Page 22 - DATR 2019

Military Arrival and Rehoming Centre (MARC)
Here at the newly formed MARC we are trying to take our Military Working Dogs (MWDs) and find them a happy retirement after their Service for our country.
On occasion we also have some younger dogs who, for different reasons such as a veterinary condition or no longer having the drive for the training they are going through can come up for rehome.
On arrival, all our dogs are allowed a period of time to settle in and get to know the staff. Once they have been with us for a while and are settled we conduct a behavioural assessment to make sure that they will full enjoy life in the “real world”. This goes for all dogs big and small, and whatever their previous training.
We have to make sure that our dogs are nice and relaxed when going to a new
Retired MWD Ali can’t bring himself to tell his dad he prefers Leicester Tigers
Retired MWD Jake taking a dip in the sea
home, but also that they are safe with things they may never have experienced before. Some of our tests are as simple as riding past a dog on a bicycle or seeing how they react in a home environment.
Because we have plenty of time to do this work, our dogs can often be seen around Melton Mowbray, either walking around the countryside or within the town itself, meeting people, animals, cars and anything and everything else. If you are lucky you may see us sitting outside a café with a coffee!
Most of these things are taken for granted yet most of our dogs will never have seen them during their career. We are trying to make everyday things normal for our dogs.
Some of our dogs can be with us for a long time whilst we make sure they know how to behave. These dogs get special attention and training to make sure they are ready to go to a family.
Once they are comfortable and we are happy, we start to look at pairing the right
22 | Defence Animal Training Regiment