Will Chesney > Quotes

“Someone once said that buying a dog is like buying a small tragedy. You know on the very first day how it will all turn out. But that's not the point, is it? It's the journey that counts, what you give the dog and what you get in return;”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“One thing I've learned is you can't rush recovery. Whether you're talking about the head or the heart, healing takes time. Grief recedes like the tide, leaving memories that make you smile or laugh. Life is for the living, after all, and you can only walk around in a daze for so long.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“On the first night in California, he slept in his kennel; by the second night, we were sharing a bed, although I do recall pushing him off in the middle of the night for being such an aggressive snuggler and blanket hog.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“For a long time, the German shepherd was the standard bearer for work in law enforcement and the military, but for many reasons, including practicality, the breed has been surpassed by the Malinois. Among the factors in favor of the Malinois are size and resiliency. While the Malinois has nothing on the German shepherd when it comes to brainpower or strength, it does have the advantage of being a smaller and more agile breed. the Belgian Malinois is built for military work, and especially for the sort of job commonly undertaken in Special Operations. While either breed can reliably detect the presence of explosives or a human target in hiding, the Malinois is quicker and stabler, simply by virtue of it's smaller and more compact musculature. It is better suited to traversing uneven terrain, and, when necessary, more easily transported.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Lately, though, I've thought that it would be nice if more people knew about Cairo and had a chance to hear his story, and maybe connect with him in some way.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Cario was a great dog, friendly and playful and trustworthy around strangers, but he was still a dog. Centuries of breeding, combined with the best training money can by, had made him a highly adept hunter. Nothing made him happier than to sink his teeth into his prey. That’s just a simple, irrefutable fact. As a result, Cairo, like all combat assault dogs, required endless refresher training on the less enjoyable and (to them) more mundane aspects of their work, primarily scent detection. Once exposed to biting, especially real biting with bloody results, a dog wanted nothing more than to bite again.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“When a dog gets within a few feet, before he tries to bite, I'll give him a little poke on the nose, just to see how he reacts. Mike Reaver said. It's not hard, doesn't hurt him. but it does put him back on his feet a little bit. That's what we want. We want to see how he responds to that aggression. If he dives right in and bites, that's awesome. If he stands six inches away from my legs, barking, waiting for me to open up or give him a window of opportunity, that's okay too. but if he backs up twenty feet, that's a problem. That means he's not comfortable with this level of aggression.
The poke test may not be a perfect gauge of a dog's spirit, but it can be an effective way to measure a dog's fighting instinct.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid