Service dogs will be trained to participate in peacekeeping.

Border Guard Intermediate School 24 develops a new teaching major, aiming to bring service dogs to participate in United Nations peacekeeping .

Colonel Nguyen Quang Thuyen, Principal of Border Guard Intermediate School 24 (Ba Vi, Hanoi ) - the only place that trains military service dogs, said that since its establishment in 1959, from two training specialties of combat dogs and target guarding, the school has expanded to include: Combat dogs; drug detection; explosive detection; search and rescue and dogs to identify sources of odor to support criminal investigations.

However, the actual situation requires the development of new specialties in peacetime. For example, the terrorist incident in Dak Lak in June 2023 showed the need to train anti-terrorism service dogs; or train dogs to detect counterfeit money; search for martyrs' remains; participate in international missions... "The highest goal is to send service dogs to maintain peace, ensure security and safety for Vietnamese officers on duty at missions, serve the guard duty of Brigade 144, or work with special forces," said Colonel Thuyen.

The school currently trains foreign dog breeds, such as German Shepherd, Malinois, Labrador and Golden. Depending on their characteristics and abilities, each dog breed is suitable for a specific task. German Shepherds have strong jaw muscles and great intimidation, making them suitable for fighting and suppressing criminals. Malinois have less endurance than German Shepherds, but are intelligent and always excited, often used to distinguish scent sources.

Labradors are mainly trained to detect drugs at airports, border gates, and public areas. The school is proposing to buy some new breeds of dogs for breeding and training, such as English cockerels and golden retrievers, and Scottish border collies. These small breeds, often kept as pets, are easy to camouflage when fighting drug cases.

According to Colonel Thuyen, most of the training lines are of foreign origin, while some native dog breeds are very suitable for training to perform tasks. Therefore, in mid-July 2023, the experimental school introduced the Song Ma and Mong Coc dogs into training to detect drugs, support criminal investigations, search for bombs and explosives left over from the war in Quang Tri... Native dogs are easy to camouflage when fighting crimes at the border, suitable for secret missions, and less suspicious than foreign dogs.

These two breeds have been given basic training and will be transferred to specialized fields in 2024. The school cooperates with the Vietnam - Russia Tropical Center and the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture to select a number of suitable breeds, and with a number of foreign training organizations, to establish a closed process from breeding, raising to training. "We aim to put Vietnam's native breeds on the map of working dogs," said Colonel Thuyen.

Service dogs and trainers take a break during a drill at Border Guard Intermediate School 24. Photo: Giang Huy — Service dogs and trainers take a break during training at Border Guard Intermediate School 24. Photo: *Giang Huy*

The average lifespan of a service dog is 10-12 years, fully developed and at its peak at 5-10 years old. The golden time for training is when the dog is 3 months old because of its high excitement and eagerness to learn when playing. At school, dogs over 3 months old start "kindergarten", get used to their names, play with balls and rags, eat some rough food and walk next to the trainer to "get used to it". At 6 months old, the dog practices discipline and obedience, listens to commands to stand, lie down, sit, cry, sniff, smell, search... One-year-old dogs move on to specialized training.

According to regulations, food for service dogs is divided into 5 levels, from 35,000 to 88,000 VND per day depending on the stage and task. In particular, the food level of 35,000 VND for puppies 15-121 days old, according to Colonel Thuyen, is not enough. Because in addition to nutritional porridge, dogs need additional foods to support muscles, bones, and formula milk. Meanwhile, for service dogs, 1-9 months old is an important stage of development, requiring a lot of nutrition to promote their capacity and physical condition.

The school balances the situation by supplementing the mother dog when raising puppies, increasing the source of supplementary food so that the dogs eat "delicious, clean and cheap". The school is proposing to the competent authority to amend the regulations, increase the food allowance for service dogs, as well as the allowance for trainers. "Living conditions and nutrition for service dogs are still lacking. The veterinary department and medical care for dogs are almost not equipped, although when training and performing tasks, it is inevitable that dogs will be injured or sick," said Colonel Thuyen.

The nutrition and health of service dogs are closely monitored by trainers and experts at the school. Photo: Giang Huy — The nutrition and health of service dogs are closely monitored by trainers and experts at the school. Photo: *Giang Huy*

Since 1959, Border Guard Intermediate School 24 has trained more than 100 courses with 3,000 students and 3,000 service dogs. In addition to the main Ba Vi campus, the school has 5 more mobile service dog clusters in 6 provinces and cities: Hanoi, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Quang Tri, Gia Lai, Tay Ninh, performing defense tasks, fighting drug cases, border exchanges, participating in the international military sports competition Army Games, domestic rescue and international missions in Türkiye.

In addition, the school cooperates in training for other units in the entire army; the army and the Royal Cambodian Police.

Son Ha - Hoang Phuong

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