What about dogs?

[Professor Fate]

Remember they used them in Vietnam to a very good extent. A bloodhound would work and I guess a bird dog too. My friend has one trained. What do you guys think? Just like that hunter/hunted post a while back. In the story they used dogs after a while. I could even give him those orange hunting vests so it wouldn't hurt. Probably just another stupid idea of mine. Let me know what you think.

[jmac1025]

Yea...what if the dog decides it doesnt like guns/some person, and rips the person in half? I know my dog hates guns.... I never shot him, either. I got my m15 in the mail. He was sitting next to me, all happy, sniffing the box as i opened it. When i lift out the gun, he ran, and hid.

[Iceman]

Dude, if the dog is trained for hunting, it won't have a problem with guns. At any rate, anything that is brought onto the field should be able to be shot. Do you want your dog to be shot?? Think about this a little.

[Texx]

I think this is an altogether bad idea.

Dogs are highly defensive of their master. I think it is entirely possible that the dog might attack someone it percieved as being a threat to its master. I know that may seem silly, but my dog attacked my step son because he hit me in the head with a paper towel tube.

This also brings up the Humane aspects. How would we protect the dog from being injured -- shot in the eye, face, etc. Do you really want to risk the health of a dog just to add "realism" to a game?

I gotta say, this is just a bad idea.

[Spook]

The LRRP dog was a highly trained animal. I doubt any of us have dogs trained in the same manner. The animal would need specially designed eye, snout and ear protection. Please note EAR/SNOUT protection. Their ears and noses are far more sensitive pain wise than ours.

Using a beagle or a bloodhound in a war scenario is both unrealistic and unlikely. There is simply too much white in the beagle's coat and the bloodhound will start that braying as soon as he gets the scent, letting the enemy know you are coming.

Texx said it best. Not a good idea. Interesting thought though.

Spook

[necronomicon]

I can only see dogs being effectively used in prison break scenarios or hunted ones, where the one being tracked does not carry a weapon. We already have whiny parents and certain liberals after the sport, why add the ASPCA to the list?

[Spook]

Which type of dog do you WANT to use? Sentry dog? LRRP dog? Tracking dog ? Police K-9? Believe it or not, they are all trained differently. Sentry and LRRP dogs can friggin kill you. They won't know the difference between a real gun and an Airsoft gun. Tracking dogs are great for finding people and objects but not trained for war. Police K-9s are not trained to kill, but their bite can break bones or give a man stitches, tear tendons, etc etc.

The only way I can ever see a dog used in Airsoft is in a no-fire part of a bomb scenario where the dog sniffs out a 'device' and then removed from the scene and properly crated in a safe area so that the "techs' and officers could come in. Once the dog is safely out of the way, then the shooting portion of the scenario would begin.

Incidentally, I am not sure the Army even trains LRRP dogs anymore.

Spook