The military hopes the "K-9 company" will do what thousands of soldiers have labored to do — find the Islamist rebels in their tropical jungle redoubts.
The dogs chosen for the task are bloodhounds, a famous hunting breed. Four of them have been mustered alongside thousands of troops scouring the Zamboanga peninsula for the gunmen.
Bomb-sniffing dogs have long been employed by Philippine security forces to guard the president and other dignitaries and also to help sniff out suspected bombs in public places and hidden munitions caches.
Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherd dogs made up the first recruits of the K-9 company and still make up the bulk of its members.
But four bloodhounds were added when the Abu Sayyaf, a group with links to the al-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden, began seizing foreigners and holding them for ransom in the southern Philippines.
Much to the embarrassment of the government, military manhunts failed to locate the gunmen who know the terrain well.
In came bloodhounds, known to follow a scent through forests.
The military is optimistic about their furry soldiers and plans to get more bloodhounds.
Dolly, an affectionate black and brown three-year-old with hanging jowls and floppy ears, came the closest to the gunmen last week.
In her three days in the jungle, Dolly led soldiers to two areas where the Abu Sayyaf and their captives Americans Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipina Ediborah Yap had paused to rest, said her handler Sgt. Gil Samontanes.
"She was a big help. She tracked where they went, where they paused," the sergeant recalled as he patted the dog.
Elite troops found the Abu Sayyaf on Friday, after a 376-day manhunt.
Hostages Martin Burnham and Ediborah Yap were slain in the ensuing firefight, but Gracia Burnham was rescued and has since returned to the United States.
Most of the captors escaped into the jungle and are still being pursued by the military.
Samontanes said Dolly is strictly a tracker. "When the enemy is close, she will become aggressive, pull on her leash."
The bloodhounds will not bark to betray their presence to the enemy, the sergeant said. They are also not attack dogs.
The tracker dogs require a five-man team to lead them to missions, not to mention special dog food and clean water that must be carried into the jungle.
Samontanes said the operation was stressful for Dolly, who was put out of commission on Tuesday when she began urinating blood. She was diagnosed with an infection and given a furlough.
"It was the heat and exhaustion. Climbing up the slopes with heavy rains that would suddenly stop and start," he said.
Staff Sgt. Edgardo Melocotones, team leader of the K-9 company, says that each dog starts training as a puppy, with a handler being trained alongside it, over nine months to a year.
With more than 200 Abu Sayyaf still hiding in the jungles in the south, the tracking dogs will have more than enough chances to prove their worth to the military.