Bhanu: National training Centre For Dogs

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Year wise developments

As in 2022

Ajay.Sura, August 28, 2022: The Times of India

On July 30, a two-year-old assault dog named Axel pinpointed the location of a Jaish terrorist holed up in a Baramulla house. Axel was shot in the operation but his bravery helped the Army kill the terrorist and also saved a nearby mosque from harm as no high-calibre weapons were used. 
Dogs like Axel – so far known for sniffi ng out bombs and explosives as part of security duties – are now playing a leading role in counter-insurgency and anti-Naxal operations. They are “force multipliers”, says Ishwar Singh Duhan, inspector general of IndoTibetan Border Police (ITBP) who has served in all kinds of terrain across India for more than 30 years. He describes assault dogs as the backbone of any armed force in an operational area due to their superior sense of smell, hearing and speed. 
TOI visited ITBP’s National Training Centre for Dogs (NTCD) at Bhanu, about half an hour’s drive outside Chandigarh, where some of these fourlegged warriors are trained for fi eld operations. 
Although it is run by ITBP, the NTCD also trains dogs for other Central security agencies, including the National Security Guard (NSG) and the Special Protection Group (SPG), which protects the Prime Minister and other VVIPs, and several state police forces. Earlier, it trained dogs for police in Bhutan and Nepal also.

Catching Them Young

The Bhanu campus has been training dogs since 1995, although the NTCD was started only in 2005, says Vinay Shankar Tyagi, second-in-command (veterinary), head of NTCD Bhanu. Over the past 17 years, around 3,600 dogs and 4,600 handlers have been trained. At present, the centre trains 180 dogs at a time. 
NTCD inducts dogs when they are 5-6 months old, and trains them over the next 12-14 months. Most of their dogs are bred in-house, says Tyagi, and the pups are picked for training after a thorough behavioural examination. When trainee pups turn 10 months old, a social behaviour test is done, and those that fail are discharged from training. 
The training starts with a 6-month basic obedience course, followed by advanced training for the remaining period. The dogs are trained along with their handlers, with whom they spen the rest of their working life of 8-10 years. Initially, the centre had Swiss trainers but now there are Indian master trainers to train the handlers.

Although it is now testing the Mudhol breed that originated in Karnataka,NTCD Bhanu is very much a BelgianMalinois turf. Hitesh Shandilaya, second-in-command (vet), in-charge of thedog training centre, says Belgian Malinois is an obvious choice for everyforce because of its strong sense ofsmell, intelligence, physical endurance and easy trainabilityamong both male and femalepups. ITBP has largely shiftedto this breed and the dogs have been doing a wonderfuljob in the operational areas,he says.

Training Day

The dogs and their handlers go throughequally rigorous training. Their day startsat 5. 30am andends at 6. 30pmwith breaksfor rest andmeals. Thecanines aretreated likeyoung recruits after induction, and pass out as soldiers upon completion of their training. By then, some of them are specialists in sniffi ng out bombs, others in hunting down enemies, search and rescue, detecting narcotics and wildlife articles, etc.


Duhan is proud of NTCD’s canine graduates, many of whom have excelled in operational missions and been acknowledged at the national level. “NTCD is like the IIM or IIT in dog training. It is only because of excellent training facilities and results,” he says, adding that the centre has been ISOcertifi ed and they plan to extend their breeding facilities to produce more trained dogs. 
The NTCD infrastructure is really top-class, with 90 air-cooled kennels housing two dogs each, eight specialist veterinarians, pathology laboratories and operation theatres to address canine health issues. Of course, it costs a fair bit, with the expenditure on each dog’s diet, equipment and care amounting to about Rs 15,000 per month.


ITBP recently became the fi rst Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) to induct women dog handlers. Eight such recruits are now training at NTCD Bhanu with Belgian Malinois puppies. Soon, they will live by the ITBP K9 motto: “Mera Dog, Meri Jaan, Paltan ki Shaan, Desh Kare Samman. ”