I have been on a Dog Book kick, reading over and over and over again about dog breeds.
One rather hefty tome from the library mentions in the Norwegian* Elkhound write up that ‘in the event of war the Secretary (whatever) of Defense has the right to call privately owned elkhounds into active duty.’ or something fairly similar along those lines. I’ve returned the book to the library.
Naturally, I am wondering two things simultaneously:
Honest Question: This must be an older law that is now archaic…and has it ever been utilized and for what purpose? Sled hauling? Protection?
Doper Comment: I bet France mobilizes poodles in times of war.
Norwegian Dopers, please check in when you wake up. This will make your Thursday morning coffee break all that more interesting.
It might be Sweden. I get Norway and Sweden mixed up and both have elkhounds named after their country. Yeah, I know, I’m pathetic.
No need to bump it, I saw it the first time and didn’t want to answer. I couldn’t find any information related to the topic, which means it’s either rubbish, or I’m a lousy researcher. But what better way to use my first payed subscription post than to concoct a theory on this.
I doubt there was ever a law on this. However, the Norwegian Defense has registered lots of stuff for possible requirations for mobilisation. Until recently certain types of vehicles for instance were registered and the owner got an updated notice of where to drop it off in case of war. It’s possible dogs were registered in the same manner once, and the Norwegian Elkhound being a relatively common race it could have been singled out. Whatever your purpose you don’t want a big mix of races, not only does it complicate training and use, it looks unmilitary.
As for what a military Elkhound could be used for… not pulling sleds I think. Dog sleds are not, AFAIK, part of the Norwegian military. Maybe for security detail, although I don’t know how easy it is to retrain them from hunting for moose to hunting for intruders…
Today the Norwegian military has dog squads with trained German Shepards and handlers.
Looking up the relevant law, I found that Norwegian king or his legal representatives can requisition anything in times of war or when the security of the realm is in danger. No specific mention of dogs. (Link in English, pdf. See chapter V, §15.) There are a lot of regulations which specify in detail exactly who gets to demand your dog or whatever in the name of the king, what kind of compensation you’re entitled to, etc. etc.
As for what dogs can be used for in times of war… I will not make a snide Abu Ghraib comment, I will not make a snide Abu Ghraib comment - oops, too late.
Nothing substantive to add, just wanted to rehi Hilde.
Also wanted to mention that my uncle has had a series of Norwegian Elkhound Grey (or simply “Elghund” in Norwegian), since I was about seven. None of them ever became particularly good at hunting though, several of them were gunshy.
Oh, and I like how my original join date and old post count is still in place despite my long hiatus struggling with the moral question of paying for an internet forum.
Thanks for rehis, welcomes and friendly jabs at our climate
On a (somewhat) more serious note, I’ve found one more potential use for Elkhounds in war - especially from a Norwegian point of view. Elkhounds are used for hunting moose. King Charles (Carl) XI of Sweden tried to train moose for use in war in the 17th century. At that time, the experiment failed (apparently, the moose were smart enough to run for the woods at first sound of fire).
But the author of this article (only in Norwegian, I’m afraid) makes a convincing case that the story of the Swedish war moose might not have ended several hundred years ago, citing among other things the dramatic increase in the Swedish moose population since WWII. His letters to the Swedish authorities on the issue only got evasive answers, but the Norwegian minister of defense wrote reassuringly:
(Um, well, the current moose threat might be a slight exaggeration But the part about king Charles’ war moose is all true.)
The animal that we in North America call a Moose is called an Elk in Europe. (And what we call an Elk is the same as the European Red Deer.) So an Elkhound to us would be a Moosehound.
Blowing up tanks (yes really)
They were trained by starving them, and feeding them under tanks, then as they got used to the tanks, fed under running tanks. Trained to crawl under the tank from behind. Was some what effective. Considering the early waves of poorly armed troops “effective” is a relative term.\
Pulling Medical and supply sleds.
They were vital at St Petersburg getting supplies in durring the seige, as they were of lighter weight they could also cross ice that would crack and swallow a man. I do not remember reading a reference of their use at Stalingrad, but can see where they could have been of use as well.
Guard dogs:
pretty well obvious eh? They were expecially effective for prisoner control.
Clearing mines:
I believe they used a slightly more advanced version of “here doggie go get the stick!” but not much more advance.
With today’s training I suspect bomb sniffing dogs could be trained to smell and “point” a mine out while a human partner marks the mine and disables it.
Are all the points I can thing of. Viktor Suvorov wrote a whole chapter about them in his book “spetznaz”
Osip
Well it seems likely to me that the site read it in the same book as the OP, and that the writers of the book got it from a FOAF.
And in case my word as a Norwegian isn’t enough, here are some facts that speak against the theory.
-Dog sledding is not a traditional method of transport in Norway. Dog sledding today is considered a sport and was imported to Norway, along with traditional sled pullers.
-Norwegian arctic pioneers such as Amundsen and Nansen learned about dogsledding from North American natives, and used North American dog breeds on their expedition.
-There are no tales of brave sled dogs in Norwegian folklore, the animal that perseveres in foul weather and brings help to the sick kid is the Norwegian Fjord Horse.
I couldn’t find any information related to the topic, which means it’s either rubbish, or I’m a lousy researcher. But what better way to use my first payed subscription post than to concoct a theory on this.
But the part about king Charles’ war moose is all true.)