Lord Roscoe the cat runs through the crocuses on the lawns at the National Trust's 17th-century Ham House and Garden in Richmond, London on Monday, March 6, 2023. In recent years more than 500,000 bulbs have been planted to create a spectacle for visitors and to attract bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. (Photo by Kirsty O'Connor/PA Images via Getty Images)

A model stands in a light backstage after presenting the collection by Russian designer Alena Akhmadullina at The Russian State Library, one of the three national libraries of Russia, the largest library in the country, largest in Europe, in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, November 29, 2023. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

People play "Palin", a traditional ritual and ancestral Mapuche game played with curved sticks called "Chuecas" and a wooden ball, during a meet on Dia de la Raza (Day of the Races), also known as Columbus Day in Vina del Mar, Chile October 11, 2015. (Photo by Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters)

This undated image provided by World View shows World View capsule and balloon spacecraft that will rise to 100,000 feet above Earth for passengers to see the curvature of the planet and the blackness of space. Space tourism companies are employing designs including winged vehicles, vertical rockets with capsules and high-altitude balloons. While developers envision ultimately taking people to orbiting habitats, the moon or beyond, the immediate future involves short flights into or near the lowest reaches of space without going into orbit. (Photo by World View via AP Photo)

Tanzania, 1964. A touching moment between primatologist and National Geographic grantee Jane Goodall and young chimpanzee Flint at Tanzania's Gombe Stream Reserve. (Photo by Hugo van Lawick via National Geographic)

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.

Carlos Melendez prepares to feed his pet squirrel “Colita” in downtown San Salvador January 29, 2015. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

Actor Candis Cayne performs at John Varvatos + OUT Support the Gay Men's Chorus of LA on September 29, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for John Varvatos)