Dogs at war
Because dogs are carnivores they retain an instinct for hunting and killing. This aggression is put to good use when it is harnessed as it is with a guard dog. But it can also be a formidable weapon in man’s armoury. Dogs can be trained to fight for their masters as well as for themselves.
In ancient times soldiers took fierce dogs into battle to grapple with the enemy. More than two thousand years ago the Greek Molossi tribe bred a war-dog to unleash on the Persians. Called a Molossus, it was like a mastiff.
In the middle ages war-dogs were given armour. They changed into battle clad in suits of leather with sharp spikes jutting over their heads and pots of flaming sulphur and resin strapped to their backs. Mounted knights were unseated as their horses reared in terror.
Fighting dogs did not disappear when they became obsolete as weapons of war. So called sportsmen bred animals for the pleasure of watching them do battle with creatures twice their size but less agile. So, three British breeds came into being. The ancestors of the Bulldog, Bull Terrier and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, baited tethered bulls, attacking them until they hung their heads in exhaustion. Then the dogs gripped the bulls by the nose and brought them to the ground. Fortunately only the dogs’ characteristic tenacity has been passed on to modern breeds.
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