Military K9
Fluffy... The Commando Dog
"This
has never been done before...taking a dog from your enemies and making
him work
for you. Fluffy was not a rescue; he was a sentry dog."
~Russell Joyce
An Unikely Military K9
They
met in Northern Iraq in 2003. Special Forces soldier, Russell
Joyce, and
his unit had a dog in Afghanistan to ward off intruders. They were
now seeking one in Iraq.
They asked local Kurdish soldiers to find
them a dog.
The Kurds
returned with a full breed German Shepherd.
Estimated at no more than 2 years of age, but at just 31 pounds,
the dog
was painfully malnourished. The scars on his head and legs reflected
signs of abuse. And he was missing his 2 bottom teeth. Visibly shaken,
he spent his first night with the soldiers cowering in the corner.
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"The dog was previously in the care of the Iraqis. He had been beaten,
and we could see the
obvious scars over his face and legs."
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The soldiers did not feel he would make a suitable military k9 guard
dog, but Joyce
wanted to give him a chance. He fed the dog from his own rations and
using positive reinforcement, taught him basic commands, eventually
training him as a sentry dog.
They decided that their military k9
shepherd, named
Tariq Aziz,
definitely needed a
new name. In brainstorming machismo names, Joyce jokingly suggested
"Fluffy." As soon as he said it, the dog looked at
him in acknowledgement. The
decision had been made.
Fluffy, the Sentry Dog
Within two weeks Fluffy was working as a
trained military k9 sentry dog
and became
aggressive towards outsiders. He chased a Kurdish soldier over a fence,
tearing off his pants.
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"What makes this
dog so
great is look at the irony. We took this dog
from Iraq, we trained it, and we used it for our own security."
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He bonded with the special forces unit and
looked out for them. When
any one of the soldiers walked patrol, he would walk right along with
them, standing at their left side. Fluffy devotedly put his life on the
line to guard the soldiers that rescued him from a miserable existence.
To show his gratitude, he made himself invaluable.
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"He's been in harm's way and shot at more
times than anyone on my
team," Joyce said.
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Nearing their departure from Iraq, Joyce had Fluffy immunized and
checked
out by the Army vet. A law passed by Congress in 2000, HR5314,
allows
for the
adoption of retired military working dogs of war to former handlers.
But when it was time to leave, bureaucratic red tape prevented Fluffy
from leaving the country.
Joyce scrambled to find temporary quarters for his military k9 Fluffy.
His flight home
was brutal knowing that he had only been given a window of 72 hours to
save the life of his best buddy. Worried that Fluffy would be
euthanized (or returned to the Iraqis) unless he could quickly find
some way to bring him home, Joyce started an anxious email and phone
campaign.
Operation Free Fluffy
His pleadings for help went viral. Within
days, Joyce had received over 1,500 e-mails. And more than 32 U.S.
senators had
contacted him to offer their help.
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"The letters that I had sent to three people
somehow got
on cyberspace
and were sent to thousands!" Joyce said. "I never thought I would wake
a sleeping giant - the Vietnam dog handlers!" |
His
message struck a chord with the Vietnam dog
handlers. Powerless to
bring home their four-legged comrades, they mobilized to save Fluffy.
Soon, phones were ringing in the offices of Senators, the Pentagon and
the White House.
Among those who received the memo was U.S.
War Dogs
Association
President, and former Vietnam dog handler, Ron Aiello.
Aiello walked "point" on patrol with his
beloved Stormy
in Vietnam.
Although the devoted canine saved his life countless times, he was
forced to leave the dog behind. He felt he owed it to Stormy
to
help Fluffy
get out of Iraq.
"What I heard in his voice was something I
had heard
hundreds of times
from former military handlers from the Vietnam era who talk about their
canines to this day and the love and devotion we have for them," Aiello
said. "Russell had that same emotion about Fluffy."
Leaving Iraq an Honorary Military K9
When Joyce called Fluffy's caretakers in
Iraq to advise them that the
wheels were in motion, he discovered that the Pentagon had already
contacted the squadron to ask about Fluffy. The squadron
was ordered to take care of Fluffy and ignore the original 72 hour
deadline.
In order to allow his transfer, Fluffy was
designated an
honorary working military dog with honorary war dog status. When all
was said and done, it took the approval of nearly 30 people in the
military hierarchy.
 Although
Joyce said he
would pay for Fluffy's
transportation costs, the Army footed the bill for the flight.
Three
weeks later, Fluffy was sent to the US where he was reunited with
Joyce, pulling
the soldier that escorted him across the tarmac to his beloved
handler.
Fluffy won over and became part of Joyce's
family.
"I don't label him as a pet," he said. "I
label him as a
buddy."
Sadly, Fluffy passed on October 16, 2008.
But, not
before he became a living
memorial for Vietnam K9 Handlers and Vietnam war dogs.
After
serving his adopted country and protecting its soldiers, he received a
hero's welcome and a dignified retirement with a loving family.
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"Bringing
Fluffy to the States isn't about me. It's about
the men who weep on the phone while they talk about the relationship
they had with the dogs who served with them in war."
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Military
K9 Tribute to Fluffy and the Joyce Family
A children's book about Fluffy was written
by the Joyce
family, with half of the proceeds to benefit the US War Dog
Association. Read Fluffy's Story.
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