Dogs, as we know, are basically better than most people.
However, this particular is not only better than you, he's cooler than you. Piper, a Border Collie, is stationed at Cherry Capital, Traverse City in Michigan and has a pretty special job. Airplanes are pretty susceptible to interaction from wildlife, especially birds of every kind.
If, say, an owl were to strike a plane's turbines as it came into land, it could quite easily cause a major malfunction and even possibly cause the plane to crash-land. Airports use different methods of keeping birds and wildlife away from the runways, however Cherry Capital's come up with an ingenious method.
They've set Piper to work on the runway and use him to chase off birds and wildlife. The dog is deployed, complete with goggles and a cover, by his handlers and sniffs out any flocks of birds that could potentially fly into a landing airplane.
Piper is trained by Brian Edwards, who works at the airport as an Operations Supervisor and began training his dog at home to help him out with work. Dogs, for the most part, are quite sensitive to sound. However, with a good amount of training and care, Piper was able to acclimatise to the roar of planes and, pretty soon, became the badass he is today.
Just look at this.
As we said, this dog is officially cooler than you. Get used to it. He's even got battle-scars to prove it.
The bandage over one of his legs came when he launched himself out of his owner's jeep to get at a snowy owl. According to Edwards, Piper fractured a toe when leaping out, but is now on the mend.
Cooler. Than. You.
Via AirportK9.org
