Tamil Nadu, Manipur breeds to bolster Assam Rifles’ dog squad

Indigenous breeds of dogs from Tamil Nadu and Nagaland are expected to team up to phase out foreign breeds in the dog squad of India’s oldest paramilitary force by 2050.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a directive in 2025, seeking the induction of more Indian canine breeds in the dog squads for all armed forces. The directive came three years after the Assam Rifles, established in 1835, started a pilot project to induct six Tangkhul Hui dogs into its squad.

Indigenous to Manipur’s Ukhrul district, the Tangkhul Hui is highly disease-resistant and has traditionally been used for hunting.

The 2025 directive made the Assam Rifles, which is under the dual control of the Home (administrative) and the Defence (operational) Ministries, start identifying suitable indigenous breeds to team up with its “four-legged soldiers” from Manipur. It has zeroed in on the Kombai breed found in Tamil Nadu as the potentially most suitable partner of the Tangkhul Hui.

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“We are in the process of identifying the parent stock of the Kombai for breeding. As the first step, we will induct two males and eight females of this breed in April,” Lt. Col. Alok Palei, the Commanding Officer of the Assam Rifles Dog Training Centre (ARDTC) in Jorhat, told The Hindu on Thursday (February 12, 2026).

New breeds of dogs have a 15-year phase from identifying genetically superior parent stock to deploying trained dogs on the frontlines as guard dogs and trackers. They have been the key to the paramilitary force seizing huge caches of arms and narcotics in the northeast.

The Assam Rifles currently has three breeds — Belgian Malinois, German Shepherd, and Labrador — posted in different battalions across the northeastern states and Jammu & Kashmir. The force currently has 253 dogs, although its sanctioned strength is 344.

The Tangkhul Hui and Kombai breeds are likely to be inducted fully into the Assam Rifles’ dog squad by March 2027. These two indigenous breeds will be trained at the ARDTC, the only such facility of the Assam Rifles.

The centre currently has 104 dogs — all foreign breeds — undergoing training or treatment at its veterinary hospital, under the care of 174 handlers.

The dogs undergo a 12-week basic obedience course and a two-week refresher course. The courses for their handlers are basic dog handling (23 weeks), dog first aid (four weeks), and refresher (two weeks).