Unleash the hounds: Spartan warrior dogs
SUMMARY
If you thought your K-9 was a badass, you're probably right. But maybe not quite as badass as these 4 Spartan Warrior dogs.
1. The spear assault dogs
While you might think of dogs in combat and warfare as a relatively new concept, their origin traces back to mid-seventh century B.C., when the Ephesians waged war on Magnesia. Sounds like something out of the Bible until you realize that instead of animals walking onto an ark two-by-two under a rainbow, every horseman was accompanied by a spearman and a war dog who broke enemy ranks in order to lead a bloodbath by spear assault.
Good times.
2. The PSYWARFARE dogs
Dogs were also instrumental in psychological warfare.
At the battle of Pelusium, Cambysesus II preyed on the Egyptians' reverence of animals by putting dogs on his front line. Kill a bad guy, sure, but nobody wants to harm a puppy. The tactic worked. Dogs were frequently used as messengers and lookouts as they were less likely to be harmed. The Egyptians mummified dogs because of their respect for the creatures.
3. The Molossian
War dogs were both celebrated and feared. The Molossian was the desired breed, which is a relative of the modern day mastiff. Greek poet Oppian wrote, "Impetuous and of steadfast valour, who attack even bearded bulls and rush upon monstrous boars and destroy them....They are not swift, but they have abundant spirit and genuine strength unspeakable and dauntless courage." Who can forget Hercules from Sandlot? The Beast was feared, and for good reason.
In his work, Cynegetica ("The Chase,") Nemesiani, who was basically the Cesar Millan of his day, had this helpful hint for how to identify which of the pups would be the strongest:
"You should get a series of flames made in a wide circuit with the smoke of the fire to mark a convenient round space, so that you may stand unharmed in the middle of the circle: to this all the puppies, to this the whole crowd as yet unseparated must be brought: the mother will provide the test of her progeny, saving the valuable young ones by her selection and from their alarming peril. For when she sees her offspring shut in by flames, at once with a leap she clears the blazing boundaries of the fire-zone, snatches the first in her jaws and carries it to the kennel; next another, next another in turn: so does the intelligent mother distinguish her nobler progeny by her love of merit."
That's not intense at all. Totally how we pick out German Shepherds.
4. The Agassians
They may not have been much to look at, but plenty of scholars would pick the British Aggasians over the Molossians in a head to head battle.
Poet Oppian described them as: "There is a strong breed of hunting dog, small in size but no less worthy of great praise. These the wild tribes of Britons with their tattooed backs rear and call by the name of Agassian. Their size is like that of worthless and greedy domestic table dogs; squat, emaciated, shaggy, dull of eye, but endowed with feet armed with powerful claws and a mouth sharp with close-set venomous tearing teeth. It is by virtue of its nose, however, that the Agassian is most exalted, and for tracking it is the best there is; for it is very adept at discovering the tracks of things that walk upon the ground, and skilled too at marking the airborne scent."
Sure, our K-9s might be able to detect bombs, drugs and humans and are probably smarter than the Greek war dogs, but nothing looks as badass as a dog with a wolf collar, something the war dogs used to wear to prevent fatal wolf bites. We think these should be standard issue for all 31Ks and their dogs, too.
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