Attack Dog - History

History

Early in recorded history there are records of dogs being trained for the purpose of attacking a target. One of the most well-recorded ancient uses was in a battle between the Athenians and Corinthians, in which dogs were used to keep watch over a fortress and despite being unsuccessful in opposing an enemy attack, were able to alert the sleeping soldiers to the attack. Ancient Romans first adopted the use of dogs as a weapon after hordes of dogs delayed their victory in the Battle of Versella. The Romans not only trained them to attack, but also bred their attack dogs for ferocity. The effect of this was documented by Roman naturalist and writer Pliny the Elder, who wrote that the animals would not back down, even when confronted by swords. The Roman attack dogs were given metal armour covered in razor-sharp spikes, designed to force the enemy out of formation.

Napoleon utilised dogs for their superior senses, putting them to work in roles similar to that of modern sentry dogs. The first use of attack dogs in United States of America was suggested by Benjamin Franklin. In South Africa under Apartheid, the South African Defence Force used wolf-dog hybrids as experimental attack dogs to combat guerillas. These hybrids were bred from German shepherds and wolves from the Urals. The first of these hybrids was a male born in 1978 named Jungle, who remained in service until 1989.