having to send a guy to poke a suspected IED (improvised explosive device)," said Corporal Louis Larivierre, using the military's standard name for the bombs.
On the smaller combat outposts, where soldiers are more isolated and there is only one dog, Eggy was so spoiled that Erkman sometimes had to ask the soldiers to ignore her for a couple of days, to remind her who is in control.
"I expected to come in one day and find her sitting at a table drinking a coffee and smoking a cigarette; she was so comfortable. She was like a queen," he said.
NOT JUST HOLDING A LEASH
Crucial to the dogs' success is their ties with their handlers. Erkman has to be able to read every nuance of Eggy's behavior so he can spot when she finds a bomb or has stopped looking from boredom or exhaustion.
"You're not just someone walking behind the dog, you are someone who can read and interpret the dog," said Scott Allison, an American who is on his fourth tour in Afghanistan.
Each handler works with only one dog, and the elite canine-human teams spend more time together than many human couples, although the dogs are owned by a company, not the handlers.
Eggy stopped eating when Erkman went on holiday in May -- and he cut off a break in Istanbul to return to doling out her daily rations. The food didn't change, but she wolfed it down.
"It's as simple as that, she just wants to go out and have fun," said Sinisa "Bullet" Erkman, a Croatian who works as the handler for the five-year-old German shepherd.
But her games helped save lives, and when the Canadian forces she works with head home next month, their U.S. replacements hope to recruit even more canine help.
"There should be more (dogs) than the Canadians have; their arrival is just a matter of space," said Captain Sean Allred, who is taking command of Forward Operating Base Sperwan Ghar, currently crammed with both U.S. and Canadian troops.
Eggy and the other sniffer dogs she works with are mascot, protection, and a reminder of home all rolled into one for the troops they serve.
"This is my second tour and it made a big difference having the dogs, rather than having to send a guy to poke a suspected IED (improvised explosive device)," said Corporal Louis Larivierre, using the military's standard name for the bombs.
On the smaller combat outposts, where soldiers are more isolated and there is only one dog, Eggy was so spoiled that Erkman sometimes had to ask the soldiers to ignore her for a couple of days, to remind her who is in control.
"I expected to come in one day and find her sitting at a table drinking a coffee and smoking a cigarette; she was so comfortable. She was like a queen," he said.
NOT JUST HOLDING A LEASH
Crucial to the dogs' success is their ties with their handlers. Erkman has to be able to read every nuance of Eggy's behavior so he can spot when she finds a bomb or has stopped looking from boredom or exhaustion.
"You're not just someone walking behind the dog, you are someone who can read and interpret the dog," said Scott Allison, an American who is on his fourth tour in Afghanistan.
Each handler works with only one dog, and the elite canine-human teams spend more time together than many human couples, although the dogs are owned by a company, not the handlers.
Eggy stopped eating when Erkman went on holiday in May -- and he cut off a break in Istanbul to return to doling out her daily rations. The food didn't change, but she wolfed it down.
