Canine Soldiers: The Militarization of Love is about how America uses dogs to find IEDs. The same dogs that don’t understand why the mailman shows up everyday will now disable weapons left by America’s enemies. The film is a 65 minute look at how canines and humans can work together to solve bigger problems. But, the film seems to go out of its way to scoot past the psychological impact upon the doggies.
While some are bright and young, the film does show the ones that have been in combat a little too long. Having grown up around dogs used by Police Departments and other first response facets, I know in that respect that the little guys have maybe a decade at most working in that line. Hell, most narcotic dogs have to be retired by age 5. The canine response to severe stress still isn’t completely understood. But, I get the need to deploy them in situations like this.
The documentary was funded partially by University of Texas at Austin, so I expected a little more research than what we got. That’s on me, as it doesn’t hold to current documentary standards to inform and entertain. Still, I enjoyed it!
Canine Soldiers is now available!
