13 Heroic Books about Military Working Dogs

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Books about Military Dogs

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The dogs of war. These books about military working dogs are filled with heroic stories about the exceptional dogs trained to work with the US Military. From WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, the highly trained K9 Army, Navy and Marine units have saved lives and shown exceptional heroism in times of war and special missions.

No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

No Ordinary Dog is the powerful true story of a SEAL Team Operator and military dog handler, and the dog that saved his life.

Two dozen Navy SEALs descended on Osama bin Laden’s compound in May 2011. After the mission, only one name was made public: Cairo, a Belgian Malinois and military working dog. This is Cairo’s story, and that of his handler, Will Chesney, a SEAL Team Operator whose life would be irrevocably tied to Cairo’s.

Dog Company: A True Story of American Soldiers Abandoned by Their High Command

The Army does not want you to read this book. It does not want to advertise its detention system that coddles enemy fighters while putting American soldiers at risk. It does not want to reveal the new lawyered-up Pentagon war ethic that prosecutes U.S. soldiers and Marines while setting free spies who kill Americans.

This very system ambushed Captain Roger Hill and his men.
 
Hill, a West Point grad and decorated combat veteran, was a rising young officer who had always followed the letter of the military law. In 2007, Hill got his dream job: infantry commander in the storied 101st Airborne. His new unit, Dog Company, 1-506th, had just returned stateside from the hell of Ramadi. The men were brilliant in combat but unpolished at home, where paperwork and inspections filled their days.
 
With tough love, Hill and his First Sergeant, an old-school former drill instructor named Tommy Scott, turned the company into the top performers in the battalion.
 
Hill and Scott then led Dog Company into combat in Afghanistan, where a third of their men became battlefield casualties after just six months. Meanwhile, Hill found himself at war with his own battalion commander, a charismatic but difficult man who threatened to relieve Hill at every turn. After two of his men died on a routine patrol, Hill and a counterintelligence team busted a dozen enemy infiltrators on their base in the violent province of Wardak. 

Abandoned by his high command, Hill suddenly faced an excruciating choice: follow Army rules the way he always had, or damn the rules to his own destruction and protect the men he’d grown to love.

A Soldier's Best Friend: Scout Dogs and Their Handlers in the Vietnam War

An affecting testimonial to the bond between American soldiers in Vietnam and their canine helpers, A Soldier’s Best Friend is veteran John C. Burnam’s account of his tenure as a scout dog handler patrolling the jungles of Vietnam with his German shepherd, Clipper, at his side.

There were 10,000 soldiers in Vietnam like Burnam, accompanied by these intelligent, adaptable scout dogs.  Between hazardous missions, the dogs were loving, playful friends who shared the lives of their human squad-mates, while in the combat zone they were all business.  

Routinely braving danger, the canines searched for injured GIs, probed for potentially lethal booby traps, located underground weapons caches, and warned of approaching enemy attacks and ambushes.  So valuable was the dogs’  service that the Viet Cong offered a hefty bounty for their lives. 

Despite their heroism, many of these military working dogs were abandoned at the conflict’s end, left to fend for themselves.  

Always Faithful: A Memoir of the Marine Dogs of WWII

The top dog trainer and veterinarian for the military during World War II chronicles the men and the 72 canines who served faithfully and bravely together in the Pacific theatre.

The dogs and handlers trained in scouting, mine detection, and other patrol duties and went into combat together.

Here we read about Peppy, Big Boy, and Lady and a host of other courageous dogs who lived and died during some of the worst fighting of the war.

Putney takes the reader through basic training and the battles of Guadalcanal and the retaking of the island of Guam in 1944. He continues the story of how those military working dogs that survived the war were retrained and returned to civilian life. 

The Dogs of War: The Courage, Love, and Loyalty of Military Working Dogs

Military working dogs gained widespread attention after Cairo participated in the SEAL Team 6 mission that led to Osama bin Laden’s death. Before that, few civilians realized that dogs served in combat, let alone that they could parachute from thirty thousand feet up.

The Dogs of War reveals the amazing range of jobs that our four-legged soldiers now perform, examines the dogs’ training and equipment, and sets the record straight on those rumors of titanium teeth. You’ll find heartwarming stories of the deep bond that dogs and their handlers share with each other, and learn how soldiers and civilians can help the cause by fostering puppies or adopting retirees.

An incredible story of the largely unseen but vital role that dogs play in our armed forces, The Dogs of War is a must-read for animal lovers everywhere.

Sergeant Stubby: How a Stray Dog and His Best Friend Helped Win World War I and Stole the Heart of a Nation

Told for the first time, National Geographic brings you the story of a stray dog who eventually became affectionately known as “Sergeant Stubby” the most famous war dog of World War I.

Beloved award-winning author and library darling Ann Bausum brings her friendly writing style and in-depth research to her first-ever book for adults. 

Stubby’s story begins in 1917 when America is about to enter the war. A stray dog befriends Private J. Robert “Bob” Conroy at the Connecticut National Guard camp at Yale University and the two become inseparable, eventually crossing an ocean and going to war together. What follows is an epic tale of how man’s best friend becomes an invaluable soldier on the front lines and in the trenches, a decorated war hero, and an inspiration to a country long after the troops returned home.

For those who loved New York Times bestseller Rin Tin Tin comes the memorable story of Sergeant Stubby–World War I dog veteran, decorated war hero, American icon, and above all, man’s best friend.

Top Dog: The Story of Marine Hero Lucca

The New York Times bestselling author of Secret Service Dogs and Soldier Dogs delivers the incredible, true story of K-9 Marine hero Lucca, and the handlers who fought alongside her through two bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Maria Goodavage takes readers into the life of Lucca K458, a decorated and highly skilled military working dog. An extraordinary bond develops between Lucca and Marine Corps dog handlers Chris Willingham and Juan Rodriguez, in what would become a legendary 400-mission career.

A specialized search dog, Lucca belongs to an elite group trained to work off-leash at long distances from her handler to sniff out deadly explosives. She served alongside both Special Forces and regular infantry and became so sought-after that platoons frequently requested her by name.

No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII

Flight technician Frank Williams and Judy, a purebred pointer, met in the most unlikely of places: an internment camp in the Pacific. Judy was a fiercely loyal dog, with a keen sense for who was friend and who was foe, and the pair’s relationship deepened throughout their captivity. 

When the prisoners suffered beatings, Judy would repeatedly risk her life to intervene. She survived bombings and other near-death experiences and became a beacon not only for Frank but for all the men, who saw in her survival a flicker of hope for their own.

Judy’s devotion to those she was interned with was matched by their love for her, which helped keep the men and their dog alive despite the ever-present threat of death by disease or the rifles of the guards. At one point, deep in despair and starvation, Frank contemplated killing himself and the dog to prevent either from watching the other die. But both were rescued, and Judy spent the rest of her life with Frank.

She became the war’s only official canine POW, and after she died at age fourteen, Frank couldn’t bring himself to ever have another dog. Their story — of an unbreakable bond forged in the worst circumstances — is one of the great undiscovered sagas of World War II.

Soldier Dogs 4-Book Box Set: Books 1-4

Collect the first four Soldier Dogs books in this paperback box set starring the brave military dogs who helped the U.S. win World War II! Includes four pull-out posters!  

From air raids to surprise attacks, from islands in the Pacific to the beaches of Normandy, the heroes of the Soldier Dogs series are always ready to save the day!

This action-packed series features stories inspired by the real-life canines who fought alongside the US army, navy, air force and marines—including a German Shepherd searching for Nazis, a Labrador rescuing sailors during the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Doberman carrying secret messages, and a terrier parachuting into France to help Allied forces gain victory at Normandy.

Each of the four books is jam-packed with facts, timelines, and Q&As about the real history of WWII!

Trident K9 Warriors: My Tale from the Training Ground to the Battlefield with Elite Navy SEAL Canines

The New York Times bestseller featured on 60 Minutes, this is the first book to take readers inside the world of elite Navy SEAL dogs.

As a Navy SEAL during a combat deployment in Iraq, Mike Ritland saw a military working dog in action and instantly knew he’d found his true calling. Ritland started his own company training and supplying dogs for the SEAL teams, U.S. Government, and Department of Defense.

He knew that fewer than 1 percent of all working dogs had what it takes to contribute to the success of our nation’s elite combat units, and began searching the globe for animals who fit this specific profile. These specialized canines had to pass rigorous selection tests before their serious training could begin.

The results were a revelation: highly trained working dogs capable of handling both detection and apprehension work in the most extreme environments and the tensest of battlefield conditions. Though fiercely aggressive and athletic, these dogs develop a close bond with the handlers they work side by side with and the other team members.

Truly integrating themselves into their units, these K9 warriors are much like their human counterparts―unwavering in their devotion to duty, strong enough and tough enough to take it to the enemy through pain, injury, or fear.

For the first time ever, Trident K9 Warriors gives readers an inside look at these elite canines―who they are, how they are trained, and the extreme missions they undertake saving countless lives, asking for little in the way of reward. From detecting explosives to eliminating the bad guys, these powerful dogs are also some of the smartest and most highly skilled working animals on the planet.

Navy SEAL Dogs: My Tale of Training Canines for Combat

This is the true story of how Mike Ritland grew from a skinny, bullied child, to a member of our nation’s most elite SEAL Teams, to the trainer of the world’s most highly skilled K9 warriors.

Trident K9 Warriors gave readers an inside look at the SEAL teams’ elite K9 warriors-who they are, how they are trained, and the extreme missions they undertake to save lives.

This special edition re-telling presents the dramatic tale of how Ritland discovered his passion and grew up to become the trainer of the nation’s most elite military working dogs.

Ritland started his own company to train and supply working and protection dogs for the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, and other clients. He also started the Warrior Dog Foundation to help retired Special Operations dogs live long and happy lives after their service.

The Dog Who Could Fly: The Incredible True Story of a WWII Airman and the Four-Legged Hero Who Flew At His Side

An instant hit in the UK, this is the true account of a German shepherd who was adopted by the Royal Air Force during World War II, joined in flight missions, and survived everything from crash-landings to parachute bailouts—ultimately saving the life of his owner and dearest friend.

In the winter of 1939 in the cold snow of no-man’s-land, two loners met and began an extraordinary journey that would turn them into lifelong friends. One was an orphaned puppy, abandoned by his owners as they fled Nazi forces. The other was a different kind of lost soul—a Czech airman bound for the Royal Air Force and the country that he would come to call home.

Airman Robert Bozdech stumbled across the tiny German shepherd—whom he named Ant—after being shot down on a daring mission over enemy lines. Unable to desert his charge, Robert hid Ant inside his jacket as he escaped. In the months that followed the pair would save each other’s lives countless times as they flew together with Bomber Command. And though Ant was eventually grounded due to injury, he refused to abandon his duty, waiting patiently beside the runway for his master’s return from every sortie, and refusing food and sleep until they were reunited.

By the end of the war Robert and Ant had become British war heroes, and Ant was justly awarded the Dickin Medal, the “Animal VC.”

Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond Between a Marine and His Military Working Dog

The thrilling and inspiring story of a US Marine and his dog Rex, a bomb sniffing German Shepard, who forged a bond of trust and loyalty while serving on the war-torn streets of Iraq’s most dangerous city.

It was Rex’s job to sniff out weapons caches, suicide bombers, and IEDs, the devastating explosives that wreaked havoc on troops and civilians alike. It was Mike’s job to lead Rex into the heart of danger time and time again, always trusting Rex to bring them both back alive.

Filled with harrowing tales of knife-edge bomb-detection work, including an extraordinary baptism by fire, Sergeant Rex is a heart-pounding account of how an unbreakable human-canine bond helped Mike and Rex to stay focused on their mission and save countless lives.

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Last update on 2026-01-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API