Insights on Canine Training for Combat

Our dogs are not trained like show dogs. Our dogs are combat dogs. He listens and he obeys only the master's voice and nobody else. This is Rado. He is a one-year-old Belgian Malinois. Rado and his handler are training in the CRPF's Dog Breeding and Training School in Bengaluru. The 40-week-long training pushes both Rado and his handler Hitesh to their limits. Rado is on his way to becoming a highly skilled combat dog. We should not concentrate only on the pedigree or just about the breed. We should concentrate more on the temperament of traits, inner qualities, drives. That is the most important thing. Temperament of the dog matters a lot when it comes to training and performance in the field. So we should consider that thing in the first step only. According to his trainers, Rado is already showing the traits of a good combat dog. Once given the command to attack, he can charge at the target at a speed of 48 kmph. Not just that, this Belgian Malinois can jump past obstacles that are even 6 feet tall. Rado can clear a distance of 15 feet in a single leap. Once he comes close to the target, Rado can strike with a whopping bite force of 250 PSI. PSI is a measurement that is used to calculate pressure that is made in pounds per square inch. This bite can break the strongest bone in the human body like the femur. Once Rado and Hitesh successfully complete their training, they will be part of the CRPF's elite K9 unit. There are about 900 working dogs under the CRPF that are serving in multiple roles in different parts of India. The school came into existence when the CRPF was hard pressed for the... challenges that are coming from left-wing extremist area. So we have started this school in 2011 and from there we trained about thousand dogs. and which have done a tremendous, marvelous work in left-wing extremist area. We do dog breeding, then puppy foundation, then training the adult dogs, and also taking care of the geriatric dogs which are retired from service. The CRPF selected Bengaluru due to its pleasant weather which suits the dogs. The presence of world-class private dog breeders is an added advantage. The 200-acre training facility can accommodate more than 200 dogs in different kennels. The dogs are trained for at least 3 hours in the morning and 3 in the evening. They are served multi-nutrient food twice a day. Sunday is a rest day for the K9s. Leave is rare for these four-legged soldiers who are always on standby for action. As you all know, the CRPF has got the multitasking force. In Jammu Kashmir, in Naxal affected areas or in the North East, when it comes to law and order or in election, disaster response, everywhere, it is the CRPF which has been tasked with the internal security of fighting Naxals and terrorists. So everywhere, along with our two-legged soldiers, we need these four-legged soldiers to, in fact, in true sense, to lead us. In Naxal affected areas, it is the dog which leads the troops. Without dogs, we lack some confidence. Whether we go for the operation or not, that is the greatest thing, the reliability we have on dogs. But before transforming into an elite canine squad, they all start here. This is the dog breeding wing of the school. Here, Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherd dogs are bred. The sire and the dame are carefully selected. The phenotypic traits and trainability traits are monitored thoroughly. Basic foundation training for the puppies starts once they are 45 days old. This is the time when the pups are introduced to their handlers for the first time. One of the very specialized aspects of DBTS ERPF is something called the puppy foundation training. What we do is that when the pups... about 45 days we take them out for socialization we take them out in the town we take them out to the jungle area the pups get to know what is a jungle look like what is our inhabited area look like so that slowly they get socialized with the surroundings so before we put them on actual organized institutional training we try to get them familiarized with all the surroundings In the course of the next 40 weeks the trainers in the school use various techniques that help both the dog and its handler to become combat ready. The dogs are trained to be multi-taskers. Hey, clutch! Good boy! Easy! Good boy! This 5 month old Belgian Malinois is being trained to sniff out explosives from this row of bags. And here this adolescent Dutch Shepherd is being trained on the finer points of engaging with an armed enemy. He will only disengage and hearing the command from his handler. In the last one decade, these dogs have been instrumental in recovering more than 5,500 kgs of explosives. Even a half kilo of explosives can kill 10-15 people. Then you can imagine what could have been a disaster. these explosives got exploded. So all the credit goes to these dogs because they saved the so many precious lives of our Jawan and future of their families. between the handler and the dog is the stuff of legends and it all starts here at the training school. We ensure that our dogs are not trained like show dogs mostly if you go to you know dog shows you will find that the dogs come the dogs come they salute they offer a bouquet to the chief guest and all we just do not follow that our dogs are combat dogs we do not produce show dogs at all for example look at my predicament I am the chief training officer at this institution and I do not have the luxury of petting the dogs because right from day one we train the dogs to be loyal to only their handlers they just don't get friendly with any of the strangers because once you give that leeway then the the bonding between the handler gets diluted The process of bonding starts when they come here when the puppy is 45 days old only. And still the dog is retired or even its last breath. So entire age, the handler accompanies the dog. Once commissioned, these dogs serve for 10 to 13 years. Each dog has two handlers, so that in the event of a handler's retirement, the dog can bond with the second handler. The Indian Armed Forces are among the largest and the strongest in the world, but when it comes to the active canine units, the country is still far behind other superpowers. In India the dogs were in the early days they were not being used for police duties so therefore we we are far far behind the global standards hence there is a lot of research and development to do in this field so as to get the best out of the contemporary techniques wherein the dogs can be used. There is also a need to collaborate with international bodies, international schools or universities, friendly foreign countries, where we can share ideas and to learn. learn from the best practices of each other. Because we are all doing innovations in dog training, in canine training, in isolation. So there is a need to showcase our capabilities to other sister agencies, learn from them, so that we can take this forward to a much higher level, so that we can at least come up with the global standards as far as use of canines in security is concerned. The school recently conducted a two-day canine seminar with the theme Patrol Canine, Vigil and Combat. The seminar was attended by over a hundred domain experts and eminent speakers from various Central Armed Police Forces, State Police, Armed Forces, Law Enforcement Agencies and Veterinary Specialists of the country. Dogs are the oldest companions. The friendship or companionship dates back to maybe 40,000, 50,000 years back and that companionship still rocks. Dogs can never be replaced by the technology in spite of the tremendous technological advancements that the security forces have undertaken worldwide. The dogs do have certain capabilities that the machines cannot replace because sniffing out the sense of smell, the sense of hearing, you know it's all innate in a dog, in a canine and here that's what we train the dogs bring out.

Our dogs are not trained like show dogs. Our dogs are combat dogs. He listens and he obeys only the master's voice and nobody else.

This is Rado. He is a one-year-old Belgian Malinois. Rado and his handler are training in the CRPF's Dog Breeding and Training School in Bengaluru.

The 40-week-long training pushes both Rado and his handler Hitesh to their limits. Rado is on his way to becoming a highly skilled combat dog. We should not concentrate only on the pedigree or just about the breed.

We should concentrate more on the temperament of traits, inner qualities, drives. That is the most important thing. Temperament of the dog matters a lot when it comes to training and performance in the field.

So we should consider that thing in the first step only. According to his trainers, Rado is already showing the traits of a good combat dog. Once given the command to attack, he can charge at the target at a speed of 48 kmph.

Not just that, this Belgian Malinois can jump past obstacles that are even 6 feet tall. Rado can clear a distance of 15 feet in a single leap. Once he comes close to the target, Rado can strike with a whopping bite force of 250 PSI. PSI is a measurement that is used to calculate pressure that is made in pounds per square inch. This bite can break the strongest bone in the human body like the femur.

Once Rado and Hitesh successfully complete their training, they will be part of the CRPF's elite K9 unit. There are about 900 working dogs under the CRPF that are serving in multiple roles in different parts of India. The school came into existence when the CRPF was hard pressed for the... challenges that are coming from left-wing extremist area.

So we have started this school in 2011 and from there we trained about thousand dogs. and which have done a tremendous, marvelous work in left-wing extremist area. We do dog breeding, then puppy foundation, then training the adult dogs, and also taking care of the geriatric dogs which are retired from service. The CRPF selected Bengaluru due to its pleasant weather which suits the dogs. The presence of world-class private dog breeders is an added advantage.

The 200-acre training facility can accommodate more than 200 dogs in different kennels. The dogs are trained for at least 3 hours in the morning and 3 in the evening. They are served multi-nutrient food twice a day. Sunday is a rest day for the K9s. Leave is rare for these four-legged soldiers who are always on standby for action.

As you all know, the CRPF has got the multitasking force. In Jammu Kashmir, in Naxal affected areas or in the North East, when it comes to law and order or in election, disaster response, everywhere, it is the CRPF which has been tasked with the internal security of fighting Naxals and terrorists. So everywhere, along with our two-legged soldiers, we need these four-legged soldiers to, in fact, in true sense, to lead us. In Naxal affected areas, it is the dog which leads the troops. Without dogs, we lack some confidence.

Whether we go for the operation or not, that is the greatest thing, the reliability we have on dogs. But before transforming into an elite canine squad, they all start here. This is the dog breeding wing of the school.

Here, Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherd dogs are bred. The sire and the dame are carefully selected. The phenotypic traits and trainability traits are monitored thoroughly. Basic foundation training for the puppies starts once they are 45 days old. This is the time when the pups are introduced to their handlers for the first time.

One of the very specialized aspects of DBTS ERPF is something called the puppy foundation training. What we do is that when the pups... about 45 days we take them out for socialization we take them out in the town we take them out to the jungle area the pups get to know what is a jungle look like what is our inhabited area look like so that slowly they get socialized with the surroundings so before we put them on actual organized institutional training we try to get them familiarized with all the surroundings In the course of the next 40 weeks the trainers in the school use various techniques that help both the dog and its handler to become combat ready.

The dogs are trained to be multi-taskers. Hey, clutch! Good boy! Easy!

Good boy! This 5 month old Belgian Malinois is being trained to sniff out explosives from this row of bags. And here this adolescent Dutch Shepherd is being trained on the finer points of engaging with an armed enemy.

He will only disengage and hearing the command from his handler. In the last one decade, these dogs have been instrumental in recovering more than 5,500 kgs of explosives. Even a half kilo of explosives can kill 10-15 people. Then you can imagine what could have been a disaster. these explosives got exploded.

So all the credit goes to these dogs because they saved the so many precious lives of our Jawan and future of their families. between the handler and the dog is the stuff of legends and it all starts here at the training school. We ensure that our dogs are not trained like show dogs mostly if you go to you know dog shows you will find that the dogs come the dogs come they salute they offer a bouquet to the chief guest and all we just do not follow that our dogs are combat dogs we do not produce show dogs at all for example look at my predicament I am the chief training officer at this institution and I do not have the luxury of petting the dogs because right from day one we train the dogs to be loyal to only their handlers they just don't get friendly with any of the strangers because once you give that leeway then the the bonding between the handler gets diluted The process of bonding starts when they come here when the puppy is 45 days old only. And still the dog is retired or even its last breath.

So entire age, the handler accompanies the dog. Once commissioned, these dogs serve for 10 to 13 years. Each dog has two handlers, so that in the event of a handler's retirement, the dog can bond with the second handler.

The Indian Armed Forces are among the largest and the strongest in the world, but when it comes to the active canine units, the country is still far behind other superpowers. In India the dogs were in the early days they were not being used for police duties so therefore we we are far far behind the global standards hence there is a lot of research and development to do in this field so as to get the best out of the contemporary techniques wherein the dogs can be used. There is also a need to collaborate with international bodies, international schools or universities, friendly foreign countries, where we can share ideas and to learn.

learn from the best practices of each other. Because we are all doing innovations in dog training, in canine training, in isolation. So there is a need to showcase our capabilities to other sister agencies, learn from them, so that we can take this forward to a much higher level, so that we can at least come up with the global standards as far as use of canines in security is concerned.

The school recently conducted a two-day canine seminar with the theme Patrol Canine, Vigil and Combat. The seminar was attended by over a hundred domain experts and eminent speakers from various Central Armed Police Forces, State Police, Armed Forces, Law Enforcement Agencies and Veterinary Specialists of the country. Dogs are the oldest companions. The friendship or companionship dates back to maybe 40,000, 50,000 years back and that companionship still rocks.

Dogs can never be replaced by the technology in spite of the tremendous technological advancements that the security forces have undertaken worldwide. The dogs do have certain capabilities that the machines cannot replace because sniffing out the sense of smell, the sense of hearing, you know it's all innate in a dog, in a canine and here that's what we train the dogs bring out.

Transcript for:Insights on Canine Training for Combat

Transcript for:
Insights on Canine Training for Combat