Shoko Ota of Japan celebrates winning the Women's Standing 10km Individual Cross Country during day one of the Winter Games NZ at Snow Farm on August 13, 2011 in Wanaka, New Zealand. (Photo by Camilla Stoddart/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 Chinese woman stands along a road with her dog at a residential community in Beijing on March 11, 2013. Regulations in Beijing and other major Chinese cities ban residents from keeping large dogs in downtown areas, but rules are sometimes flouted. (Photo by Wang Zhao/AFP Photo)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).

Skiers and snow boarders descend from a slope as they attempt to break the record for mass skiing in swimming suits at Rosa Khutor resort near Sochi, Russia, April 9, 2016. (Photo by Kazbek Basayev/Reuters)

Jennifer Lawrence reacts as she poses backstage with her Oscar after winning the best actress award for her role in “Silver Linings Playbook” at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 24, 2013. Lawrence reacted to some photographers telling her to watch her step as she went onto the platform. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

“Touring the Koko-en Gardens adjacent to the Himeji castle was an unexpected highlight of our visit”, wrote Jeff Solar, 64, of Silver Spring, Md., about his trip to Japan. “The fall colors were outstanding and the gardens were both amazing and a bargain (just a few Yen added to the cost of the Himeji Castle admission)”. (Photo by Jeff Solar/2017 Washington Post Travel Photo Contest)

Takahiro Shito, 47, and his wife Sayomi Shito, 46, pray with their children Tomoka, 14, and Kenya 16, and their great uncle Akinori Takahashi, 76, as they pay respects to their daughter Chisato,12, buried in a nearby cemetery, victim of the Okowa Elementary School tragedy, who was killed during last year's tsunami on March 11, 2012 near Ishinomaki, Japan. Teachers at the school weren't trained for tsunami evacuation and didn't to lead the children up the snow covered mountain behind the school after the tsunami warning was sounded. Out of 108 students at the school, 74 died and four remain missing; 10 of the school's 13 teachers were also killed. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak /Getty Images)

A huge colony of Pacific Walrus on Arakamchechen Island in the Northern Bering Sea. (Photo by Francois Gohier/Ardea/Caters News)