Working Dogs Facts

Nick spent eight years sniffing out explosives for the Army. Federal workers across the Defense Department know him a different way. His goggled photo is the login screen for the Department of Defense Global Directory. He ran 58 Secret Service missions, a NATO summit and the UN General Assembly. Nick retired at Fort Meade on January 21, 2026. His handler, Staff Sgt. Justin Peyton, adopted him.

During World War II, dog lovers asked American families to lend their pets to the military. Owners signed up more than 40,000 dogs. Over 10,000 of them served as sentries, scouts and messengers. When the war ended, the military retrained the survivors to be family pets again. Many came home with honorable discharge papers.

Bretagne, a golden retriever, worked Ground Zero for 10 days after 9/11 as a 2-year-old. She later responded to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ivan. When she died at 16 in 2016, firefighters lined the sidewalk and saluted her - then carried her out draped in an American flag.

Elk at the Grand Canyon taught themselves to work the water fountains, lifting the spring-loaded levers with their noses. They guarded the spouts from hikers, and the park rebuilt the fountains elk-proof. The herds crowd the lodges anyway, to dodge cougars, so park biologists brought in a dog. Blue works on a leash and barks them back out.