This two-and-a-half year old sniffer dog (please don’t call him just a dog, his trainers warn) is part of the 41-strong dog squad of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Central Railway, responsible for preventing and detecting crime on the Central Railways.

“We’ve trained two types of dogs—sniffer dogs and tracker dogs. While sniffer dogs (mostly Labradors, rarely German Shepherds) are trained to detect a particular scent (explosives and narcotics), the trackers (mostly Dobermans) are used to track down crimes that have already occurred. Since the RPF is more of a preventive force, we have more of sniffer dogs in our squad,” explains Inspector-General of Police (RPF - Central Railway) B S Sidhu.

A visit to one of their kennels in Matunga where these dogs are stationed is unlike a visit to any other “police station”. While Chetak is a quiet, ponderous sort, beautiful and black Labrador Naughty jumps up and down uncontrollably every time he gets the command: Go play.

All the policemen posted here have taken up dog training—a side-posing, some might argue—by choice. Chotaram Jaiswal, a police sub-inspector who has worked in the dog-squad for 29 years, ushes: “We take care of these dogs like our own children. There have been times when we have shelled out our own money to feed them.” Jaiswal says that since IG Sidhu took over in 2004, he has had funds allotted for feeding the dogs increased by three times.

Jaiswal, the senior-most tog trainer, is not the only one who has taken up this as a career option. There is also a bunch of dog trainers, mostly constables, who just love being around dogs.

“We give some incentives for people who show willingness to be a dog trainer. My policy has been to give them a home posting if they ask for it. Their tenure in each posting is far higher than any other officer in the force. This is just an appreciation of them doing a job not all people like to do,” says Sidhu, a dog lover who himself owns a pug.

Each dog has two doting trainers. The dogs act only once they are given a command. “Even when he (Chetak) has his favourite food before him, he will not touch it till I give a command,” says Constable Sandeep Mane who is Chetak's trainer. Mane tells Chetak to "rest", on which the sniffer-hero parks himself in a corner sulking.

In a job like this, the boundaries between professional and personal life blur easily. Raja, a white Labrador, died early at the age of six, leaving his trainer, Assistant Sub-Inspector S P Yadav still grieving for him. Yadav shows pictures of Raja and a health chart too, even recollecting the exact date (March 13, 2006) when his sickness, a kidney failure, was discovered. Raja died days later on March 24. Yadav has not trained a single dog since then.