European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 7, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday july 7, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 of doggedly pursues training goals demand High for qualified canines by Richard iia Loran Lackland fab Texas nvt1 _ the air Force which  trains working dogs for the military services and Federal agencies is having a hard Lime keeping up with a rapidly growing demand. Officers Here said All the services want More Piral dogs 10 guard against intruders Miff out ilm cil drugs and select explosives. The secret service wants the for help in protecting the president and other officials. The Federal aviation administration wants them for finding bombs and the department of agriculture wants them for detecting illegally transported food. The defense department s dog Center Here shipped 417 dogs in the 1985 fiscal year which ended last sept. 30. But has provided 553 dogs to ill customers already in this fiscal year. The present backlog is 500 do Down somewhat from 720 two years ago. Meantime 300 dogs Are in the dog Center under observation by veterinarians and 100 More Are at a training site on this sprawling base. Of the latter 200 dog Are in training the remainder Are experience dogs used to train new dog handlers. Beyond the demand the Supply of dogs fit for Mili tary service has dropped so much in he United states that the air Force Nai been sending search teams to Europe especially Germany to find suitable animals. We were really having rouble said col. Teddy r. Lowe who is in charge of buying dogs. America Breeden Are More interested in dogs for show or Hunt ing while european breeders favor working dogs he hid. Competition from stale and local police Force who want dogs has added to the shortage. German shepherds make the Best military dogs but rottweilers Bouvier Des randers giant schnauzers Reagan Democrat for next president voters say in poll and belgian Malinis arc also accepted. Some dogs Are recruited locally More from owners who Send them Inland the major to Are recruited by search teams on buying trips. Tough standards also make it difficult to find Suita ble dogs. Of the 1,729 dogs evaluated last year only383 were selected. Of those rejected about two thirds were disqualified because they were gun shy were to aggressive or not aggressive enough or were medically unfit. Suitable dogs Cost around Moo cach. A prospective military dog is first tested when a handler fires Blank pistol shots. If the dog is startled or curious about the noise he passes. If he is afraid he is out. To test for aggression a dog is agitated by a trained handler. If the dog stands its ground or snaps or strains at its Leash to get at the agitator t can be used. If the dog cowers or wants to play or if it is uncontrollable it is rejected. Finally a veterinarian measures the dog to see if it is 22 inches tall and weighs s5 pounds checks for Para Sites and particularly examines the dog for the Elbow and knee arthritis that is common to Large Breeds. At the training site. Chief Petty officer Lisa l. Homan of the Navy oversees the Basic training of dogs and handlers. Unlike the sentry dogs of Vietnam which were trained to distrust All humans but their handlers today s patrol dogs Are taught to obey specific commands. Whether on the Leash or Loose the dog is taught 10slay, to watch its handler if a suspect is taken to attack on command and to break off the attack on command. Each dog is Given a great Deal of affection homa says Andry warded when it performs properly. With that attention a balanced diet and constant checking by veterinarians she says military dogs get belter care than 90 percent of the pets in the United  the key to teaching military policemen to handle dogs she says is to train them to read a dog s sign1 because each dog is  some perk their Ean up others Lay them Back when tensions Rise. Dogs with especially Good senses of smell become drug sniffers. Over nine weeks they Are exposed to the doors of four common drugs including marijuana when the dog finds the drug it is taught to sit Down and is rewarded with food and affection from the Han Dler. The Best dogs Are chosen 10 Silt out nine kinds of explosives. We put the dogs with the Besl noses on explosives says a handler because we can t afford to make a mistake. We can miss a drug and catch it later. You can t do thai with a  the technique for finding drugs and bombs is the same with the handler guiding the search and often being Able to Tell where a bomb is by the Way the dog Points. But our Job is done after that a handler says. And we get oui of there and Call the bomb  dogs that become military dogs at the age of i to 3 years Are Good until they Are about 8, Lowe says. Then they begin to slow Down with age and the fatigue of a rigorous life. Such dogs Are brought Back to  they work with new dog handlers. We Don t put dogs Down said Lowe and a Don t give them  noting protests Over dogs and other animals being used for medical research the col Onel adds emphatically and they Are not used in  Washington Dpi americans want the next president to continue Ron Ald Reagan i policies but they want that chief executive to be a Democrat who is slightly right of Center a poll released saturday showed. The poll of 1,000 americans con ducted for . News & world report and Cable news network showed voters want a Reagan  forty five percent said a 1988 presidential Candi Date should be moderately conservative while 24 percent said their candidate would be moderately Liberal. Twelve percent said they want a candidate who is quite conservative and 8 percent would vote for someone who ii quite Liberal the poll said. Although More of those polled preferred a moderate conservative 37 per River flow to be halted to fill chinese Reservoir peking a the upper reaches of China s 2,900-mile-Long yellow River will run dry for More than three month when the River s flow is lopped w fill up a Reservoir the offi Cial English language China daily re ported saturday. The paper said ii will take about 105 Days to fill the Longyang Xia dam i Western China s plan Gijai province once the project begins in october. During this period areas of Ginsu. Sea anti. Eastern a Ghai no Gaia and inner Mongolia will face serious Short Ages of hydroelectric Power and water for irrigation and drinking the China daily said. Cent said democrats should control the White House and 30 percent chose re publicans. But 46 percent said they would like to Sec the next president continue Reagan s policies while 37 percent said the nation should head in a different direction. Half the democrats polled said they wanted to see a conservative in the White House and nearly a third favored continuing Reagan s policies. Were i running for president in 19ssi sure As Heck would do everything i could to get myself seen As a moderate somewhat to the right of Center said Everett Ladd president of the Roper Center for Public opinion research which conducted the Survey. The poll also asked what qualities in a candidate Are most important 94 per cent said honesty 87 percent said Intelli gence 74 percent said communication skills 52 percent said political experience 33 percent said political philosophy and 23 percent Laid political party. Despite the results of the poll television evangelist Pat Robertson who has said he will decide by september whether to run for president told . News tens of thousands of people at rallies have been cheering go for it " in an interview with the Magazine Robertson said he was encouraged by his Strong showing in the first stage of Mich Igan s Delegate selection process. But 1 Don t want to be a declared candidate at this Point because it would mean that my broadcasting Days would be Over and i would Hale to do that said Robertson who hosts the "700 our on his Christian broadcasting network. Marlene and the superhero a Phou spider Man of Tot comic trip and of the baud Nuj us Pond at their hoi Marine Dietrich of the Moran Mihuc Lywood Manto Thoush Olhan to it the nil of an  building in  tune uld by Soiu dts Meldorf Germany. The residents prefer meet Flag More