Dogs have always been men's best friends. Men originally domesticated dogs by adopting cubs into their tribes and feeding them. Since then, not only dogs became their faithful companions, but they also had an important role in wars.
As a matter of fact, dogs in warfare have a very long history starting in ancient times. Those adorable little puppies would be trained to sink their long, sharp teeth into the flesh of the enemies.
The use of war dogs goes back to the time of Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Britons and Romans. These civilizations all used dogs in battles, often sending them into battle with spiked collars and coats of mail armour. Attila the Hun used giant Molosser dogs (similar to the mastiff) in his military campaigns.
Mastiffs and other large breeds were used by the Spanish conquistadors against native Americans in the 1500s. Indigenous peoples, who were used to small dog breeds of docile nature, suffered greatly, both physically and mentally, from the attacks by these large and aggressive animals during battles.
When they first met the Spanish war dogs, indigenous people even thought that those might be some species of dragon - an impression derived from the fact that Spanish war dogs were armored in chainmail and steel plate, like their masters.
One of the bloodiest punishments used during the Conquest was the aperreamiento: the defenseless victim, because of an act of rebellion or the practice of sodomy, was brutally attacked and killed by a pack of hungry, trained dogs.
