We had our share of local dogs who were excellent sentries at gun positions. The local dogs were ideal guides in white out conditions too. In Drass Area with 8 feet of snow off the road the dogs would mark the route by peeing every 50m. Extremely well trained and dependable; they would wait for troops at the road head and take them to the gun position and back. I have of course been guided by them often when you can't see a thing.
About our dogs from the dog unit we had 'Dixit' a veteran with a few medals to his credit. We had pressed him into service for an avalanche rescue mission. A black Labrador; he used go around in a cheetah with his trainer and kit. Often temp were too low for them to operate; but they did som fine tasks. A dog can only be trained for one task.
Dogs are good but too many can be bad particularly in winter when there is no food; thats when they begin killing each other; there was an incident when a JCO was killed in a unit in Karu in 1988 or 89. Then you have to do the needful; no choice.
But they are a man's best friend; provided.....but then in life nothing is unconditional.
ANOTHER EXPERIENCE
We have our own tales of our very own 'dogs of war' and forget the ones of Army Dog units, I am talking of local pie dogs of posts particularly the ones in Glacier. There are any number of their stories, all true and believe me I have experienced it myself. It was Jul ' 91and I was getting inducted in Siala complex of Northern Glacier and that day we were moving from Camp IV to Benazir DZ, the toughest stretch of induction route.Midway the weather packed, it started snowing and there was 'white out' all over. The route markers placed after every 50 mtrs or so became invisible and to make matters worst the link Ptl Cdr of outgoing bn started going the wrong way. Fortunately the post dog accompanying us wouldn't budge and stayed put at the pt where we had deviated from and kept barking incessantly. After some hesitant steps prestige was swallowed survival given precedence and the Ptl Cdr frankly admitted that we were lost! But at the same time he mentioned the dog's barking was his way of telling us that we were heading in the wrong direction. We reposed our faith in the dog's sense of smell to bail us out of the precarious sit and let him lead there after. Much to our relief after half an hour or so in which we may have covered just about 400-500m there was bit of an opening in the weather for two/three mins and much to our relief we spotted a route marker. We knew we were safe!!! They ie our own 'dogs of war' are also the unsung heroes of Glacier.Those of us who have served there (and I have served twice there) will probably appre better what we went through. Then there are tales of "Pista" and his 'wife' "Pisti" of Southern Glacier, "Kambal Baba" of Central Glacier and any number of them.
We have our own tales of our very own 'dogs of war' and forget the ones of Army Dog units, I am talking of local pie dogs of posts particularly the ones in Glacier. There are any number of their stories, all true and believe me I have experienced it myself. It was Jul ' 91and I was getting inducted in Siala complex of Northern Glacier and that day we were moving from Camp IV to Benazir DZ, the toughest stretch of induction route.Midway the weather packed, it started snowing and there was 'white out' all over. The route markers placed after every 50 mtrs or so became invisible and to make matters worst the link Ptl Cdr of outgoing bn started going the wrong way. Fortunately the post dog accompanying us wouldn't budge and stayed put at the pt where we had deviated from and kept barking incessantly. After some hesitant steps prestige was swallowed survival given precedence and the Ptl Cdr frankly admitted that we were lost! But at the same time he mentioned the dog's barking was his way of telling us that we were heading in the wrong direction. We reposed our faith in the dog's sense of smell to bail us out of the precarious sit and let him lead there after. Much to our relief after half an hour or so in which we may have covered just about 400-500m there was bit of an opening in the weather for two/three mins and much to our relief we spotted a route marker. We knew we were safe!!! They ie our own 'dogs of war' are also the unsung heroes of Glacier.Those of us who have served there (and I have served twice there) will probably appre better what we went through. Then there are tales of "Pista" and his 'wife' "Pisti" of Southern Glacier, "Kambal Baba" of Central Glacier and any number of them.
CEASER IN PUNCH
WE HAD A LAB PUP WHICH WAS TRAINED IN A DOG UNIT. HE WAS A TRACKER DOG. WE DID RECOVER FEW IEDs BECAUSE OF HIM @ SAVED FEW DEATHS. HE CAME BACK WITH THE UNIT TO PORT BLAIR & WON THE FIRST PRIZE IN THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS DOG SHOW.
Very interesting post. Thank you. I would like to know more about the dogs Pista and Pisti. I am a writer and have written a story about them that you can read at http://www.rachnabisht.com/3/post/2012/05/the-siachen-rescue1.html
ReplyDeleteThe average indian knows so little of the conditions in which the army works.This article helps us understand the adversities faced by the army personnel in hostile weather conditions.
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