Unleashing the dogs of war

Working dogs have been used in conflict for time immemorial. The ancient Egyptians and others employed dogs for defence and attack in battle. In Greek mythology, the Trojan hero Aeneas mentions that they were also used to carry despatches in their collars. The Romans not only used dogs as sentries at fortifications to warn the garrison of approaching enemies, but also hunting dogs clad in spiked armour to rout attacking enemies.

Over the centuries, military commanders deployed war dogs for a variety of applications, ranging from scouting and tracking to hunting down the enemy, but always on an ad hoc rather than an organised basis. Indeed, it was not until the last quarter of the 19th century that European armies began to take war dogs seriously and to train canine units to act as auxiliaries to troops.

In 1882, the Austrian army