Oketz in Hebrew means sting, there dogs are trained to be involved in special operations of the Israeli Army.

The dogs of the Oketz Unit have three main specializations: to find the bomb, neutralize an enemy and save people. There is a challenging training program in the special unit: the training course lasts for at least a year before an animal is allowed to participate in special operations. The unique dogs are taught to neutralize an enemy, armed with a knife or gun, to creep up unnoticed and spend hours lying in ambush. Four-legged soldiers are divided into those that are involved into arresting, the ones to search and rescue, and the ones to search for explosives.

The army receives completely different breeds of dog: German or Belgian shepherds serve to search for explosive devices, Labradors are engaged in search and rescue operations, small dogs inspect the interior of cars at checkpoints. The main task in the training of such soldiers is to create a solid tandem for man and dog being able to understand each other perfectly.

Animals for the unit are grown in Germany and Holland, and start being trained from an early age. It costs the Israeli army 1000 dollars to maintain each attack dog every month. These soldiers serve 7-8 years, and then they are sent to families, often - to families of their own fellow-dog handlers.

These animals are cared about as children are: every dog ​​lives in a six-meter cell with a special floor covering, they are well-fed and treated: the dogs’ caries of four-legged soldiers of Oketz is even treated. Since 2003, Israel has a special cemetery for military dogs, where they are buried with full honors: on the tombstones it is indicated if the dog has been killed in battle, died of old age or illness. The Oketz special unit exists from the very beginning of the State of Israel, during this time four-legged soldiers rescued hundreds of people and dozens of terrorists were neutralized in Lebanon and Gaza, on the West Bank and the Golan Heights. The soldiers of the unit fought in all the campaigns of the past 30 years.

By the way, Muslims, unlike Jews, consider a dog a dirty animal, so they think that if a kamikaze is bitten by a dog before exploding, then he will not becomes a Shakhid (martyr for the faith) and will not go to heaven. The soldiers of the Oketz benefit from this working with dogs to distract terrorists.