March 11, 2008 Swiss car manufacturer Rinspeed made quite the splash at the Geneva Motor Show with its innovative sQuba, a fully functional submersible concept car that cost $1.5 million to build. (Photo by Rinspeed)

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

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)

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 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)

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 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)

Smoke and ash are visible during the the Shiveluch volcano's eruption on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, Tuesday, April 11, 2023. Shiveluch, one of Russia's most active volcanoes, erupted Tuesday, spewing clouds of ash 20 kilometers into the sky and covering broad areas with ash. (Photo by Alexander Ledyayev via AP Photo)