Orin Larsen of Inglis, Manitoba hangs on to the horse Dancing Queen in the Bareback event during the Calgary Stampede rodeo in Calgary, Alberta, July 10, 2015. (Photo by Todd Korol/Reuters)

A migrant holds a placard which reads “No Forced Deportations” as he rides his bicycle at the makeshift camp called “The New Jungle” in Calais, France, September 18, 2015. Around 3,500 migrants and refugees are camped in Calais, fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and now living in the jungle. Most of them are hoping to make the crossing to England. (Photo by Regis Duvignau/Reuters)

A Thai jockey competes during an annual water buffalo race in Chonburi Province, south of Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, October 26, 2015. The annual race is a celebration among rice farmers before harvest. (Photo by Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)

A pupil of the Dao ethnic tribe returns home from school along a hillside path at Suoi Thau village in Hoang Su Phi district of Vietnam's northern province of Ha Giang, located at the border with China, September 18, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

Pope Francis waves as he arrives at the Kangemi slums on the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi, November 27, 2015. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

Visitors wear shirts with an image of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong at the Shanghai World Expo site in Shanghai, May 2, 2010. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Trevor Olson, from Minnesota, dressed as the character “Joker”, poses for a photograph at New York's Comic Con convention, October 9, 2014, in New York City. The event draws thousands of costumed fans, panels of pop culture luminaries and features a sprawling floor of vendors in a space equivalent to more than three football fields in Javits Center. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.