Military Working Dogs (MWD) can be a soldier’s best friend. They’ve fought side by side with humans since ancient times. Today, after careful selection and exhaustive training, they can perform all kinds of skills, including tracking, explosive detection, patrol, search and rescue, and attack roles. The troops see MWDs as fellow warriors, deserving of the same care and attention as their human counterparts.

Special operations canines, as one might imagine, are kept in Special Operations Kennels, and their procurement, training methods, and full abilities are classified. Suffice to say; these are some pretty amazing animals.

An American SOF military working dog gets a cool drink of water anywhere he can while deployed to BFE. Image Credit: u/Flickerz1

By now, we have all heard the stories about how logistics suck for Russian soldiers in Ukraine, and often times they can barely get enough food and water to sustain themselves. When it comes down to a survival situation, they chose to feed themselves first, but one of their Russian MWDs named Max was left to starve.  I guess they liked him too much to just eat him?

Max has been nursed back to health and is now working with the Ukrainian National Guard. Image Credit: nypost.com

Three-year-old Belgian Malinois Max was found starving and nearly dead in the Ukrainian woods. He had been surviving off scraps of food and garbage, and when he was found, he was wearing a Russian military collar. No one could understand how such a beautiful dog could just be left behind to die.

Soldiers of the Mykolaiv National Guards wrote on their official Facebook page:

“From now on, the Mykolaiv National Guards have a trophy dog with the nickname ‘Max’. The shepherd belonged to the occupiers of the Rosgvardíí жа, who captured one of the villages of the Nikolaev region. From now on, Max will serve on the right side, and defend Ukraine.” 

Max no longer has to worry about where his next meal is coming from. His new family is taking great care of him. Image Credit: Ukraine National Guard/Triangle

The canine operator is currently learning some new commands in Ukrainian and is being trained to sniff out explosives. He is working with the likes of Jack Russell Terrier and fellow military working dog Patron, who was awarded the Ukrainian Medal of Honor after saving the lives of hundreds after detecting explosives.

One of his trainers told reporters, “The main tasks are to check citizens on checkpoints and search for saboteurs…but Max will be trained to find people, not just bombs.” He added that Malinois has a very good, “almost perfect” memory.