The Indian Army has been using only foreign breeds of dogs like German Shepherds, Labradors and Great Swiss Mountain dogs as service animals. But, not anymore!

For the first time ever, an Indian canine breed is being trained for induction into the Army. According to Times of India, the lean and lanky indigenous Mudhol breed of hunting hound is all set to be drafted by the defence forces for guard duty by the end of this year. 

Reportedly, the Army's Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) centre in Meerut is almost done training six dogs of this desi breed and these hounds will most probably be inducted by the end of this year and posted in Jammu & Kashmir.

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The dogs were transferred from Karnataka to the RVC centre last year, and have been undergoing thorough and intense training since then. An officer from the centre said, “this was a novel initiative since we had absolutely no research or documentation or past experiences on how to train the hounds.”

According to him, the dogs were kept in quarantine for some time at first, mainly to check if they have any diseases. After that was done, they then went under basic obedience training, which was followed by battle inoculation and specialised training. He added, “The most important aspect was building the bond between the trainer and the dog to understand the animal's behaviour as well as its ability.”

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He also mentioned that this plan of inducting Indian breeds in the army has been underway for a long time now, with a lot of scientific thought going in it.

And it seems like the Mudhol hounds were the best choice as they come from a strong lineage. Considering its speed and swiftness along with the size, it would be good as a guard dog, but can also be trained for other tasks as well. 

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Since a lot of factors, like temperament, ability and potential, have to be taken into consideration for selecting a dog for training, therefore it's not clear yet if more Indian breeds will be inducted in the Army in the future.