Navy SEAL Dogs: My Tale of Training Canines for Combat

The Navy SEAL teams' elite K9 warriors do it all-from detecting explosives to eliminating the bad guys. These powerful dogs are also some of the smartest and most highly skilled working animals on the planet. Mike Ritland's job is to train them.

This is the tale of how Ritland discovered his passion and grew up to train these elite dogs. After becoming a SEAL, he was on combat deployment in Iraq when he saw a military working dog in action, and he instantly knew he'd found his true calling.

Ritland eventually started his own company to train and supply working and protection dogs for the U.S. government, the Department of Defense, and other clients. He also started the Warrior Dog Foundation to help retired Special Operations dogs live long and happy lives after their service.