Believe it or not, a German Shepherd named Ding Dang was just the first dog to complete a tandem skydive with the Chinese military in 2o20.

A month before Hei Pi donned a muzzle and body harness with his handler for the Airborne Corps of China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force, Ding Dang went viral both in and outside of China thanks to articles in The Daily Mail.

Taking the plunge

German Shepherds have been used as paratroopers before, most notably in 2010 by British soldiers special forces in Afghanistan hunting Taliban insurgents. The dogs were strapped to their handlers and accompanied them on missions. But there were casualties.

While it’s unclear how long the Chinese have been teaching German Shepherds to skydive with soldiers, the preparation they go through is much the same. All dogs seem to have head-mounted cameras that record the footage.

Keeping the focus

Amazingly, Ding Dang (and no doubt all of the other dogs) stayed composed throughout the jump. But it took lots of practice to get there, including many blindfolded swings and small jumps.

A video clip from CCTV Military shows Ding Dang and his handler’s jump, recording the death-defying free fall before the handler opened the parachute and leg them to safety on a military base.

Ding Dang’s muzzle was wrapped and his eyes covered in order to help him stay calm and his handler to stay safe.

Becoming a soldier

This is just part of the German Shepherd’s paratrooper training.

Eventually, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army “hopes that the training of canine paratroopers could allow it to drop soldiers and military dogs to specific areas quickly during special operations,” according to The Daily Mail.

The backlash

Animal rights activists have long protested the use of dogs as military and law enforcement aids, especially since it puts them in danger on behalf of humans in ways they cannot understand.

The British forces in Afghanistan were criticized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), whose spokesperson said:

“Dogs are not tools or ‘innovations’ and are not ours to use and toss away like empty ammunition shells.”

But dogs have been used since at least WWII when bombs were strapped to them as they ran into enemy strongholds.

Of course, we don’t use them as suicide bombers anymore.

But China is just the latest army to employ the use of German Shepherds in their missions, hoping they can be strapped to human paratroopers for battle purposes as well as the distribution of resources, and search and rescue missions in danger zones.

There’s no doubt that Ding Dang is far more disciplined than most humans would be while jumping out of a plane. His test mission went off without a hitch.

When the South China Morning Post uploaded their own video of Ding Dang onto Facebook, not all of the responses were cheery.

“This doesn’t seem right!” complained some commenters.

But others pointed out that the U.S. does the same thing – and at a much higher rate. (Then again, that’s not a way to prove that it’s “right.”)

Others thought they saw nervousness in the dog, though there’s really no sign of it since his eyes were covered.

And, of course, there were a smattering of repugnant racist comments.

However you feel about the use of dogs in the military, Ding Dang’s brave jump can be found below – and it’s worth the watch.

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Source: The Daily Mail, Weibo, Daily Mail (2), Weibo (2), The Guardian, Facebook – South China Morning Post