SKYLAR™ Canine Cranial System

Military Working Dogs (MWD) are subjected to many different hazardous situations. MWD are used to detect explosive devices, sent into enemy structures first to detect and subdue combatants, released to surveil exploded buildings and areas rich with sharp and abrasive objects. These duties result in hard scratches to their face, eyes, ears and snout area by thorns, debris, combatants and sharp edges that can injure them while doing even normal actions. Additionally, these MWD often are transported to combat areas in helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, armored vehicles and other modes of transportation that can be very loud and emit tremendous low frequency noise. These low frequency noises often cause a temporary threshold shift (TTS) in the dog’s hearing, which can affect their ability to hear commands or pick up on handler cues temporarily in a combat zone. When subjected to these low frequency noises over long periods of time, hearing damage can occur, resulting in reduced performance of the dog’s hearing. These conditions create an operationally impactful need for an ultra-low-profile cranial type platform system, that can form-fit around the dog’s head to protect them from scratch and abrasion type injury and remain very low profile and comfortable without decreasing the dog’s ability to expel heat. Reducing occurrence of injury to the MWD increases operation usefulness. This canine cranial system can also be used as a platform for ultra-low distortion enhanced protective goggles that can protect the dog’s eyes without reducing the dog’s peripheral vision or visual acuity. These goggles can be changed or easily removed by the handler.  To protect the dogs hearing from TTS and act as an ear cover in transit or in a parachuting situation from high altitude, a form-fitting low-profile aerodynamic insulated earcup can be added to the cranial system which can be easily attached and removed by the handler. The canine cranial system can also act as a mounting platform for current and future low-profile devices such as lights, cameras and other tactical devices that further enhance the dog’s tactical capabilities and usefulness on a mission.