Canines to the Rescue

Younis Ahmad Kaloo

Tekanpur: Shera, a German Shepherd, walked gently to the left of his handler towards me, as I sat next to CVO Officer Commanding, Dr G S Nag, in the lawn adjacent to his office at National Training Centre for Dogs (NTCD) at Tekanpur, Gwalior. Tucked between his firm jaws was the arch-shaped handle of a basket covered in a velvet cloth and laden with petals of Bougainvillea flowers. Perching his forelegs on a small platform before him, Shera of infantry patrol squad welcomed me to the demonstration that would start soon after.

Demonstration

The demonstration began with the dogs standing upright on their hind limbs on the stools painted in white, saluting the audience with their handlers behind doing the same. Nearby, outside the premises of the training centre, students burst into a loud sound of cheers. “Is there is a tournament going on in the school?” enquired the Officer Commanding from one of the officers present, who replied in the affirmative. The dogs then fell out to return to perform their individual tasks that they specialise in.

“This is called leg crossing, a part of the tactical movement,” said Dr Nag as a black Labrador moved through the legs of his walking handler. The other part of the tactical movement includes ‘crawling with the handler’. “This is tactically very important when you are going towards the enemy, say, through a trench, without wanting to be noticed,” he added.

Next was the narcotic detection. One of the four briefcases placed in a row had narcotic drugs in it. Bravo, a German Shepherd, followed by his handler, sniffed and moved from one briefcase to the other until he put his right foreleg on th