Gung-ho game featuring gnashing dog raises funds for war veterans

A dog attacked a British soldier in protective clothing as part of a training exercise for the animal in Afghanistan. (Luke Baker/Reuters)

CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan - The challenge is simple enough: Run away as quickly as possible.

The only problem is, there's a highly trained, gnashing dog chasing you and he wants to chew you to bits.

It may not sound like the most attractive proposition, especially as you have to pay to have a go, but it's turned into a popular sport for gung-ho soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

And in the process it's raised thousands of dollars for war veterans cared for by the British charity Help For Heroes.

The game is called "Beat the dog," which contrary to what the name suggests does not involve taking a stick to the hound but rather, seeing whether you can outrun a snarling, lean German shepherd, one of the dogs the army uses to track down the Taliban.

A volunteer pays $5 and is trussed up in a heavily padded suit, complete with face mask and big protective gloves.

On a command, the challenger has to run from a hide-out to a mound of rocks, turn around the rocks, and then run away.

At the same time the German shepherd, called Leo, is walked to a mound of rocks about 27 yards away and then unleashed.

In one recent showdown, Lance Corporal Logan Wilson, a hefty US Marine, suited up and made a mad dash for it.

Just past the rocks he stumbled over his own feet and fell forward. He got up as Leo was bearing down on him at full tilt.

He took several more strides before the dog leapt in the air and hit him powerfully in the back, knocking him to the floor.

Once on the ground, Leo grabbed hold of Wilson's arm and attempted to tear it off.

Were it not for the padded suit, the dog might well have succeeded. Wilson did not beat the dog.

"He hit me real hard right from behind and there was no way I was going to get back up," said Wilson, a 19-year-old from the state of Wyoming. "It wasn't so bad because of the padding, but that dog is real strong."

Leo weighs about 88 pounds and can run about 15 miles per hour at full speed, his trainer said, meaning that he can land a hefty blow when he flings himself at you full pelt.

In the months that the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, which handles bomb sniffing and protection dogs in Afghanistan, has been running the challenge, no one has beaten the dog by reaching a wall about 55 yards from the rocks.

Not only has the challenge raised approximately $5,000 for charity, but it also helps to keep the dogs trim.

Without volunteers, Leo wouldn't get a chance to sink his teeth into much other than his lunch, so the game allows him to keep in training. There's every sign that the dogs take it extremely seriously too. It took some effort for the trainer to get Leo to "drop" Wilson.