Tyson trained service dogs for the army in Turkmenistan.
These are some of the dogs that Tyson trained:
- Ace
Tyson has only ever served on the front lines with one of the dogs he trained*, and that was with Ace. He was a German Shepherd with a plush tan & black coat. By the time that Tyson joined the front lines, Ace was already an old boy: reaching towards retirement but not quite there yet.
He only saw Ace for a handful of weeks, during a brief joint stationing before the old team were given leave and the First Bangalore Pioneers were given control of the compound. Ace served primarily as a patrol and attack dog. When he was off duty, Ace loved getting to play with a yellow squeaky chicken plush.
On September 2010, Ace was retired. He joined the program of former military service dogs to be re-homed to veterans, who could handle the requirements of a military dog and the PTSD that they can exhibit. In April 2011, Ace found his new home.
- Boots
Last dog Tyson trained with Hal Malone was a female Springer Spaniel called Boots. She was trained to track scents and primarily she was used as a bomb sniffer dog. Hal was the best man to call on for helping a dog take to water. The problem with Boots was convincing her to get back out of the water.
Boots took to the job like a duck to water, or an overly eager dog after a duck minding its own business in the water. She had a keen scent of smell, as expected of her breed, and had a good attention span for following a single scent for an extended period of time.
She was killed in action in 2013 by enemy fire during a sweep to clear bombs off of a transport route.
- Dodger
Dodger was a female German Shepherd with a solid black short coat.
Her time in the army was short lived. She passed all the temperament tests and responded well to training, but she was injured when following Tyson through an assault course. She missed the post she was supposed to stand on and tumbled down, breaking a bone in her front right leg.
Dodger eventually recovered enough to run a slow trot, but not to the speed required of an attack dog. She was early enough into her training, not even having begun bite training, to be sent to a standard shelter for adoption and found a new home as a family pet.
- Jack
Jack was originally a dog that Tyson trained for the army, but when he refused to take orders from anyone other than Tyson he was deemed unfit for service. Tyson agreed to take him in without hesitation and now he guards the family manor under Jasmine’s care.
Most who meet the black Doberman would call him cold, but Jack is a one-man dog: Tyson’s dog. With Tyson and Lily, he is loyal and friendly. He is slightly more reserved with Jasmine - who he is in the care of, most of the time - and Bobby, but still loyal and protective of both. Jack, like Lily, doesn’t seek affection and is more comfortable with having company to lay next to.
Tyson has a tracker on Jack’s purple collar. It’s not that he distrusts Jasmine or her ability to care for his dog, but it soothes Tyson’s anxiety to be able to check in on Jack from time to time.
- Nuke
Nuke was the last dog that Tyson trained before going to the front lines. She was a German Shepherd with a red sable, short coat.
There was nothing particularly special about Nuke, just one of many attack dogs that Tyson was tasked with training, but she was the last dog who’s training Tyson got to complete during his time in Turkmenistan.
As with all the dogs that Tyson trained, her photo is kept under his bed in the box with everything else from his days in the army: including a stolen file, his uniform, and a lot of photos with Colonel Moran, the other members of the First Bangalore Pioneers, and Captain Watson.
- Razor
On the 17th of May 2001, Razor caused the jagged scar on Tyson’s right wrist during bite training by biting into the arm without a protector on it. He was a German Shepherd from the first class of dogs that Tyson taught with a gold/tan sable, plush coat.
Tyson’s scars are largely smooth, but the dog bite on his right wrist is rough since it didn’t heal properly and Razor didn’t release as soon as he bit down. There wasn’t a doctor on base when Tyson was bitten and they had to wait for her to return from a supply run before it could be seen to properly.
It was difficult not being able to use his dominant hand while his wrist healed, as this was long before Tyson became near ambidextrous due to needing to cover the dent in his torso. He was very lucky that Razor didn’t do more permanent damage, given how the dog jerked Tyson’s arm around before finally relinquishing his hold.
Razor had gotten agitated from heatstroke and lashed out at Tyson, which is the same reason Tyson got the scar on his left shoulder from Lily too. Tyson blamed himself for not noticing that Razor was feeling off and, once Tyson recovered, the German Shepherd completed his training.
- Skipper
Skipper was the male Doberman with a red coat that Tyson was training whilst he was with Kim; trading in-compound chores with other soldiers to take their out-of-compound chores so that he would have an excuse to go and see Kimiko.
As such, Skipper is the dog that Tyson trained the least of all the dogs that were put under his care. Though Tyson traded chores, not training time, he often took the dog around with him when the chores would allow it. That way he could reinforce good behaviours and discourage bad behaviours outside of training time, without overtaxing the dog.
From what he remembers, Skipper was a good dog who struggled at heights, but would still listen to commands. Honestly though, Tyson’s memories of those months largely come down to: Kim! Kim is so pretty, and clever, and witty. I love Kim.
* Tyson has served with plenty of service dogs and handled their care as one of the service dog handlers on the front lines, but those were dogs that had been given their training by other people.