The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is looking forward to using local breed dogs, also known as “askal or asong kalye,” as part of its K-9 unit force.

Commander Allen Dalangin, chief of the PCG K-9 Unit, said based on their observation, local breed dogs appeared curious when they saw some of their foreign-trained dogs undergo exercises such as bomb and narcotics sniffing. He said they believe that the local breed dogs also wanted to do what their imported counterparts were doing.

“We have some local breed dogs in our training facilities in Taguig, and every time they noticed the big ones undergoing special training, we observed that they watched the imported counterparts train, and the Askals looked curious. It seemed they wanted to join us,” Dalangin said.

Based on the latest inventory of the PCG’s K-9 force, out of 144 active dogs, around 10 to 15 are half-breeds or “mestizo/tisoy,” which means their mother is an imported breed while their father is a native one. Dalangin said they actually made an experiment to find out if these half-breed K-9 dogs were as effective as the imported ones despite the impurities in their genes. He said they found out that their performance was the same as that of their foreign counterparts.

“There is no problem with their performance even if these dogs were only half-breeds. They can even defeat the imported ones during training,” the commanding officer of the K-9 Unit noted.

Dalangin said since the half-breeds are also effective, they are planning to use them in their operations.

“Kung nakaya ng mga mestizo na half-breed lang na tapatan yung mga imported, I think yung mga local dogs ay kaya  rin makipag-sabayan kung bibigyan ng proper training. (Since the mestizos, which are only half-breed can compete with their imported counter-parts, I think the pure native dogs can also work for us if they are given proper training)” Dalangin said.

He said if this experiment on the native dogs will be successful, that would definitely be a milestone for them since “Askals” are low maintenance dogs.

“Ang kagandahan sa mga Askal is that napaka low maintenance nila compared sa mga imported breeds especially that mas sanay sila sa weather dito and hindi maselan sa pagkain at hindi sakitin. (The advantage of a native breed is that they are actually very low maintenance compared to the imported ones),” Dalangin said.

He said the first batch of “Askals” will undergo training this September.