BALER,
Aurora - Fifteen “Aspins” short for Asong Pinoy or stray dog,
sometimes known as “Askal” or Asong Kalye in this capital town of Aurora are
now undergoing rigid training to become working dogs, according to top military
official.
Lt.
Col. Joey A. Escanillas, battalion commander of 56th Infantry
“Tatag” Battalion, Philippine Army, said the military is now on their way in
giving the best training to their local dogs to become productive professional
dogs working in many scent-related jobs, from tracking to search and rescue if
possible.
“These
dogs will be honed by their combat tracking skills and long exposure to
military activities,” Escanillas said, adding that the “askal/aspin” are being
trained by their army handlers for tracking and finding lost humans or other
animals, as well as demonstrating the extremely high level of scent capability
that dogs possess.
“Six
to eight months old of our dogs are on their way in training to further
demonstrate their natural abilities and to recognize and follow human scent.
Tracking has always been an essential skill for dogs to survive in the wild,
through hunting and tracking down potential prey,” he said.
Escanillas
said that through the training of dogs, the soldiers will become passionate for
the love and care of their own pets and develop their own tactics to work
together in the military activities.
The
dogs are distributed to the individual soldiers serving as the pet’s handlers
and will generally give the proper trainings.
Patience
is the most important part of the training, to tolerate waiting, delay, or
frustration without becoming agitated or upset, to be able to control emotions
or impulses and proceed calmly when faced with difficulties with dogs.
“Knowing
the different kinds of breeds may help in some way but recognizing the exact
breed of dog is not really important. No matter what size or type of dog the
individual owns or utilized in military operation, it is necessary to give the
dog plenty of clear rules and leadership in its daily life,” he explained.
Aside
from the "aspins/askals,", Escanillas admitted they have well-trained
imported “Labrador Retriever” and “Belgian Malinois” that also work in the
battalion as explosive detector dogs.
The
tasks are tracking down alive/dead individuals, recovering evidence from a
crime scene and finding explosives.
Escanillas
has been assigned at the Philippine Army (PA) supervising the training of
canines (K9s) for two years and three months as commanding officer of the K9
Battalion before his post as the battalion commander of the 56th Infantry
“Tatag” Battalion, Philippine Army covering the provinces of Aurora and
Quirino, the towns of Bongabon in Nueva Ecija and Dinapigue in Isabela and
portions of Alfonso Castaneda in Nueva Vizcaya.
