Families and children play at Brimham Rocks during their half term break in North Yorkshire, UK on February 18, 2025. (Photo by James Glossop/The Times & Sunday Times)

A woman walks into the ocean as a sea lion makes its way to the beach in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, on September 3, 2025. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

A squirrel begs for food from a scooter driver in a park in Moscow on September 2, 2025. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP Photo)

A woman wearing a raincoat collects a plastic bag near a beach as Typhoon Bualoi nears, in Nghe An province, Vietnam, on September 28, 2025. (Photo by Thinh Nguyen/Reuters)

Protesters practice using slings as they block a road in support of former President Evo Morales in the face of an investigation opened against him for the alleged abuse of a minor while in office, in Parotani, Bolivia, Thursday, October 31, 2024. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

A woman poses for pictures next to a Christmas tree in a shop selling Russian products in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province on December 22, 2024, ahead of the fifth anniversary of China confirming its first death from the Covid-19 coronavirus. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

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.

Storm clouds blanket the sky over Great American Ball Park as Starlin Castro #13 of the Chicago Cubs fields a ground ball in the fifth inning against the Cincinnati Reds as on July 7, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)