Jammu: The Border Security Force (BSF) has decided to train breeds of Kashmiri Sheepdogs for ongoing surveillance and counter-insurgency operations along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir.
“BSF’s National Dog Training Institute is an institute of excellence and we know we are promoting Indian dog breeds like the Rampura Hound, Rajapalayam Hound and Mudhol Hound which we are currently training,” said the director. Border Security Force General Pankaj. Kumar Singh during the annual press meeting on its 57th founding day.
He further added that in Kashmir, “we are in the process of training the Bakerwals (shepherd) dog breed called ‘Gaddi’ which is very impressive.”
“‘Gaddi’ hounds are very loyal to their master, quickly bowing down and skillfully guarding all livestock in very harsh weather conditions, where others find it difficult to even survive,” he said.
DG BSF said that according to expert dog trainers, Indian dogs learn quickly and are relatively less likely to make mistakes than foreign breeds. Once trained, these dogs will be brought into the field to assist troops in border patrol activities and operations.
“Dog squads are a very important component of the security forces. In the anti-terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir, the Dog team is the first responder in these operations. The success of these operations mainly depends on the highly trained dogs,” he said, adding that “along with the use of high-tech equipment such as drones and cameras in counter-terrorism operations, the trained canines of the dog squad are equipped with GoPro cameras. . and Walkie-Talkies used to command these dogs during operations. This has proven to be one of the main reasons for a safe way to carry out the operation.”
He said that the Unit Dogs are first sent to detect the location of the hideout, the location of the hidden terrorists and to detect the weapons and ammunition carried by the terrorists.
“The cameras installed on these Dogs are monitored through a control room.
These dogs are trained to enter the location of the hiding terrorists without being noticed by the terrorists. The dogs are also trained not to bark during these operations,” she said, adding that “if these dogs are detected by the hiding terrorists and attacked by them, the dogs also respond with an attack. The dog handler always keeps a close eye on how the situation is.”
Various breeds of dogs are used by the forces in dog units across India, including Labradors, German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois and Swiss Mountain Dogs. Until now, the Indian Mudhol Hound breeds are also part of these units, said DG BSF.
These dogs are used for various purposes such as guards, patrols, sniffing out explosives including IEDs, mine detection, sniffing out contraband including drugs and attack targets etc.
“We have eight major specialties of military dogs in the Indian Army, they are used for explosive detection, mine detection, tracking, search and rescue operations, avalanche rescue missions and many other specialties that are as per the requirement,” he said. —(KNO)
