U.S. Army dog in Iraq ‘leads from the front’

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Most weapons-sniffing dogs cannot sense anything hidden in an elevated space.

But Ryky isn’t most dogs. The 3-year-old Belgian Malinois recently discovered an AK-47 hidden in a false ceiling while she and her partner, Army Sgt. James Harrington, were on patrol in the tough Rashid district of Baghdad.

The discovery led to the uncovering of a cache of mortars. Score another hit for Ryky, who was trained at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and is so trusted that she is permitted to roam several hundred yards from Harrington as she sniffs for bombs. That’s her above, pictured while leaving for patrol in Baghdad.

When a walking patrol goes out, Ryky goes ahead, fulfilling the first criterion for military leadership.

‘She leads from the front,’ Harrington told American Forces Press Service.

-- Tony Perry