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Man's best friend.
A soldier's battle buddy.
Every day, hundreds of Military Working Dogs save lives,
bust narcotic rings, and foil bomb makers' plans.
Our medical editor, Dr. Paul Little, has more.
[Little] Topsail is a 2-year-old Labrador Military Working Dog.
A few months ago in Afghanistan,
he was sniffing for explosives in a building when he was attacked
by an insurgent with a club.
His skull was crushed, and he was flown back to this unique
Military Working Dogs only hospital at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
[male speaker] The day after he arrived here, we performed surgery to reconstruct
the fractures around his face.
Topsail is a young dog.
If we weren't able to take care of him like we did,
perhaps his service life would have been over.
But we'll be able to send him back to the force, and he may be able to detect something
that saves a marine or a civilian someday.
[female speaker] Six to eight weeks changing...
[Little] No cats, parrots, or guinea pigs allowed here.
This one-of-a-kind hospital treats only Military Working Dogs
from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, TSA, and Secret Service.
The Air Force buys, trains, and deploys the dogs for DoD,
but they don't have veterinarians,
so canine medical care is provided by Army vets.
Just like a people medical center, this dog medical center
is a training ground for new veterinarians.
Captain Emily White is fresh out of vet school,
and her first assignment is here, where she's seen and treated just about everything
that can happen to dogs.
The staff here never gets depressed.
Whenever they start to feel blue,
they just head down the hill. >>Come on, guys. [clapping]
And if five minutes of puppy therapy can't get you right,
then you just can't be made right.
[Little] Some of these guys may just grow up to be attack dogs too. Ruff!
Dr. Paul Little, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.