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| IED sniffers to rappelling experts: Army dogs Rice, Victor, Zac, Rowdy impress US troops | | | Muskan Thakur
Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 20: Four Indian Army dogs — Rice, Victor, Zac and Rowdy — have earned their place in the spotlight at Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2026, the ongoing joint military exercise between India and the United States, showcasing to American troops just how central trained military dogs have become to specialized combat operations.
As part of the exchange programme with the US Army, the four dogs took part in high-intensity drills including room intervention and rappelling — tactical skills that demand not just physical agility but split-second coordination with their handlers. The demonstrations gave US personnel a close look at how these dogs are trained, how they move through confined and hostile spaces, and how seamlessly they integrate with troops in demanding, high-stakes scenarios.
The four-dog team represents a mix of breeds and backgrounds. Rowdy and Victor are Rampur Hounds — an indigenous Indian breed that the Army has been increasingly inducting into military roles, a nod to the growing emphasis on homegrown canine talent. Zac, a Belgian Malinois, and Rice, a Labrador Retriever, round out the team, bringing the breeds more traditionally associated with global military and police work.
But this isn't the team's first tour of duty. Each of these dogs carries operational experience from deployments along India's northern and eastern frontiers. The Rampur Hounds, in particular, have an impressive résumé: they previously took part in a multilateral military exercise at Umroi in Meghalaya before being deployed to the Manipur border, where they were tasked with detecting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) — one of the most dangerous and high-pressure jobs a military dog can be given.
Their breed-mates have proven equally valuable elsewhere. Sibling Rampur Hounds were deployed in the Jalandhar and Amritsar sectors during Operation Sindoor, further cementing the breed's reputation. The Army says this track record across such varied terrain and threat environments — from the dense forests of the Northeast to the plains of Punjab — underscores the adaptability and reliability that make the breed increasingly indispensable to modern military operations.
The dogs' participation in Yudh Abhyas 2026 is being read as a marker of the expanding role military canines — and indigenous breeds in particular — now play within the Indian Army's operational framework. It also highlights the tight, almost intuitive coordination between the dogs and their handlers, a bond that becomes mission-critical in operations where split-second decisions can mean the difference between success and disaster.
Yudh Abhyas is an annual bilateral military exercise between India and the United States, held alternately in the two countries since it began in 2004. This year marks the 22nd edition of the exercise, which kicked off with an opening ceremony at Auli in Uttarakhand on September 15 and is scheduled to run until September 28.
Roughly 600 soldiers from each side are taking part, including troops from the US Army's 11th Airborne Division, according to the US Army. The exercise's programme is extensive, covering a brigade-level command post exercise, field training, mountain warfare and cold-weather training, counter-drone operations, and live-fire drills involving advanced weapons systems such as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). Last year's edition of the exercise was hosted at Fort Wainwright in Alaska. |
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