By Rebecca Frankel

"He has a six-foot circle around me with his leash and he does not allow anyone to get in that bubble."

“There’s a reason why you can’t sneak up on SPC Jeffrey Michaud — and that reason is Black, a trained explosives detection dog. Michaud and Black are stationed at FOB Warhorse in Baqubah, Iraq, where the pair has been serving since February.

 

Black, a nine-year-old black and tan German shepherd, is currently on his fourth deployment. This is his second tour in Iraq and he’s already done two stints in Afghanistan. But nine is not too old for a patrol dog. “It’s up there, but the dog will work ’til he can’t work anymore,” Michaud, who’s been a handler for two years, told me on the phone from Iraq last week. “Other dogs are 13 years old and still going strong.”
Black happens to be very good at his job.”