I'm just curious here- I don't have room for another dog.

I had lunch with two product reps (windows) yesterday and somehow we got to talking about dogs. I mentioned I had two german shepherds and one of the gentlemen asked if I had checked into the Military Working Dog Foundation (rather he just referred to the retired dogs from lackland that they adopt out). I have my hands full as it is, but I was curious. I looked up the website http://www.militaryworkingdogs.com/index.shtml and was wondering if anyone has experience with this program. It kinda sounds like the most of the dogs go to law enforcement or in rarer cases the handler may adopt; dogs available to the public sound far and few between.

How realistic is it that any of these animals might blend into a family environment after 'retirement'? Part of me wonders if it would be like one of the master electricians I know who has tried to retire 4 or 5 times... then he gets bored and finds a new company to improve, lol. Has anyone on the board adopted from this program?

It sounds like a really well thought out and positive organization. Like I said, just curious, especially because Lackland is practically in my backyard lol

Lackland has their OWN adoption program. Not sure who/what this "militaryworkingdogs.com" is.

Some info on Lackland's program:
http://www.lackland.af.mil/units/341stmwd/index.asp


They blend in to normal life at about the same rates that combat vets blend in to normal life. Most do quite well.
A few don't.

Wow- I wonder if there are two programs operating out of the same 'office'? or if one is out of date or...

Thanks for pointing that out Alyssa. I didn't search long enough when I googled.

It's my understanding that they are only adopting out tracking/contraband sniffing dogs. Any dog that has been trained for protection would not be available for adoption.

This program was a result of a Discovery channel show that aired a few years ago about military dogs and how much of an asset they are to the people that rely upon them. Near the end of the show, they mentioned that all of the retired military dogs were put to sleep. This outraged many people, and the military changed their policy because of it.

When I had looked into adopting through this program, there was a wait list a mile and half long, but that was at least 5 years ago.

Hello, I work at Lackland and would be more then happy to answer some of these questions. The program has two sets of dogs.

1. General Public- these dogs were purchased for DOD, TSA, or SSD and they didn't make it for what ever reason, ie medical or drive. These dogs have been tested and would make a good pet. The only problem is that they have not been tested as far as children and some may be dog aggressive but that is common for all older work dogs. The ages range from 7 months to 10 years. The breeds are usually German Shepherd, Malinois, or Lab. There are alwaysat least a half dozen dogs on this list. Same have bite work and some don't you can call 210 671-3125 and ask about a dog. There are a lot of great dogs that have had a lot of training and a lot of medical done for free to them.

2. Law Enforcement only- These dogs are from the same background except they have been tested and show the drives to still do police work or same type of police work.

Thanks I hope this helps you out with your questions.

Cool- thanks James!

I'm the adoption/disposition coordinator here at Lackland AFB. Most of your general questions are answered at our website: MWD Adoption Program We have nothing to do with the Foundation or a variey of other "helper" websites. I do not deal with any of those people and believe me I have no problem adopting out the number of dogs I have (as you can tell by how dry my listings are). We get our dogs from those that wash out of training for a variety of reasons. We hold a board every month that includes the field dogs up for disposition at the various military installations worldwide. Our board determines if the dogs are excess to the gov't for the field dogs and for our washout dogs if they go to law enforcement first, then adopt or if they'll be training aids for the handler students or in rare cases they should be euthanized. Public Law dictates the priority of how dogs are adopted: law enforcement, prior handlers, then general public. The field units handle their own dogs in regards to adoption. The option is out there for them to advertise those dogs on our website but it is rarely taken. I'm available for questions and if you can't get a hold of me, just leave a message or email me...