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Who invented K-9? It seems natural enough from "canine," but in the

many "hot dog" papers I have from the 19th century, I didn't see it used

once.

In Stuart Berg Flexner's I HEAR AMERICA TALKING, pg. 437, he has "_the

K-9 Corps_ (a pun on 'canine') was the corps of army guard dogs or 'war

dogs.' It was originally known as D4D (Dogs for Defense) and sometimes

called _the Wags_."

In Paul Dickson's WAR SLANG, pg. 183, he has "K-9 CORPS. Dogs used in

war. The Army's K-9 Corps, organized during the war, was originally called

D4D ('Dogs for Defense')."

A check of the Eureka computer network shows a movie THE K-9 KADETS

(1944) and THE K-9 CORPS, OFFICIAL MARCH OF "DOGS FOR DEFENSE" (1943). James

Belushi starred in the movie K-9 (a dog!) in 1989. The term is used in about

a dozen other titles--one from 1961, and the others from the 1980s and 1990s.

Does anyone have K-9 before WWII?

This (the earliest I found) comes from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8

February 1915, p. 12, sports column banner headline:



Why Not Call the Terriers the K-9's? They Might Submarine the Whales.