Before mass motorisation, dogs were widely used as cheap and efficient pack animals in the Low Countries. In 1913 the Belgian army accepted a small carriage, designed by Lieutenants Blancgarin and Van de Putte, that could mount a Maxim machine gun and ammunition. It would be pulled by sturdy dog breeds such as the Belgian Mastiff that were easy to handle and capable of covering long distances.
By the outbreak of war in August 1914, each machine gun company was equipped with six guns. The dog-teams performed well during the German invasion of Belgium, allowing for the Maxims to be quickly deployed and offering a practical low silhouette. They remained in service as the Belgians retreated from superior German numbers and held the left of the Allied line for the rest of the war.
Sources
Historical Firearms, ‘Belgian machine gun dogs’, 4 March 2013 (https://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/44563322275/belgian-machine-gun-dogs-at-the-beginning-of-the#google_vignette, accessed 3rd Dec 2025).
Lomas, David. First Ypres 1914: The Graveyard of the Old Contemptibles. Oxford, England: Osprey Publishing, 1998.
Seehase, Hagen ‘The machine gun carts of the Belgian Army’, 3 Nov 2022 (https://militaeraktuell.at/en/the-machine-gun-carts-of-the-belgian-army/#:~:text=The%20water%2Dcooled%20Maxim%20was,cost%20several%20times%20as%20much., accessed 3rd Dec 2025).
War History Online, ‘An icon of the Belgian Army in WW1, the Dog Cart’, Mar 3 2014 (https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/icon-belgian-army-wwi.html, accessed 3rd Dec 2025).
By Ibrahim Zamir
Empire of History 