I'm all about having my dogs along for the EOD scenario... I love my dogs to no end, and have had 1 since she was born, 1 was born with us and we had him for a few months before homing him, and he's come back to us since his folks couldn't keep him, and the momma's been with us since she was 6mos old.
I do like to work with them a lot, too though. Some people think the dogs are a hinderance, but I believe in teaching my dogs as you stated in the blog. They can be quiet, they can bark if told, they are sources of heat in the cold, they really don't use a lot of resources, and they are better companions than I could ever explain. They do go full steam when they see an animal in our yard, but they DON'T when we're camping. Somehow they seem to know what's okay and when we would prefer them to be quiet or not. I think really it's from watching us and how we're acting. Plus, the home is THEIR zone, so they aren't tolerating a squirrel, a bird, or any stankin' cat in our yard. Fine by me. In the woods, they've watched deer and squirrels with us without alerting, so other than teaching them to bring back a seasoned tenderloin, I'm pretty happy with their behavior. I just watched a show on "Dogs of War" that showed the history of combat dogs in the WWII Pacific Theatre. Those guys were IN LOVE with their dogs and that affection went both ways. I don't know the feeling of having a pet as a combat buddy, but I can tell you I wouldn't trade mine for the world.
I really like the idea of putting saddlebags on 'em for a walk. They all love walks and it gets them associating the SB with walks. Good stuff indeed!
The only thing I differ with in the blog is that I "Pet, feed, water"... In that order.
