Innovation in K9 Training for Military Missions 

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Dogs operate in a wide range of capacities within the military including security, patrol, explosives detection, tracking, search and rescue, guard, sentry and tactical duties. Trainers use bite training on military working dogs to assist in restraining a perpetrator. Dogs also may eliminate the need to use a weapon.

Most current bite training sleeves are too bulky for concealment, making it harder train the dogs for real-world scenarios. Other sleeves are made of materials such as jute that does not provide a truly realistic training scenario and can reduce canine effectiveness on target due to hesitation. Silicone bite products require the trainer to attach additional appendages to a sleeve which limits training scenarios, eliminating realistic concealment, and possibly confusing the canine.

A new realistic bite sleeve trainer developed by US Army scientists improves the performance of military and civilian K9s. 

The new bite sleeve provides military working dogs with an authentic human skin texture when biting the forearm region and reducing the circumference of the target. This allows for a full-mouth bite and a more realistic training scenario for the canines.

When designing the product, a key aspect was ensuring the safety of both the dogs and their handlers. The research team ensured that the materials selected were nontoxic to dogs and that the selected materials would be puncture resistant for the handler.

According to army.mil, the bite sleeve is comprised of an outer silicone skin paired with an inner leather-based sleeve. The skin is a proprietary prosthetic-grade silicone product that looks and feels like human flesh and has an internal mesh support system for resilience. The inner sleeve is a low-profile bite platform constructed from a pressure dissipating foam and several layers of Kevlar fabric to allow for a full-mouth bite, and two adjustable straps allow a custom fit for any trainer.

The U.S. Army Special Operations Command currently uses the bite sleeve for training.

With Army funding, researchers at Campbell University are further advancing the concept design, making an even more realistic skin that bleeds artificial blood upon bite.