SEAL DOG, a new one-hour Smithsonian Channel special, tells the story of former Navy SEAL Trevor Maroshek and his amazing war dog, Chopper. For the last eight years, Trevor Maroshek and Chopper have been inseparable, having trained together, fought together, and even surfed together. And along the way, each has saved the other’s life. Now in retirement, Chopper works as a therapy dog helping Maroshek heal from the psychological and physical wounds of war.
As a part of the U.S. military’s highly-skilled Special Operations team, Maroshek was deployed four times around the globe and helped develop the SEAL’s first canine combat unit.
“These dogs have saved hundreds and hundreds of lives,” says Vice President Biden. “They’re amazing animals, and there’s a lot of people home today, healthy, because of a dog.”
SEAL DOG reveals one incident in Afghanistan when, thanks to a unique canine “sixth sense,” Chopper saved Maroshek and his teammates from an ambush. Acting on a tip that Taliban soldiers had been spotted near their base, the SEALs went out to search the area. Maroshek gave Chopper the signal to follow his instincts. “He took one big whiff and just bolted like a lightning bolt right into the bushes,” Maroshek recalls. By the time the soldiers caught up with him, Chopper had attacked two enemy combatants and potentially saved the lives of dozens of Special Forces team members.
Watch the below video excerpt from the upcoming show:
Real Life Super Heroes
In 2007, Trevor Maroshek was tasked with creating a program to train dogs to do everything Navy SEALs do, including parachuting from aircraft and fast-roping from helicopters.
While on covert missions, these super dogs wear amazing gear that includes bulletproof body armor, high definition cameras, and specially designed “doggles” with infrared and night vision capabilities.
SEAL Dogs are trained in 5 areas of expertise:
- explosive detection
- tracking search & rescue
- laser target acquisition
- sixth sense training
- bite work
They can fast-rope out of helicopters & swim long distances, and more!
These canines are so remarkable that the U.S. Navy used a SEAL dog, Cairo, in its secret mission to find and kill Osama bin Laden.
SEAL dogs are not the first Military War Dogs, however. Watch military dogs in WWII parachute out of a helicopter in 1948:
Now in retirement Chopper works as a therapy dog, helping Trevor heal from the psychological and physical wounds of war. Maroshek founded “Seal Dog Foundation” to provide veterans with these K-9 superheroes as service dogs.
