Army bomb dog sniffs out booby trap

The Belgian shepherd called Chocolat sniffed out enough explosives to make 10 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during a recent search of a bazaar in the Nad-e-Ali region of Afghanistan.

His handler, Private Steve Purdy, said the animal's behaviour made him realise that bomb-making equipment was hidden in a shop.

He said: "Chocolat totally right-angled, went in and wouldn't come back. Normally he would never go out of my sight. That's how sure I was.

"It was enough for me to pull him back and say that there was something there."

As the search progressed Private Purdy, 20, from Sudbury in Suffolk, realised that they were being lured into a trap.

The team used Chocolat to find a safe way into the buildings and discovered they had been booby-trapped.

Private Purdy, who is with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, added: "Chocolat is special to me as he is the first dog I've trained.

"He literally didn't know how to sit when I first got him in March 2009. He is very cheeky but a really good dog, really good at his job.

"He is also a bit of a character. He tends to wake me up a lot in the night just with his toy wanting to play, or he'll destroy something that's close by, like my flip flops.

"Chocolat's success at finding IEDs in the initial few weeks of Operation Moshtarak was impressive and the troops really value him and his search capability."

Pte Purdy added: "He is really helping to save the lives of some key players in the dangerous world of Counter IED."

Currently 11 bomb dogs are used by British military personnel in Afghanistan.