Police dogs win over schoolchildren in Chennai

(By Meera Nair)
CHENNAI: For 11-year-old Krishna Rakesh from St Antony's Higher Secondary School, the police dog show was a novel experience. He was awestruck by witnessing the outdoor skills of man's best friend.
Krishna was one among 200 students who witnessed the police dog show at Egmore Police Museum on Thursday. "I never had a dog in my life, but if I own one, I really wish to train it like these dogs.They are smart and their performance was awesome," said Krishna Rakesh.
This is the first time that the canine squad performed at the dog show after the lockdown. The excitement was palpable on the faces of children who attended the show, even as they were glued to the proceeding from the beginning.
A dog squad comprising three Labrador retrievers and two Doberman performed a host of drills like saluting officials, sniffing explosives and narcotics.
The canine squad includes Bharat, a Labrador, which had won the gold medal in 2017. The Retrievers, Arjun and Blackie and Tony, a Doberman, are trained for crime detection. Kari Kalan, a Doberman and Bharat, a Retriever, are trained for explosives and narcotics.
S Prabhakaran, trainer for Arjun, a Labrador, said that his life has changed since Arjun's arrival. "Right from my behaviour to my perceptions, everything has changed for the good.."
Inspector B Rathi Devi, museum-in-charge said the response to the dog show was overwhelming.