Some of the army personnel pat them while others throw a ball and some offer biscuits for a great job done by the two canines during an anti-militancy operation by detecting an Improvised Explosive Device(IED) or alerting troops about suspicious movements.
'Tractor', a Rottweiler, and 'Sam', a German Shepherd, have been deployed with an unit of army's Rashtriya Rifles, which keeps a vigil on sensitive areas of south Kashmir covering Kokernag, Achabal, Magam forests and Pahalgam.
"After the successful operation, these two colleagues of mine also had a sense of relief along with other team mates," says an army Major referring to 'Tractor' and 'Sam'.
They are fondly taken care of and engaged by soldiers who devote a considerable free time of theirs to give company to their "colleagues" who keep a watch when they sleep in their make-shift tents or accommodation or walk down the roads which could be mined by terrorists.
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"When nation sleeps, people know that we are awake and when we take a nap, we know that these (dogs) are awake," says a army officer as he fondly pats 'Sam' and 'Tractor' who had detected an IED on Dailgam-Achabal road.
"The dogs have their own mechanism of studying and
observing us and adjusting themselves to our mood," said another army major.
"During chalo calls when crowd was building, 'Trigger' was very effective with his presence. He activates himself to attack any violent demonstrators," the officer said and added with a smile, "his nervous system gets activated the moment he hears word 'Azadi'".
"Last month violent protesters pelted stones at our camp and threw petrol bottles. We refrained from firing as this could have led to casualties and instead we unleashed the two who not only chased them away but also ensured they don't assemble again," a senior army officer said.
And not to forget "Tarzan", another German Shepherd, who plays an important part in the perimeter security especially at night and is very responsive to any suspicious activity.
Mansi was honoured with the 'Mention of Despatches' certificate. Her name will appear in the Gazette of India for making supreme sacrifice for the nation.
She along with her handler had a successful season last year with three kills to their credit. They were involved in the killing of a terrorist at Kaisuri ridge in Tangdhar area, followed by the gunning down of two militants on July 21 last year.