Old Heidelberg, Dog with Pipe, 1905. (Photo by Detroit Publishing Company)

Ayesha Farooq, 26, Pakistan's only female war-ready fighter pilot watches an airforce jet about to take off at Mushaf base in Sargodha, north Pakistan June 7, 2013. Farooq, from Punjab province's historic city of Bahawalpur, is one of 19 women who have become pilots in the Pakistan Air Force over the last decade – there are five other female fighter pilots, but they have yet to take the final tests to qualify for combat. A growing number of women have joined Pakistan's defence forces in recent years as attitudes towards women change. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

A gibbon drinks from a soft drink bottle, given by a tourist, at a zoo in Kunming, Yunnan province, June 18, 2015. (Photo by Wong Campion/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.

A woman poses for a photo in a vehicle parked on the street as a tourist attraction, in Bangkok, Thailand on July 29, 2019. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

A striking funeral worker takes a break near a casket placed at a parking lot as they protest over changes to a host of procedures and regulations, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak outside the department of home affairs in Soweto, South Africa, September 16, 2020. (Photo by Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

Lenka Tanner is pictured in Nottingham, United Kingdom on March 11, 2015. She starred in the Kuoni advert, Run on Water, advertising luxury holidays. She has set up her own synchronised swimming team called AquaStars. Tanner was born in Slovakia and starting synchronised swimming at the age of six. (Photo by Lucy Ray/The Guardian)

A contestant holds three Pomeranians during the FCI-CACIB Zakarpattia 2021 International Dog Show at the Avanhard Stadium, Uzhhorod, Zakarpattia Region, western Ukraine on September 19, 2021. (Photo by Ukrinform/Rex Features/Shutterstock)