The dogs of the Austrian Armed Forces Hunting Command have to be able to endure a lot. Not only that they must not be afraid of guns and explosions. You shouldn’t be afraid of heights either. In a special training, the dogs learn together with their handler how to get to the operational area hanging on the parachute.
Very special dogs are trained in a military dog center near Lake Neusiedl, in Kaisersteinbruch. It is the army dogs that train here for emergencies. The army relies particularly on Rottweilers. It is one of the largest kennels of this breed in the world. More than 1700 dogs have already been born here for the army’s own needs and have been specially trained. Commander Colonel Otto Koptic (60) knows the four-legged friends better than anyone else. “Rottweilers are resilient, calm, impressively built, and family pets,” he says. The expert knows about the special characteristics of the breed as a protection and guard dog.
The army wrote about the airworthy dogs via Instagram: “A Jagdkommando dog handler and his service dog, including equipment, are able to get to the operational area both in free fall and in gliding operations. After landing, the soldier and his dog are ready for action,” says one post. The training to become a “flying fox” begins after the three-month basic training, confirmed by Coptic. “And that’s always a team thing with us.” So not only the soldiers, but also the dogs become a real elite.
