After 26 years, Army dogs stars of the show at parade

After a gap of 26 years, 36 Indian canine soldiers — 24 Labradors and 12 German Shepherds — marched down the majestic Rajpath during the 67th Republic Day parade on Tuesday. The contingent of canine soldiers received loudest cheers from the crowds as they marched.

Chosen from about 1,200 dogs of the Indian Army, the selected canine soldiers underwent intensive training of four months. Donning capes with bold stripes of maroon and gold, the unit’s colours, the dogs, trained for detection of explosives and mines, tracking, assault and guard duty, were cheered by the crowds. The Army dogs had last taken part in the Republic Day parade in 1990. As the dogs are not used to increased noise levels like those prevailing on Rajpath during the parade, a special training session was held for them.

The handlers had been training with these dogs thrice a day so that they get used to the environment and remain unperturbed. The Army also maintains files pertaining to all aspects of the dogs.

A war dog training school was started on March 1, 1960 at Meerut. Basic and advanced training for dogs and their trainers in specialised jobs like explosive detection, mine detection, tracking, guarding and assaulting is imparted at the Remount and Veterinary Corps Centre and College.

At present, the Indian Army basically uses four main breeds — Labradors, German Shepherds, Belgium Mallinois and Great Mountain Swiss Dogs. The dogs and their trainers of this Corps have won one Shaurya Chakra, six Sena Medals, 142 COAS Commendation Cards, six VCOAS Commendation Cards and 448 GOC-in-C Commendation Cards.

“The dogs are selected on the basis of requirements that we have in the Army like, mine detection, explosive detection, tracking, assault, guard, infantry patrol among others,” said Captain Anurag Boruah of Remount Veterinary Corps.