Colonel Richardson's Airedales: The Making of the British War Dog School, 1900-1918

This is the story of one man’s struggle to develop the British War Dog School. Richardson began experimenting with military and police dogs in 1898, and in 1910 began petitioning for a British military dog program. He finally received official approval with support of officers who were unofficially, and successfully, using his dogs in the field. Over 2000 dogs were trained and sent to the front to work as Red Cross dogs, messengers, sentries and patrol dogs—the lives saved were estimated in thousands. Cummins recounts not only Richardson’s struggle, but also the history of war dogs through the ages.

This book formed the basis for the documentary Dogs of War on the BBC series Inside Out, broadcast in 2006.