The animals in this world are incalculably numerous. Among them is a vast variety of specializations, and many are smarter than dogs. Why, then, did dogs outshine all the others and become humankind's working companion?

Why dogs find happiness in aiding the work of people can be revealed by the natural characteristics with which they are born. Taiwan University Department of Animal Husbandry's professor Sung Yung-i points out that dogs are territorial and obedient animals. Canine society contains hierarchical rankings, and the lesser ranking dogs obey the greater ranking ones. Dogs were the earliest pets to be raised by man. Sung Yung-i theorizes that the reason dogs submit their wills to their owner is that they view humans as being of the same kind; moreover, they view their owner as an elder.

What is even more interesting is that dogs hold people of the same household at different levels of esteem. Sung Yung-i explains that a dog usually believes that its real, number-one master is not the one who feeds it, but the one who washes and grooms it. The reason for this is simple: feeding a dog is easy; anyone can give it food, but not just anyone is willing to go through such trouble as giving a dog a bath.

Moreover, once a dog fixes in its mind who its master is, it will never change its mind as long as it lives. Animal behavior specialist K.G. Lorenz in his book King Solomon's Ring describes the loyal dog as having eyes that "mark your coming and look brighter when you come." Lorenz further elaborates that a dog's "...whole powers of concentration are bent on serving his master.... Personal friendship means everything to a dog."

Besides recognizing people as their masters, the reason dogs can be trained to aid human labor can be attributed to their perfectly suitable evolution. Sung Yung-i points out that dogs are single stomached, omnivorous mammals with a relatively high I.Q. Their level of evolution approaches that of primates, yet at the same time they are not as complicated. A good example of primates is the monkey. Monkeys are smart and loyal and can be trained, but they are not too useful. Because a monkey has a mind of its own and often gets angered, it is not easily controlled. Dogs have a perfectly fitting level of intelligence, not so excessive to be untrainable, making them valuable working partners.

Drug detection dogs can immediately tell, within a pile of luggage, which suitcase is hiding drugs, scratching in its direction and barking.

Exceeding people power:

A dog's sense of hearing and smell exceeds that of humans. Already mankind has succeeded in developing many kinds of working dogs. The most often seen are the common domestic security dogs, generally known as "watchdogs." Because dogs were originally nocturnal animals, they still by nature sleep lightly at night and are very well suited for security work.

Hunting dogs are a sportsman's fine companion. They not only can use their keen sense of smell to hunt down prey, but also are good at giving chase and can swiftly seek out fowl that their master has shot down, carrying them back in their mouths.

The sled dog labors in arctic regions. It is said that in Eskimo society, a man will trade even his wife for a good sled dog. Rescue dogs specialize in saving people in trouble in the mountains. In Switzerland, two rescue dogs work as a team. After they discover a victim in the snow, one dog huddles close by the victim's side, helping him stay warm, while the other dog runs home to spread the alert. Working cooperatively, they complete their mission. Shepherd dogs guard livestock in their owner's stead. Seeing eye dogs replace walking sticks for the blind, becoming a blind person's most faithful friend.

Besides all these, there are also police dogs who aid the police in their duties and military police dogs used by the armed services. These two kinds of working dogs have jobs of a more dangerous nature, even to the point of giving their lives for duty's sake.

In the field of performing arts, there are also many working dogs. Perhaps they can be called "show dogs." Fitting in this category are dogs used in circuses and on television and canine stars of motion pictures.

Today's society has witnessed a profusion of guns. Training in snatching guns from a criminal's hand has become part of a police dog's required curriculum.

Idle heroes:

In Taiwan the most well-known working canine is the police dog. In June of 1986, the First Peace Preservation Police Corps mapped out the formation of a canine division. The police dogs' principal mission was to prevent drug smuggling, detect explosive materials, chase down murder suspects, and so forth.

Currently the canine division is comprised of 13 police officers, 29 dogs in the team, and 13 dogs undergoing training. The dogs in the team pull a salary in food of NT$1800 a month, and the trainee dogs receive somewhat less.

The canine division is a unit of assistance and, therefore, can not take action on its own initiative. Because of this the police dogs, when they are not hunting out contraband, could be said to be idle heroes. They wait, with little opportunity to demonstrate their considerable skills. As a matter of honor, every police unit strives to solve its challenges by itself, and only as a last resort does anyone think of calling for the canine division. An example is the effort to help find wanted criminals in the mountains of Chuchi Rural Township, Chiayi County. Only after the humans failed to find the fugitives did they call in the dogs. Over 200 people were tramping about the mountainside, "like traveling in a mountaineering party," as Tsai Chin-tsun describes it. The footprints had long been ruined when they arrived, and the police dogs could of course do nothing.

In January of this year the police dog team again went down south to Chiayi. The mission this time was to find a corpse in a large stand of sugar cane. Four officers and four dogs spent an entire day searching in the sugar cane and came back with nothing. Canine division officer Tsao Hui-an relates that the dogs shouldn't be blamed, because the body simply was not in the sugar cane to begin with.

Fortunately, the results of the police dogs' work have not affected the canine division officers' sense of accomplishment. "First we were chased by the dogs all over the place; then we were knocked down and dragged around by the dogs on their leashes. Today, the dogs kindly obey our orders," canine division officer Shih Wen-sheng explains. This long process has yielded a strong feeling of achievement.

In filming "Pao Ching-tien," a scene requires a dog, carrying in its mouth a letter written in blood, to stop a palanquin. In order to avoid a misshoot, the trainer practices the scene with the dog several times before filming begins. （photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang）

Work amidst play:

Starting in May of 1991, the police dogs formally entered into the fight against drugs, helping to detect drug smuggling at Chiang Kai Shek International Airport. Canine division chief Tsai Chin-tsun explains that, owing to the limitations of personnel and dogs, they are only able to inspect the luggage of passengers arriving from Thailand, or those originating from Thailand and transiting through Hong Kong.

Drug detection is an extended application of the searching skill. For any dog that has undergone training in drug identification, this kind of duty is not in the least relaxing. Each dog in the canine division is trained specifically to detect a different kind of drug.

Sniffing out drugs amidst the numerous odors of perfume, coffee, beef jerky, tea leaves, soap and so forth is not only difficult; it often simply bores the dog. What makes the dog even less interested is that the drug, once discovered, is of no use to it whatsoever.

Early on in Japan the method used to train dogs to search out drugs was to give the drugs to the dog. After it was addicted, its own strong craving would entice it to hunt for the contraband. This method. however, is not quite ideal. Firstly, the drugs too easily killed the creatures, and the periods of drug craving were not easily controlled. Secondly, this kind of treatment to man's best friend seemed too inhumane.

Now the usual method of training is to raise the dog to participate in games of picking up objects, such as balls or frisbees. Then they train them to associate the odor of the drug with that object. In other words, the drug detection dogs believe that they are using their sense of smell to sniff out their favorite play toy, not morphine or heroine.

In June of this year a cocker spaniel made a big catch. At the time the police, having obtained some intelligence, suspected that some pieces of import cargo might be hiding drugs. Because this cargo was wooden sculpture, the police did not dare to haphazardly break them open. They called for canine assistance, and the cocker spaniel verified their suspicions. The wooden sculpture, once opened, indeed contained drugs.

This was the first real success after two years of work by the drug detection canines. Although the police dogs' record is not so impressive on paper, in actuality once the dogs started taking part in inspection the increased threat has made drug dealers wary of becoming too rampant. Tsai Chin-tsun points out that since they started using German shepherds in the basement of the arrival area to filter bonded baggage, drug smugglers have started to risk the danger of passing customs with the drugs on their persons or hidden in carry-on luggage.

Because of this the canine division also added a few more gentle labradors and cocker spaniels to help in the arrival inspection room, so as not to frighten arriving visitors.

The military dog is a soldier's good companion, indispensable for watch guards on coastal defense. （Sinorama file photo）

A dog bites Pao Ching-tien:

Police dogs earn people's solemn respect, but what makes a deeper mark in one's memory is none other than the television star dog.

In the currently popular prime time serial drama "Pao Ching-tien" (about an incorruptible judge of ancient times), a loyal dog named Achi has made its appearance. Achi, whose real name is Tony, is a common Taiwanese dog, one year eight months in age and currently studying at the Global Dog Training Academy. The academy's director, Shen Chi-tung, reveals that originally the casting director had a German shepherd in mind for the part. "Pao Ching-tien," however, is a reenactment of the Sung dynasty era, and in those days there were no foreign dogs, so that idea was discarded.

Tony's acting has not only brought glory to the academy but has also shed a little limelight upon its loving master. Nevertheless, separating the good guys from the bad guys in an intricate plot is after all beyond the dog's comprehension. In the course of acting, some comical errors are unavoidable. During the shooting of a few night scenes, Tony took the black-faced protagonist Pao Ching-tien to be the villain and several times opened his mouth to bite him. Luckily, Chin Chao-chun, who plays the role of Pao Ching-tien, got out of the way quickly; otherwise, one does not dare imagine what could have happened.

When the student is acting, the instructor must stay by its side all the time. Tony's acting fee for one session (eight hours) is NT$7000, just enough to pay for glucose injections to replenish its strength. But Shen Chi-tung explains that having Tony appear on television produces a lot of interest in training dogs. This is more meaningful than the wages he draws.

When military dogs undergo training, man and dog move as one, forming a most interesting picture. （photo by Cheng Yuan-ching）

Fire dogs and seeing eyes:

Some dogs don't need training, they are naturally born with a desire to work. "Little Spot" of the Kuting fire station in Taipei is an interesting example. Three years ago a stray dog hid under the fire truck in the Kuting fire station. The fire fighters fed it, and slowly it became a part of the fire fighting team.

Being imperceptibly influenced by what it heard and saw, Little Spot has learned, at the first sound of a telephone or a bell ringing, or seeing the fire fighters busying in departure, to voluntarily take part in the fire fighting work. It quickly runs outside of the fire station to direct traffic, unceasingly barking to warn oncoming people and vehicles as the fire trucks exit the station.

However, some working dogs in Taiwan never get a chance to put their skills to use. Sled dogs are able to adjust to their harsh environment and work in snowy regions. Some people bring them into Taiwan and train them in ways that put their great talent to little effect, for instance, as attack dogs, watch dogs and other such security work.

Several countries have already managed to effectively use dogs to guide the blind, but in Taiwan some obstacles still remain to achieving this. Last year the Committee for the Blind of Taiwan brought in twenty-odd labrador dogs that were suitable to be trained to lead the blind. They attempted to train the dogs but never succeeded in finding a qualified instructor. Presently, because these dogs have not been properly taken care of, half have died. Most of them are also over a year old, and the most effective age for training has been missed.

This year the Committee for the Blind of Taiwan tried again, bringing in a fully trained seeing eye dog and four pups. In order to breed and train them, they also have brought in a certified seeing eye dog training instructor from Australia, planning within two or three years to raise Taiwan's first batch of seeing eye dogs for the benefit of blind people.

However, as Nishiki Kinzo, a Japanese seeing eye dog trainer who was invited to Taiwan at the end of last year, once expressed, Taiwan's traffic is too disorderly, and even people with perfect vision have a hard time walking around. There ought to be a cautious appraisal of how to foster the mobility of seeing eye dogs. Today the level of chaos on Taipei's streets is by no means any less than it was last year. By the time the dogs are trained, how will they be able to walk down the street? Miss Huang of the Committee for the Blind of Taiwan's seeing eye dog team remarks, "Who knows what problems we will encounter in the future? We'll overcome them as they arise." It will still be some time before the blind people of Taiwan will be able to walk down the street, guided by their own seeing eye dog.

Mounting a 180 centimeter wall holding a one kilogram dumbbell in their mouths: this kind of difficult maneuvering is the curriculum of the "advanced class.".

Prework training:

Dogs are not born with occupational skills; first they must go through prework training. Currently Taiwan's military dogs receive special training at the Northwest Military Dog Training Center. The First Peace Preservation Police Corps' canine division is responsible for training police dogs. Besides these two public training "schools," there are also a few private "schools" that receive commissions from private individuals to train working dogs. Actually, public and private schools have a deep connection. A few of the schools were established by retired members of the military dog training center. Also, when the police canine division was first formed, they trained both the people and the dogs by relying on the long experience of private dog schools.

The Northwest Military Dog Training Center was established in 1957. The duties of the military dogs were closely related to confidential information of the national government. Because of this, it is impossible to deeply explore the details behind their mysterious veil. However, it is known that their principal duty is security patrol.

It is said that some men on an outer island once received the aid of a military dog when they were in the army The man who was standing guard dozed off, and something bad happened. A nearby dog sensed this and barked to wake up the guard, helping to avert catastrophe.

The Committee for the Blind of Taiwan brought in an adult seeing eye dog and pups, hoping to educate guide dogs fit for the Taiwan environment to guide the blind people of Taiwan. （photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang）

Teaching according to the student's abilities:

Each dog's innate qualities are different. Not every dog can be a champion, nor can every dog make a good working dog. What are taken for qualities in a dog are actually its natural temperament. As Huang Te-kuang, director of the Northwest Military Dog Training Center, points out, the greater a dog's obedience, its desire to bite, its fighting spirit, its willingness to attack, and its stubbornness, the greater its chances of success.

A good example is the skill of searching. Although a dog's sense of smell is by nature quite acute, not every dog can rely on its nose to do work. Dogs, like people, should be taught according to their ability to learn. But who is to judge whether a dog is suitable to be trained in the craft of searching? After over 30 years of contact with dogs, director of the Global Dog Training Academy Shen Chi-tung points out that one can discern this from the shape of a dog's snout and its everyday behavior. If a dog's snout is thick and wide and it especially loves to sniff things, then that indicates that it has a gift in this field and a skill worth cultivating.

Conversely, some dogs simply can not be "educated." Huang Te-kuang calls this kind, "mad dogs." Most dogs after one or two weeks of contact are able to obey. But no one can even approach the "mad dogs," let alone train them. Unlucky is the master that owns this kind of dog, who is willing to pay a tuition of NT$13,000 to NT$15,000 per month to send his dog to school, and all the while the dog is predestined to drop out.

Lying down in a line, what are they waiting for? These dogs have receive d strict training, and after hearing their master's command to "Lie down," they quietly prostrate themselves in anticipation, not daring to disobey.

Happiness in work:

Different dogs have different talents and are suited to different work. For example, Akitas, German shepherds, Japanese terriers, Rottweilers, and other similarly shaped large dogs make good guards. Poodles, shih tzus and other such little canines make good entertainment dogs. English hunting dogs and medium sized Japanese dogs are suitable for hunting; German shepherds and Saint Bernards are fit for herding sheep. For guiding the blind, German shepherds and labradors serve well.

Ability varies among individuals within the same type of dog. Nevertheless, it is generally agreed that German shepherds are overall the smartest and the most easily trained. Not only do they possess intelligence and stamina, they also find happiness in work. Because of this, most military and police canine teams prefer to use German shepherds.

No matter what kind of dog it is, intelligence and the desire to work are the two mandatory qualities. Huang Te-kuang describes dogs with a strong love of work "deeply addicted." Of course, no one is really feeding the dogs any drugs. This kind of dog responds to the master's call to work with as much excitement as if it were craving a drug.

Just as people have an age that is best for going to school, so dogs have a certain time in their life when they most easily can be trained. Generally speaking, it is best for a dog to start training by the time it is six months old. A dog has a life expectancy of more than 10 years. The period between six months to one and a half years are a dog's adolescence, and it is also the best time for training. After this time a dog's personality becomes set and it is difficult to train. From a year and a half to the age of seven is a dog's prime of life, the age most suitable for work.

Coaxing a dog is like coaxing a girl:

"Be gentle yet strict" is the number one order for training a working dog. Huang Te-kuang thus describes coaxing a dog: "When it's time to be gentle, it's just like coaxing a girl." But when it has acted wrongly, one must give it fitting punishment; one must never spoil it or be soft when reprimanding it.

Does a dog necessarily need to be trained? Some people maintain a skeptical attitude toward training. Sung Yung-i believes that in rearing a dog the end does not justify the means; nonetheless, in most circumstances training serves to invigorate a dog toward reaching its potential and has no ill effects.

A dog's master can train his pet independently in a few basic movements. For further exercises at a more difficult level, perhaps a professional dog trainer's help is needed. In other countries owner and dog receive training together, but in Taiwan only the animal goes to school. (They are required to "board at school.") Because of this, some people inevitably fear that the dog will take the trainer to be the master and not recognize the original owner. According to the animal studies expert Lorenz, once a dog recognizes a person as its owner, throughout its whole life, it will not change its mind.

Sung Yung-i voices his opinion on the question of seniority. He believes that if a dog has already imprinted a viewpoint of the owner as master, then the trainer can only take a secondary position. Of course, it is possible that the dog recognizes the trainer as master and the owner can only reluctantly occupy second place in the dog's heart.

In any case, trainers admit that dogs, upon returning home after "graduation," behave differently than they do at school. Huang Te-kuang estimates that after the owner takes over mastering the dog, performance is at a level of about 80 percent of that in school.

Nearby bodyguard:

Actually, the level of loyalty in most dogs is already enough to compel them to protect their master. The dog-loving Huang Te-kuang and his wife Shao Hsiou-lan are never without a canine by their side. No matter where they go, be it shopping or travel, they always have a few dogs accompanying them as bodyguards.

Huang Te-kuang laughingly recalls, "One time at night I was lost in Hwalien, and I saw a young man running along the road. I stopped the car to ask him directions. To my surprise, as soon as I opened the door, he climbed in the car. Before I realized what was happening, the dog that was sitting in the back seat let out a warning growl. I hastily warned the young man that I wouldn't be responsible if he got bit. As soon as the boy heard that, he quickly ran away."

Most of the dogs sent to school are male. Huang Te-kuang believes that this is because humans apply a sexual bias to dogs. "Most people think that female dogs are meant for breeding and male dogs are meant for work," Huang Te-kuang says, without much agreement. In fact, female dogs are more cautious, and they should not be discounted from being able to work.

Besides dogs, people are beginning to open up to other kinds of working animals. For example, the United States Navy has already had some success training dolphins. They trained the dolphins to locate torpedoes or submarines in the ocean. Once the dolphins find an object, they issue back a sonar report.

Dogs have been man's best friend for several thousands of years, and a dog's value should not be judged by its role as a "working partner" but its role as a loyal friend that never changes. Otherwise, animal protection advocates might protest human violation of "animal labor laws."

[Picture Caption]

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Drug detection dogs can immediately tell, within a pile of luggage, which suitcase is hiding drugs, scratching in its direction and barking.

p.36

Today's society has witnessed a profusion of guns. Training in snatching guns from a criminal's hand has become part of a police dog's required curriculum.

p.37

In filming "Pao Ching-tien," a scene requires a dog, carrying in its mouth a letter written in blood, to stop a palanquin. In order to avoid a misshoot, the trainer practices the scene with the dog several times before filming begins. (photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang)

p.38

The military dog is a soldier's good companion, indispensable for watch guards on coastal defense. (Sinorama file photo)

p.39

When military dogs undergo training, man and dog move as one, forming a most interesting picture. (photo by Cheng Yuan-ching)

p.40

Mounting a 180 centimeter wall holding a one kilogram dumbbell in their mouths: this kind of difficult maneuvering is the curriculum of the "advanced class."

p.41

The Committee for the Blind of Taiwan brought in an adult seeing eye dog and pups, hoping to educate guide dogs fit for the Taiwan environment to guide the blind people of Taiwan. (photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang)

p.42

Lying down in a line, what are they waiting for? These dogs have receive d strict training, and after hearing their master's command to "Lie down," they quietly prostrate themselves in anticipation, not daring to disobey.

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Wearing cute costumes and performing stunts, a show dog works hard for the merriment of the public. (photo by Cheng Yuan-ching)

K9 Fact File

Most people are not too familiar with the many varieties of dogs. Perhaps neither do they entirely comprehend dogs' extraordinary innate faculties.

A dog's snout has many folds, and the area of contact with the air is

30 times greater than a human's. Even more special is that a dog is extremely sensitive to the bodily odors of other animals. It can differentiate between the sweat, oils, and various other secretions on the skin of other animals.

A dog's sense of hearing is 60 times greater than a human being's. Experiments reveal that people can hear the sound of a small metal ball hitting a metal plate from a distance of six meters. A dog can detect the same sound at 24 meters.