Tag: Springer Spaniel

RIP Buster, Bomb-Sniffing Dog Who Saved a Thousand Lives

During his five tours of duty in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Iraq, a Royal Air Force (RAF) dog named Buster sniffed out hundreds of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), saving more than 1,000 lives in the process.

The Springer Spaniel reportedly completed more tours than any other military dog, according to the BBC. Buster was bestowed with many awards for his service, including the Dickin medal (considered the Victoria Cross for animals, it’s the U.K. military’s top award for war dogs) and the Crufts Friends for Life Award. He was the first dog to become the official lifetime mascot of the RAF police.

The 13-year-old hero, who retired in 2011, crossed the Rainbow Bridge this week at the Lincolnshire home of his longtime handler, Flight Sgt. Will Barrow.

“Buster saved my life every day we were together,” Barrow writes in his book about their partnership, “Buster: The Military Dog Who Saved a Thousand Lives.” [This is an affiliate link.]  “I owe him so much that I can never repay the debt, even if we lived forever.”

The book, a No. 1 bestseller in the U.K., will be released in the U.S. this fall.

In addition to sniffing out IEDs and tracking Taliban insurgents, Buster provided emotional support to Barrow and his fellow troops.

“Many’s the time I’d find some of the soldiers on the cot beds with him, just chatting away,” Barrow writes. “They felt they could confide in him and it wouldn’t be going anywhere else.”

Buster also had a knack for enchanting the children in war-torn areas. “Like a canine Pied Piper, Buster drew in his crowd and entertained them,” Barrow writes. “Anyone looking on would have wondered how on earth a spaniel from the U.K. could do so much for the ‘hearts and minds’ operation.”

Even after he retired, Buster was still enchanting children. Just days before he died, he and Barrow handed out report cards to students at a local school, according to a statement yesterday from the Royal Air Force.

An event is being arranged by RAF police to celebrate Buster and other military working dogs. It “will give the force an opportunity to remember those special companions that have saved thousands of lives and served so admirably,” the RAF stated.

Photo via Facebook

Springer Spaniel and Dog Dad Rescue Stranded Baby Dolphin

As Rich Wilcock prepared to go fishing on a beach in Wales, his 2-year-old Springer Spaniel, Leia, started making a “right old fuss,” Wilcock told the Daily Post.

Leia barked and nudged her dog dad. “She doesn’t usually bark or make that sort of sound,” Wilcock told the Leader.

She led him down a beach in Criccieth to a small dolphin that had washed up on the shore.

“At first I thought it was a baby shark,” Wilcock told the Post. “It was only about one-and-a-half foot, but on a closer inspection, I could see the blow hole on top of his head and realized it was a dolphin.”

He said Leia must have smelled the dolphin from a mile away.

People who come across stranded marine animals are usually advised not to touch them, and to notify authorities. But Wilcock could not get a signal on his cell phone.

“I was miles from anywhere and he was getting restless,” he told the Leader.

Wilcock, who made a video recording of the rescue, said he did what he could as gently as possible. “I lifted him gently under the belly and popped him back amongst the waves, and he swam away into deeper water,” he told the Post.

Wilcock and Leia remained on the beach for an hour to make sure the dolphin was safely back at sea.

“With the strong winds we are getting at the moment, it is quite possible he just got blown out of the way and stranded rather than having anything seriously wrong with him,” a spokesperson with the nonprofit Sea Watch Foundation, which monitors and improves the conservation of dolphins and whales in the UK, told the Post.

“It’s great to see people (and dogs!) helping out wildlife,” the spokesperson said.

Leia “is a very intelligent dog, more intelligent than most,” her proud dog dad told the Post.

Photo via YouTube

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