Russia Trains Service Dog To Sky-Dive in Stunning Video

The Russian military dropped a service dog along with its handler from an altitude of 13,000 feet, as shown in a mind-blowing video released recently by state media.

The footage came from a company showcasing parachutes specifically designed for dogs and their human handlers to be dropped safely in places where it is impossible to land a plane or helicopter.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense ordered the parachutes, state-owned media Russia Today reported, adding that tests of the devices are being completed this year.

Video shows human handlers petting what appears to be a muzzled German shepherd before it was ushered into the edge of the aircraft in midair. The handler attached to the canine leapt out of the plane, and they both landed safely.

“After the jump, the dog behaves normally … it’s ready to perform its tasks,” Alexey Kozin, chief designer of parachute systems at manufacturer Technodinamika, was quoted as saying.

Kozin said that the device can be controlled by an experienced parachutist or a search-and-rescue specialist. The company was also developing oxygen equipment for dogs that would allow them to breathe at higher altitudes, enabling them to jump from as high as 26,000 feet. 

Yury Mironov, who tested the device with the dog, told Russia Today the canine was not given food or water before the drill as preparation for the dive. 

“The dog is strapped down securely and has almost no room for extra movement,” Mironov was quoted as saying, adding that it resisted at the start before being calmed by its owner.

“The jump was performed without complications,” he said. 

Militaries around the world have increasingly used trained canines in combat zones, and a Belgian Malinois named Cairo was famously used in the 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.

But the use of dogs in conflict areas, where they are made to sniff out threats in buildings and to chase assailants, has been criticized by animal rights campaigners.