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A Tribute to India's Canine Commando Force
Sniffing a success in deploying specialised dogs in anti-militancy operations, the Army has, over a period of months, raised a unit of dogs, which now lead all counter-insurgency missions.
"A dog army of 12,000 specialised canine breeds, mostly Labradors, German Shepherds and Belgian Shepherd dogs, is in place in the Indian Army [ Images ]," said Lieutenant Colonel S S Kashyap, a top Remount and Veterinary officer of the corps who breeds them.
"Our success rate against the militants has shot up with the use of these dogs and now virtually every unit deployed in counter insurgency operations has a unit of these dogs," he told PTI.
"Labradors, who have an uncanny sense of sniffing out militants now lead all anti-militancy and road opening mission in Jammu and Kashmir [ Images ]," Kashyap said.
"The German Shepherd and Belgian Shepherd dogs are not far behind and form the bulwark of army mine and explosive hunting missions," he said.
Dogs have proved lifesavers for the forces in many instances as they have led patrols to deeply buried explosives and mines in northeast as well as in Jammu and Kashmir.
"It is due to this success that there is virtually a clamour from paramilitary forces for such trained dogs in carrying out anti-Naxal operations in the country's heartland," Kashyap said.
Also, the vital contribution from these dogs is being recognised and given a pride of place. A Remount and Veterinary Corp Tableau has been approved for public display both at this year's Republic Day Parade on January 26th and the Army Day Parade on January 15.
The Tableau would display dogs forming the vanguard of an avalanche rescue operation. The tableau depicts these canines being air dropped from helicopters to sniff out survivors of an snow avalanche.
"Recognition, though delayed, has not come late," officers argue saying that according to rough estimates, these dogs have been useful in as many as over 300 anti-militancy encounters over the years.
Besides this, according to figures compiled by the army, the dogs have been successful in sniffing out explosives and mines in over 110 instances.
The specialised dogs, raised in special RVC breeding kennels in Meerut, have won Shaurya Chakras and as many as 29 special commendations from the Chief of the Army Staff, while for their handlers they have won three times more such coveted awards.
The Army has now 85 such specialised units, with each unit comprising 24 dogs. Of these as many as 35 are deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, 15 in North-East and some in Western and Southern Army Commands.
By their merit, the dogs have even won overseas assignments, with almost all the 8,560 Indian troops deployed in UN peacekeeping missions sporting three to four dog units.
The success rate has been so much that 20 units have also been deployed all along the 743 km long Line of Control [ Images ] in Jammu and Kashmir.
Four-Legged Fauji
An Army Dog's Life
Routine The day starts early morning with a 2-hour march-off parade and training session. A half-hour grooming session follows, in which they're de-ticked, scrubbed down, massaged, combed. Up next is feeding time, after which dogs rest-until 5 pm when they begin a repeat of the same schedule.
Accommodation A clean, spacious, well-ventilated 3-room enclosure for each. Coolers in summer.
Food Much like jawans, they have a 'standard ration': 680 gm of cooked mutton a day mixed with boiled vegetables, plus milk, eggs, rice, chapattis-amounts varying with weather, age. The older dogs get them in bowls on adjustable stands. Handlers hand-mix the food to ensure the right temperature, consistency.
Working Life Army dogs work for about 10 years. When they are unable to perform on the job, they are pensioned off to the Meerut Cantt, where they spend their remaining days in comfortable retirement.
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The Suitability Index
Today, roughly 60 per cent of India's dog troops are composed of Labradors; the rest, German Shepherds. A few Belgian Melanois-imported from Austria ten years ago-have also been deployed. But though these are a hardy, powerful breed, and a hit with the police and army in the UK and US, their violent streak and inability to get used to more than one master makes them less than ideal for Indian conditions. "They are very powerful dogs," says Brig J.K. Srivastava, commandant, RVC Centre and College, "but they need a strong and bold handler to control them. At the sign of the slightest weakness, they will assert themselves." The army also experimented with Boxers, which they rejected as physically unfit for duty, and Dobermans, dismissed from service 20 years ago. "They are temperamental, unpredictable, and not intelligent enough," notes Lt Gen Narayan Mohanty, DG, RVC.
With her glossy black coat and the neat label identifying her as 'Pratima, ED', she appears every inch the trained professional. This Explosives Detection expert is a comely Labrador, and one you will be reassured to see exercising her skills on unidentified baggage and lonely culverts if you are in J&K or the Northeast, or even just commuting by airplane or train. Pratima is one of nearly 12,000 dogs serving with specialised army dog units across the country; sniffing out terrorist hideouts, clearing the way for safe passage along mine-ridden roads, or finding disaster victims trapped under snow or rubble.
These are jobs for which they are groomed right from puppyhood, at the Remount Veterinary Corps (RVC) breeding and training facility in Meerut cantonment in western Uttar Pradesh. Even as newly weaned six-week-olds, they undergo a puppy aptitude test to assess their temperament and physical attributes. After six months' romping around in their play areas and squabbling over toys, the pups—along with their handlers—embark on a rigorous eight-month course to increase their agility and fitness. Most importantly, they are taught to understand, obey and trust their master's word of command.
At the end of the course, the trainers at the dog faculty examine the meticulous progress reports maintained on each dog to see who is—well—top dog, for each job.
Some heroic acts by alumni are spoken of decades later. Alex, a Golden labrador, is one such legend.
Their breeds, too, play an important part in the selection. Labradors, who walk with their nose to the ground and have inquisitive natures, make good 'trackers' or sniffer dogs, while gsds or German Shepherds, their heads held regally high, are good at catching ear scents, like the furtive sounds made by intruders or terrorists. On infantry patrol (IP) duty, they go ahead of the troops and, should they get wind of an ambush around the corner, silently alert their handlers by pointing up their ears.
Once divided into different squads according to their individual attributes, the dogs undergo intensive "simulated training" for about 36 weeks, in conditions close to those they will eventually have to work in. So, ED dogs, at first trained by sniffing around toys and TVs, are then trained to go on area searches and vehicle searches leaping on the hoods and boots of vehicles. They are taught to bark just once and then sit down when they detect TNT and plastics—explosives that escape the metal detectors' radar. The tracker dogs are trained to trace the scent from an object and follow it even to one person in a milling crowd.
Guard dogs and IP dogs are trained to catch intruders, and silently warn their handlers of their presence. Once they are given the go-ahead, guard dogs are taught to attack, practising their fearsome grip on trainers wearing thickly padded suits and head protectors made of wire mesh. Dogs deployed in search and rescue are trained to identify human presence from rubble structures, while those in avalanche rescue are despatched to Gulmarg in Kashmir for further training, to learn how to work under several feet of snow. Crude oil leakage detection dogs (not in deployment yet) are trained to sniff along a pipeline's path and sit down to indicate a leak.
Some dogs are even trained for special operations in 'slithering', to remain poised while making a 15-metre descent from a helicopter while harnessed to their handlers. This, not surprisingly, takes the dogs some getting used to. "The first few times, they go quiet, retreat in fear, they are reluctant," says Brig J.K. Srivastava, commandant, RVC Centre and College. "But they get used to it. It's like someone from a village who faces an escalator for the first time."
Fearful as they might be initially, all dogs eventually become adept at their jobs, saving lives and averting disaster on a daily basis. Observes Lt Gen Narayan Mohanty, director general of the RVC: "Our dogs are a force multiplier in counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast and J&K. Last year, we sent six dogs to the deep jungles in Chhattisgarh, and they did in three months what we couldn't do in ten years: they found Naxalite hideouts, training areas, and ammo caches."
Naturally, these jobs aren't without their share of risks: dogs spotted by insurgents are often shot at, and those who sit on mines when they detect them—if they are not light enough—run the risk of getting blown up themselves. "We take pre-emptive precautions but dogs do get killed on duty on random occasions," says Deputy DG, RVC, Brig S.S. Thakral.
As for heroic acts on the job, the dog might only hear a "Shabaash, Lucy!" and get a thump on the chest signifying praise, but each feat is documented in monthly army circulars. The more remarkable of these earn commendations, medals and awards. Some acts by famous alumni are even spoken of decades later, and live on in framed photographs. Tracker dog Alex, a Golden Labrador, is one such legend. In 1965, he was put on duty after an attempt on the life of Bhutanese king Jigme Dorji Wangchuck in Paro. Alex picked up the would-be assassin's scent from a grenade lever, and ran miles across a forested hill, eventually catching him in a temple. In gratitude, the king awarded him Rs 1,000, his own gold ring and a certificate. More recent heroes are Rudali, who detected a huge deposit of explosives buried underground in '99, and Babli, who, in '05, tracked a dreaded militant to his hideout through rough terrain. Both are among the 70 dogs who have been awarded commendation cards.
If you are hoping to acquire a literate Labrador, though, you need to get in line, and it will be a very long wait. Surplus professionals like sniffer dogs cost—depending on the training they have had—about Rs 1.25 lakh upwards, and are made available to civilian bodies only with the Union ministry of defence's mandate. Those who have acquired them are paramilitary forces like the BSF, CISF, RPF and various police departments, besides foreign countries such as Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
So, unless you are present at a crime scene or the site of a terrorist attack, or venture into Naxal-infested jungles or conflict zones, the closest you will get to seeing Unjha, Blond, Bhanu and their intrepid canine co-workers is to catch a glimpse of them marching at an Army Day parade, wearing their specialist dog tags, and stealing the limelight from their biped colleagues.
- A personal compilation from multiple sources.
