Hide Article Text (OCR)
A direct lady, Mrs Erlangcr then hopped into her car and drove to the nearest army post Fort Hancock, which is a key point of New York's harbor defenses. She won the immediate and enthusiastic support of Brig. Gen. Philip S. Gage and his provost marshal in charge of military police at the fort. Capt. Prank Jury. With this army backing. Mrs. Erl anger and Gage soon had thehigh command in Washington wagging an approving tail for the project.Mrs. Erlanger's kennel manager, Stoecker, took charge of training the first batch of dogs which Mrs. Erianger gave herself and wangled from dog-breeding friends. A diminutive. everlastingly patient dog man, Stoecker is recognized as being tops in training dogs for obedience andpolice work. He learned the art in Germany from his father, who trained dogs in the intricate routine required for German police work. The son came to the United States in 1925 and soon acquiredcitizenship.To support himself in his breeding and training enterprises here, Stoecker established a restaurant at Perth Amboy. Meanwhile ho showed at the Jersey-coast dog show's and bought a Pillicoe poodle on the installment plan. The Er-langers were so impressed with his training and handling of this dogthat they made him their kennel manager.Stoecker now lives at the Pillicoo establishment, where he and his wife are surrounded not only bv dogs but. canaries, goats, pigs, a pony and other pets. It was here that he held the first training classes for army dogs.With his experience. Stoecker can almost instantly appraise the potentialities of a dog candidate for enlistment. Bird dogs and hounds are ruled out because they are too easily distracted by a sound or scent. Big fellows like the Great Danes, Irish wolfhounds and St. Bernardseat too much and move too clumsily fgr the tricky work of sentry duty. Cockers, smooth fox terriers and other well-loved small breeds are not used because it is felt they are too small to inspire respect in an intruder. The Army may later find oilier duties for these breeds, as draft dogs, message carriers or ambulance helpers.Mongrels are not accepted, not because of snobbishness or doubt of their intelligence, but because the trainers must be sure of the inherited instincts and abilities of the dogs.run.When Stoecker started his training school at Pillicoo, military police were assigned by Captain Jury to attend classes and learn to work with the dogs. Skeptical at first of the exotic breeds, particularly the poodles, the men soon learned that even such Park Avenue pets were he-man dogs at heart. When the dogs are inducted into the army,they lose their triple-jointed kennel names and become Zip, Gabby,The Germans used to use a hand signal —arm extended with raisedpalm —to order a dog to stop and crouch wherever he might be. After Hitler’s advent, they had to retain the animals to stop only on hearing “Halt! There were embarrassin incidents on parade grounds wh the Nazi salute was given and do refused to continue marching.The best of dogs ran be trained ryily for about a half hour at a time. Then back to the pens for rest while another batch goes to class, until they, too, stop concentrating. And so on through the days and nights. As soon as the routines are learned fairly well, Stoecker starts making the dogs work with distractions. He will work them in a chicken yard, on a road, with traffic whizzing bv, among horses and marching men. under gunfire, and finally in the woods on the darkest, nastiest nig available. Stoecker can graduat, proficient sentry dog in four weeks! He thinks that when the primary training is done by amateurs, the total working tune will be nearer six weeks. But he will guarantee every graduate—not for years butfor life.At Fort Hancock, the first batch of sentry dogs has already worked perfectly. A few nights after they first went to* work General Gage himself did a H a run -al- Rash id act to test the canine guards. He sneaked up on several isolated sentry posts and was unfailingly detected by the dogs long before the sentry could spot the intruder.At Halfaya Pass in Libya, whnt an Italian and German lost ban-talion held out for months while hemmed in by the British, observers reported that most of the defenders' water supply came through the backs of brave carrier d who reached their masters un fire through the enemy lines night. Many dogs were killed ir action. The Japanese are known tcextend the suieide-squad idea trtheir clogs as well as to their men Shepherds are trained to go straight to ' any objective pointed out U them. A fiftv-pound time bomb ir a carrier will destroy the dog, bul perhaps clean out an enemy trench as well. American marines are testing canine ammunition carrier* trained to go unerringly only to the machine gun to which they artattached, and capable of crossing no man’s land, where humans couk never survive. In World War many dogs on both sides were dec rated for bravery. While Russia’ military dogs are shrouded in thlt; same obscurity as most of her wa equipment, we do know that fo many years it has been illegal in tb Soviet to keep as a pet any doi unsuited for military training... —V..THEY SAID A YEAR AGO(From The Kansas City Star )Dllkp RuHrly nr GhnnLrRadio Breslau (“Lord Haw Haw1in English): “The G prman air Hn
Newspaper Details
Amarillo Globe
Amarillo, Texas, US
Thu, Sep 03, 1942
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Nancy L.
NM, USA 21 Jan 2020
Other Publications Near Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo Sunday News Globe
Amarillo Globe News
Amarillo News Globe
Amarillo Daily News
Amarillo Globe
