100 new dogs to give more teeth to CRPF in anti-insurgency operations

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In what can be seen as is an indicator of heightened activity in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected areas and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is procuring a new batch of 100 dogs to assist their operational units. A senior CRPF officer informed ANI that they will be procuring 100 pups for their K9 unit. After procurement, pups will be trained at the Dog Breeding and Training School of CRPF in Bengaluru.</p>
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"The operational units of CRPF deployed in the improvised explosive device (IED) prone region of LWE and Jammu and Kashmir are pressing hard for providing of K9 teams. CRPF is in process for procurement of pups of Belgian Shepard Malinois (BSM)," reads the official document.</p>
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"They are adding more dogs into the force as more and more battalions are deployed in Naxal affected areas and J&K. After the training, the dogs will be deployed in all operational areas," the officer said.</p>
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"The sniffing power of dogs is the biggest advantage for teams deployed on Naxal-affected areas. Every Battalion in Naxal areas have 14 dogs and every time a team goes out on patrol, Dogs move ahead of the team to detect any ambush, explosives or landmines," he added.</p>
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The officer also made the clear that CRPF will only be procuring pups of Belgian Shepard Malinois (BSM).</p>
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"BSM is the best police dog in the world. It is tried and tested breed. Different organizations use different breeds as per their requirement. Some forces use Labrador and cocker spaniel as they are public friendly dogs used for sniffing in metro, airports and other public places," he added.</p>
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In the CRPF, the training for the dogs will start after they cross 90 days of age, and puppies will be brought to the school when they are 45 days old.</p>
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During the training, the dogs will be trained for Social attraction, Following, Restraint, Social Dominance, Elevation Dominance, Retrieving, Touch sensitivity, Sound sensitivity, Sight sensitivity and Stability.</p>
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At present, there are around 1000 dogs in its K9 unit of CRPF.</p>