Canine commandos: In a first, Indian dog breeds train for heli-borne ops, river rafting

'The results with Indian breed dogs have been very encouraging,' said an official

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Indian breed dogs like Mudhol Hound and Rampur Hound are being trained for the first time in undertaking high-risk commando operations like slithering down from a helicopter and river rafting by trainers of the Border Security Force (BSF).

This maiden exercise has been initiated by the Tekanpur (Madhya Pradesh) based National Training Centre for Dogs (NTCD) of the border force after it got "very positive" results and feedback on the working of these dogs in sniffing and detection duties over the past few years.

"About a dozen Indian breed dogs are being trained for the first time in undertaking precarious commando operations along with their handlers. They will slither down from a helicopter when commandos are inserted in a combat zone aerially. These dogs are also being trained for river rafting and conducting pack attacks to flush out terrorists from a hideout along with their special operations unit personnel," a senior officer said.