Dog service in Caucasus

There are 15 big and small hydro-electric power stations in the republic of Daghestan.

There are 15 big and small hydro-electric power stations in the republic of Daghestan. All of them are operated by Rushydro company. More than a half of Daghestan electricity is generated by Chirkey Dam. It is an concrete arch dam on the Soulak river which height is 232,5 m. Chirkey Dam is the tallest arch dam in Russia and the second of the most slim stations in the world (coefficient of slimness is a correlation between the width of dam basement and its maximum height).

For the last years since the beginning of the second Chechen war in 1999 Daghestan has been the battlefield between Russian special services and radical islamists with terroristic attacks, explosions, killings of policemen and civilians. According to the Internet mass medium `Caucasian Knot` monitoring, for the last 10 years there were about 440 attacks in the region with the usage of explosives, 731 were injured, 198 died. That is why security at hydrotechnical facilities is a priority. Chirkey Dam is located 50 km from Gimry village, a native place of Imam Shamil, the leader of anti-Russian resistance in the Caucasus War in 1834-1859. Now it is still a place of struggle between Russian special services and radical islamists.

There are 25 specialists in a dog service brigade working for Daghestan power plants. Their task is inspection of station territory and building and search for explosives, transport and freight supervision, patrolling around territory and tunnels, as well as the dogs' training.

Detector dog handlers are well-fit men , who served in the army and get on well with dogs. As cynologists say, `dog is an instrument, cynologist is a worker`, that is why dog handlers should also be specialists in many fields and continue their education. Now 40 dogs work in a service brigade – the majority being German and Belgian shepherds, but also mixed breeds, Labrador and spaniels.

Dog handlers do not use weapon on principle. If a dog detects explosives or an alien on the territory then cynologists immediately call for a special services troop. It means dog handlers brigades are able to locate it faster than any other service or even modern technologies.