VietNamNet Bridge – Coming from the mainland, dogs in Truong Sa Archipelago (Spratly Islands) are considered as "soldiers," because they are good friends with naval soldiers and help them guard the waters of the country.

Bop - the leading dog on the island of Nui Le.

There are "squads" of dogs on all islands in the Truong Sa Archipelago. Whenever a boat comes, the dogs run to the wharf to welcome guests from the mainland. Some dogs are excited and jump into the sea to swim.

Visiting the Nui Le Island, many people are surprised that only one male and two female dogs stand outside the door, nearly 30 other dogs stand in the house. A soldier explains that the male dog is the leader and the dog “squad” has to obey his “order.” 

Lieutenant Nguyen Ba Hoang said the leading dog is named Bop, which followed naval soldiers to the island to guard building materials. Bop is very agile, with imposing figure, so he was given to the island as a gift and it becomes the leading dog here.

Every day, Bop shows its role of the leader by teaching its "juniors" to detect objects and catch fish in the sea to help soldiers. When they see soldiers welcome guests, they wag the tail. But when they see boats from far distance, they run out close to the water's edge to bark loudly.




Pfc Tran Van Ket, 21, on Nui Le Island, said that dog training is not too difficult. Soldiers often teach the leading dog and this dog will “re-teach” the skills to others. It is not sure how Bop taught its juniors but since soldiers told Bop to not stool on the way, all dogs relieve themselves on the coastal embankments. The sea waves sweep away everything and the soldiers never have to clean up the dog feces.

Each island has 30-50 dogs and the dogs are regularly rotated to avoid breed regression. The reproduction of the dogs was difficult at the beginning. But later soldiers get more experience so the number of dogs is on the rise. Last year the Len Dao Island had 11 new dogs. "They are all healthy and we are seeking names for them," a soldier said.

In the island of Nui Le, there is a dog named “Co Don” (Lonesome) because of the 5 dogs brought from the mainland to the island, only this dog survives. On the Sinh Ton Dong Island, many dogs are named after singers who visited the island.

This dog, named Khoang, delivered 11 baby dogs for Nui Le Island.

Each night when the patrol team works, the dogs also follow them, even on patrol by boat. At first, dogs were seasick but they got used to it very quickly.

With soldiers on the Spratly Islands, dogs are their friends. On the afternoon, when soldiers go swimming, the dogs also rush out and bathe with them.

"When I was sad or homesick, I talked with dogs like talking to my friends. They seemed to understand human language. They always looked attentively and listened to me,” said Pfc Nguyen Minh Chi, 18, on the Sinh Ton Island.

Each time dogs were sick, soldiers contributed their milk to feed them.

In late 2011, the leading dog on Sinh Ton Island named Quyen was sick and died because it was too old. "Many of us cried when burying Quyen," lieutenant Chuc said.

Source: VNE
Translated by Mai Lan