The more representative dogs from every country photographed wearing the uniform of their football national team for Life on White

A vendor smokes behind a display of dog meat at a dog meat market on the day of a local dog meat festival in Yulin, Guangxi Autonomous Region, June 22, 2015. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

An Afghan hound arrives for the second day of the Crufts Dog Show in Birmingham, Britain March 9, 2018. The annual four-day event sees around 22,000 pedigree dogs visit the centre, before the “Best in Show” is awarded on the final day. (Photo by Darren Staples/Reuters)

First place, Portrait. Three flat-coated retrievers – Crew, Darcie and Pagan – by Carol Durrant from the UK. (Photo by Carol Durrant/Dog Photographer of the Year 2018)

Disabled dogs outfitted with wheelchairs walk at an animal rescue center on July 12, 2008 in Chengdu of Sichuan Province, China. The center has adopted over 100 stray dogs and cats from quake-struck areas. Those who were hurt or disabled are outfitted with a cart to help support they're body and make them mobile. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

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.

A dog sanctuary in Mexico is the first of its kind as it provides troubled canines with a safe and loving home. Milagros Caninos (Miracle Dogs) is a sanctuary in Mexico City that takes in abused, elderly, terminally ill, and disabled dogs.