Kerala: Kuvi begins training to be a tracker dog

IDUKKI: The local dog ‘Kuvi’ that helped recover the body of toddler Dhanuska after Pettimudy landslide has completed the first phase of heelwalk training under the police dog trainer in Idukki.
Ajith Madhavan, a dog trainer from Idukki police dog squad, started the first phase of training the 1-year-old canine and it is learning fast. The trainer said that if it completes the training it can be used as a tracker dog in the police dog squad.Idukki dog squad officials adopted the animal on August 21. “I trained Kuvi out of passion. Nither the police department nor any higher officials asked me to do so,” said Madhavan.
“I trained Kuvi in the first phase of heelwalk. It simply means that the dog must walk just next to you, instead of behind or in front of you. The dog is required to keep pace with you, only stopping when you stop and begin walking when you walk. The training is divided into three phases: heel with tight belt, heel with loose belt and heel without a belt. Kuvi successfully completed the first phase of heelwalk training within three days,” he said.
Usually, a dog is recurited for training at about three months of age after verifying its parent’s lineage and purity of breed. “Since Kuvi is one-year-old, age will be a challenge in learning commands easily. But as she is responding to commands, I hope to train it to be a tracker dog within a couple of months. Tracking the toddler’s body shows that it can be an efficient tracker dog,” he added.
No order has been issued to select it for police dog training, said officials.