'Top Dog' Honor Awarded To Fort Meade Handler

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (September 11, 2014) -- In just nine months, Spc. Johnathan Mendoza and his military working dog Canto have developed a working relationship beyond handler and canine.

Excelling through hard work and motivation, Mendoza and Canto received the Advanced Military Working Dog Course's highest honor of "Top Dog."

This makes Mendoza the first Soldier and the youngest MWD handler in eight years to obtain this honor.

"I'd always have index cards, and every time I learned something new I'd write it down and constantly be studying," Mendoza said. "I [was] always watching other dogs because when you watch other dogs, you learn things."

Sweating in 95-degree heat with Canto panting by his side, Mendoza prepared to show off the German shepherd mix's obedience training at Fort Meade's Military Working Dog Kennel.

This is nothing new for the duo that dealt with 100-degree heat during this eight-week pilot program.

"The challenging part [of the course] was waking up at five in the morning every day and working in 100-degree weather," Mendoza said. "You've got to stay motivated."

Staff Sgt. David W. Harrison, kennel master at Fort Meade, was not surprised by Mendoza's success. Harrison said that when he visited North Carolina for the last two weeks of the course, Mendoza's instructors told him that Mendoza was hardworking and constantly asking questions.

"He's all-around motivated," Harrison said. "Nobody likes to fail, but he refuses to fail. Anything he has to take on, he takes on 100 percent and he's just 100 percent dedicated."

The course focused on electronic collar conditioning, which has been stigmatized by the Army because it can severely injure a dog if used incorrectly. If implemented properly, the handler can control his dog from a mile away.

Mendoza said this distance benefits Soldiers because the handler would have the opportunity to make sure that he and the rest of his team are under protection in the event an explosive is detected.

"This is a mile-long radius so I can send my dog out a mile and he'll be able to be controlled from a mile [away] by strictly hand commands and voice commands," Mendoza said.

He explained that the e-collar has seven levels of stimulation in addition to low, medium and high settings within each level. A handler determines his dog's stimulation level through trial and error to determine what the dog responds to. Canto's level of stimulation is set at four.

"This course basically tells us how to properly utilize the e-collar and lets [handlers] know it's not a training tool -- it's a reinforcement tool," the 20-year-old dog handler said.

However, Canto was not always the obedient dog he is today.

"He didn't know [any] obedience at all," Mendoza said. "I had to train him from the ground up, and it took us 35 days to certify, which is really fast. For a green [untrained] dog, it's normally 90 days."

Now, Canto will sit at Mendoza's feet and obey his frequent commands of "sit" and "heel."

In the obedience course, Mendoza and Canto worked together seamlessly as Canto climbed and ran through a variety of obstacles. Using a decoy, Canto only bit and attacked the potential threat upon Mendoza's command. When Mendoza told Canto the threat was invalid, Canto immediately stopped running and sat down at the feet of his target.

"Anything that has to do with dog training is a privilege to me," Mendoza said. "I've wanted to [be a handler] since I was 6-years-old."

Despite his success, Mendoza remains grateful and humble.

"I could never have done it without [Canto] because he motivated me every day; he kept my spirits up," Mendoza said. "Knowing that he's here to save my life and others, why not be motivated? I mean, that's the biggest privilege. He's a great dog."

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