No Ordinary Dog Quotes

“Someone once said that buying a dog is like buying a small tragedy. You know on the very first day how it will all turn out. But that's not the point, is it? It's the journey that counts, what you give the dog and what you get in return;”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“One thing I've learned is you can't rush recovery. Whether you're talking about the head or the heart, healing takes time. Grief recedes like the tide, leaving memories that make you smile or laugh. Life is for the living, after all, and you can only walk around in a daze for so long.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“On the first night in California, he slept in his kennel; by the second night, we were sharing a bed, although I do recall pushing him off in the middle of the night for being such an aggressive snuggler and blanket hog.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Anyone who has ever shared his life with a dog understands the symbiotic nature of the relationship—how a dog relies on his master for sustenance and shelter, and responds with love and loyalty so unconditional that it can take your breath away.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Lately, though, I've thought that it would be nice if more people knew about Cairo and had a chance to hear his story, and maybe connect with him in some way.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Cario was a great dog, friendly and playful and trustworthy around strangers, but he was still a dog. Centuries of breeding, combined with the best training money can by, had made him a highly adept hunter. Nothing made him happier than to sink his teeth into his prey. That’s just a simple, irrefutable fact. As a result, Cairo, like all combat assault dogs, required endless refresher training on the less enjoyable and (to them) more mundane aspects of their work, primarily scent detection. Once exposed to biting, especially real biting with bloody results, a dog wanted nothing more than to bite again.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“For a long time, the German shepherd was the standard bearer for work in law enforcement and the military, but for many reasons, including practicality, the breed has been surpassed by the Malinois. Among the factors in favor of the Malinois are size and resiliency. While the Malinois has nothing on the German shepherd when it comes to brainpower or strength, it does have the advantage of being a smaller and more agile breed. the Belgian Malinois is built for military work, and especially for the sort of job commonly undertaken in Special Operations. While either breed can reliably detect the presence of explosives or a human target in hiding, the Malinois is quicker and stabler, simply by virtue of it's smaller and more compact musculature. It is better suited to traversing uneven terrain, and, when necessary, more easily transported.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“When a dog gets within a few feet, before he tries to bite, I'll give him a little poke on the nose, just to see how he reacts. Mike Reaver said. It's not hard, doesn't hurt him. but it does put him back on his feet a little bit. That's what we want. We want to see how he responds to that aggression. If he dives right in and bites, that's awesome. If he stands six inches away from my legs, barking, waiting for me to open up or give him a window of opportunity, that's okay too. but if he backs up twenty feet, that's a problem. That means he's not comfortable with this level of aggression.
The poke test may not be a perfect gauge of a dog's spirit, but it can be an effective way to measure a dog's fighting instinct.”
― Will Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Sometimes one of the Malinois will cross one paw over the other and tilt its head a certain way, and the resemblance to Cairo is uncanny.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“As a handler, I had been Cairo’s teammate, but I was also his boss. I was Dad, and like any dad, I tried to balance affection with discipline.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Dude,” he said. “I think I just shot that motherfucker.” “What?” I said. “Seriously?” Rob nodded. “Yeah. I just shot that fucker in the face.” He didn’t use bin Laden’s name, but I knew exactly who he meant.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“The mission, we were told, had been given the name Operation Neptune Spear. The reason this name had been chosen was because Neptune’s spear is a trident, and a trident is part of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare insignia.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Cheese, what the fuck are you doing?”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Any working dog will make your life miserable if you are too selfish or lazy to recognize and respect his genetic makeup.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“With some dogs, boundaries are critical; they must know their place. If you let them in your bed, or on the couch, they won’t respect your authority or understand their place in the pack. If you try to push them away, they will growl unhappily; it’s a sign of dominance, and you have to be very careful about letting this behavior go unchecked.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“If I had yelled at Cairo in that moment as he sat in his kennel, lightly wagging his tail, he would have assumed that merely sitting there was some sort of correctable offense. Which, of course, it was not. So instead, I swallowed my anger and embarrassment, gave him a pat on the head, and pulled him out of the kennel.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“knowing you’re going to be out there for more than four hours, wearing a slick black wetsuit and fins that might confuse any hungry shark into thinking he’s looking at a seal, rather than a SEAL, it does give you pause.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“There is a subtle difference between toughness and strength. The first is often superficial and fleeting. The second is bone-deep and permanent.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Some guys are blessed with speed or strength or size. I was mediocre in all of those categories, but I was not a quitter. I was resilient”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“In a word … BUD/S sucks.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“If you want something badly enough, you devote every ounce of energy and focus to making it happen. No bullshit. No excuses.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“learned to keep pushing the proverbial mop until the job was done, and I kept my mouth shut—skills that would prove invaluable when I was getting my nuts punched 24-7 during Hell Week at BUD/S, and during much of my time in the navy, for that matter.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“But the story doesn’t end there, and it doesn’t end on a high note. It never does with dogs, right? Someone once said that buying a dog is like buying a small tragedy. You know on the very first day how it all will turn out. But that’s not the point, is it? It’s the journey that counts, what you give the dog and what you get in return; Cairo gave me more than I ever imagined, probably more than I deserved. This is for you, buddy.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Let’s face it—most people don’t want to enlist in the navy. And most people in the navy have enough self-awareness and good sense to know that they don’t want to endure the agony of SEAL training.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid

“Raise your hand if your life has ever been saved by a dog.” Without hesitation, roughly 90 percent of the men in the room lifted their arms. They did not laugh. They did not smile. This was serious, earnest business.”
― Willard Chesney, No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid