TALLINN, Estonia – The handlers and dogs of the 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, British Army, from North London, successfully completed a familiarization flight aboard an AW159 Wildcat helicopter at an Estonia military training facility, Parnu County, Estonia, May 14, 2024 as part of exercise Swift Response 24.

Swift Response, a component of the larger DEFENDER 24 exercise, is a dynamic U.S. Army Europe & Africa led training exercise focused on allied airborne forces’ ability to quickly and effectively respond to crises as an interoperable, multi-national team.

“It’s really important for the dogs to have experienced, in a safe environment, what different vehicles sound like and feel like, especially helicopters, because they’re very unnatural for a dog,” Lt. Lucy Hardingham, veterinary officer and troop commander, 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, British Army, said. “We call it battle inoculation, or environmental training, just so then when they have to do it for real one day, they’re not completely stressed out, freaking out and then not able to do their actual job afterwards.”

Dogs within the regiment can be embedded into company groupings with Infantry Corps and can also provide security for any part of the army.

“They are a really adaptable force multiplier that we’ve got,” Hardingham said. “The patrol dogs themselves, they are trained in picking up an indication for intruders, and can both act as a sub lethal force as well as detain somebody through biting them, which is really important when you want to use the minimum amount of force required.”

While only three of the regiment’s dogs; Davis, Oscar and Guna, were at the training in Estonia, the regiment has other dogs trained in other tasks proving to be a vital asset to combat operations.

“We do have other dogs that provide sort of detection work, in terms of sniffing out for arms and explosives, also providing a high assurance search around with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams,” Hardingham said. “They do all sorts of different types of training and the handlers have to keep a record of it monthly, how many and how much time they spent on each activity, for example, obedience, as like a core foundation of their training agility to be able to keep up and to be able to patrol for extended periods of time.”

There is also night work and daytime work so the dogs are able perform their job both in the dark and during the daylight hours.

Hardingham said their main selling point is the ability to act as a force multiplier and and provide a high level of assurance in the detection and search capability by needing to use less troops on a sentry position, less troops watching detainees and also providing a combat support role by attaching onto anywhere that they can be helpful.

The regiment has done some training with the military police officers, they’ve worked with the engineers and also alongside the parachute regiment.

“A huge part of this is training them to be better at what they do…and myself as well,” Pvt. Amalie Phillips, 1st MWD Regiment, said. “You learn a lot from your dog, I have anyway, dealing with a dog is quite rewarding.”

Phillips’s dog Davis was previously non deployable, she described how Davis didn’t like the veterinarian’s office and how blood work was the first step to being deployed. Now she finds herself in Estonia supporting a NATO exercise and about to board a Wildcat.

“With the little wins you get the massive wins,” Phillips said. “It’s about getting your dog to a better standard.”

Hardingham praised her handlers and the work they put in to keep these dogs operational stating its no easy task.

“I think some people underestimate how much it actually takes to get these dogs up to standard, she said. “And while it can take months to train a dog, to then keep that dog at a good level is a real skill. It’s also worth highlighting how much effort the handlers have to put in and how skilled they have to be, not only to be able to keep up with their green skills all the time, but then they also have to do that with a dog.”

The 1st WMD Regiment conducted their training at the British Divisional Support Area established near Haapsalu, Estonia, as part of a follow-on operation to a Joint Forcible Entry exercise conducted with U.S. and Estonian forces.