Perra, a Dutch shepherd, wastes no time in attacking Sgt. Zuriel Burke as he's wearing a bite sleeve Oct. 27. Fortunately for Burke, the sleeve saved his arm and it was only an exercise to demonstrate the dog's duty on patrol with her handler Spc. Ea...

FORT SILL, Okla.-- McGruff the Crime Dog isn't the only canine fighting crime. On post, the military police dogs really take a bite out of it, if they have to.

"The only time they will attack without command is if they feel their handler is threatened. So if you make any sudden or aggressive movements toward the handler, they will attack," said Sgt. 1st Class Rob Stallcup, Fort Sill kennel master.

The bond between handler and canine is a strong one as they work together on patrols. The dogs demonstrated their loyalty and obedience Oct. 27.

As the handlers put them through different scenarios such as an obstacle course, a drug search or a suspect fleeing, the dogs responded accordingly on command.

Robert Dodrill, Army Substance Abuse Program, said one of the reasons the canine team is taken to the schools is to show that although they might look ferocious-they are only doing their job. He added that having the dogs is a huge asset to military police as they detect illegal substances and explosives and stop suspects in their tracks by taking them down with their speed and brute force.

"We're very fortunate to have them, because if the military police officer had to physically search each person, it would take forever."

Stallcup said there are seven levels of force in the military and the canines are right below the use of deadly force. All of the dogs are trained in detecting either narcotics or explosives, but never both because they respond to them the same way: by sniffing out the object and sitting after they've found something.

"We train all of our dogs on positive response which means we kind of treat them like a child. We don't kick them, we don't hit them or anything like that. We praise the good behavior and ignore the bad behavior," said Stallcup.

As the 6-year-old German shepherd, Uwe, (or 42 years old depending on how you count it) demonstrated, after searching vehicles for explosives he is all too excited to be rewarded with his favorite chew toy.

"That's what he works for. He doesn't work for those explosives he's working for that toy right there," said Stallcup.

Stallcup said the dogs are extensively trained and although he wouldn't list specific explosives they are able to detect he said anything that "goes boom" they will find. As for narcotics, they are able to find marijuana, heroin, methamphetamines, ecstasy and cocaine.

Although spice, or synthetic marijuana, is legal in some states, it is illegal in the military. Stallcup said training for spice will be incorporated into K-9 training soon.

"I think they are a great deterrent. I would say probably 90 percent of the effectiveness of canines is seeing them out on patrol. People know the dog is out there and that stops not only drug dealers, but terrorists from coming on post because they know the capability of the dogs," said Stallcup.