A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT
OF The CAMBODIA DAILY
A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT |
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OF The CAMBODIA DAILY |
Deminers Value Chance to Learn New Skills
He’s learning to talk to her in Swedish; she’s learning a few words of Khmer. They live together, work together and every day he brushes her hair until it shines.
But although their bonds of affection run deep, this is a serious working partnership. She has spent a lifetime acquiring high-level skills and he is training hard to catch up.
The couple in question are Hong Rith, a Cambodian deminer now learning to handle explosives-detecting dogs, and Gin (pronounced "Jean"), a Swedish-bred hunting dog with a splendid sense of smell and boundless urge to please.
Hong Rith’s yearlong training program will soon be complete and then he and Gin expect to be out in the field for real, locating mines. The partnership is new, but Gin has a wealth of experience as an explosives detector and Hong Rith’s years as a deminer have given him an appreciation of the difficulties and demands of land-mine location.
| Learning to be a dog handler has meant a shift in cultural
attitude. Generally, Cambodian dogs are classed more as general livestock than as
cherished pets or trained helpmeets. The dogs hang around the house, warn of intruders and
keep an eye on the property. They eat what they can find, sleep where they feel like it
and generally live a pretty relaxed life. "We had dogs at my home," says Hong Rith. "But it was not like with Gin. I am responsible for her almost as a father. I feed her, play with her and groom her. "When we are on training sessions, I must be careful not to make a mistake because I do not wish to confuse Gin. And if she makes a mistake, I learn how to correct her." To work with Gin, Hong Rith had to learn some of her language. He learned to say "Lieta" when directing her to search for a mine and "Hit" when he wants to call her back. Most importantly, he learned the word of praise, "Bra," that tells Gin she has done a good thing. "Gin likes to earn praise," Hong Rith stresses. She also likes to play. After a tense session of hard sniffing, the dogs can become mentally fatigued. To refresh their enthusiasm, handlers carry a toy on a string that provides a lively session of tug-o-war. Gin well knows where the toy is kept and sometimes Hong Rith lets her nuzzle her way into his pocket and "steal" her plaything. |
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The bonding between dog and handler is not just a working-hours phenomenon. At night, the dogs are taken to their kennels in the dormitory where the handlers also live. There, a dog can watch the handler and stay in eye contact with the most important person in its life.
Hong Rith, who was a soldier, then a policeman and bodyguard before becoming a deminer, finds his new job fascinating and his relationship with his 27-kg charge endlessly absorbing. He teases Gin sometimes by pretending he hasn’t noticed her, then feigning surprise to see her. She responds to the simple joke with open-hearted delight.
Hong Rith’s pride in his day’s skills and achievements resembles that of a fond father. His voice is tinged with awe as he brags softly, "Before Cambodia, Gin was in Bosnia."
(Story & Photo) By Elizabeth Wright
