I'm a landrace dog fancier. Founder of the INDog Project (www.indog.co.in) and the INDog Club. Before that, I worked with urban free-ranging dogs of Mumbai from 1993-2007. Also a spider enthusiast and amateur arachnologist.
This blog is for primitive dog enthusiasts. It is part of the INDog Project www.indog.co.in. Only INDogs (India's primitive indigenous village dogs) and INDog-mixes (Indies) are featured here. The two are NOT the same, do please read the text on the right to understand the difference. Our aim: to create awareness about the primitive landrace village dog of the Indian subcontinent. I sometimes feature other landrace breeds too. Also see padsociety.org
Another tiny pup for adoption. This one is very urgent. It was picked up by Namita Shankar from a gutter when the mother rejected it. She has a dog already and severe space constraints, and understandable opposition from her family as a result, so she is really unable to keep it. She has been feeding it an expensive dog-milk substitute and it has become healthy and playful.
Their mother died recently and they have been given temporary shelter by Kiran Shekhar and his colleagues in their office compound.
But...the place is on rent and the pups can't remain there permanently. Unless they get adopted they will have to be put on the road outside.
So please do your best to find them good homes! The pups are irresistible and I'm sure they can all get loving owners if we all do our bit to forward the appeal and pictures.
Come on, readers, spend those few extra minutes and try to help these sweet little dogs!
Contact Kiran Shekhar on 09820816268 or Aarti Pamnani on 09920271922. You can also email aarti_pamnani@hotmail.com
A few weeks ago the tide was alarmingly high, and it was impossible to get to the beach.
Life wasn't an absolute bore though, as there is plenty to do in my aunt's coconut plantation just next to our house. So lazy Lalee left the bed and ventured out with Kimaya to do some exploring among all the newly-sprouted greenery...
These babies are under 2 weeks old. They were abandoned by their mother, a street dog, and are being cared for by Sudhir Arora. They need constant monitoring and care right now. Please spread the word around and help find a good owner - or of course, two good owners - for them.
Contact Sudhir on sudhirarora85@gmail.com or 09004038563.
I'm back again with a pathbreaking book to recommend. Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution, authored by biologists Raymond and Lorna Coppinger.
This is not just a book, it's a voyage of discovery.
The Coppingers look at dogs from the point of view of biologists, but don't let that scare you. The science is presented so clearly and beautifully, even I understood everything. Important gaps in our knowledge - how did dogs evolve from their wild ancestors, how did breeds develop, the link between nature and nurture, and much more - are all filled with very credible explanations. The authors infect us with their curiosity, and just in case you are one of those thousands who love dogs but aren't really interested in them, this could be a turning point for you.
"Love dogs but aren't really interested in them" may sound like a paradox, but it isn't. Thousands and millions of people love dogs, but not many (at least in India) will take the trouble to invest in even a basic dog care or training book let alone anything more detailed. Many will do a net search when some specific problem arises (e.g. My dog has started snapping, what could be the reason?) But a few good books could prevent so many canine health and behaviour problems. The general belief seems to be that we can find out all there is to know simply by living with dogs or working with them. NOT true. It's a terrible mistake to not do one's homework before bringing a dog home.
This was the first species to become domesticated, perhaps way back in the "middle" stone age. And yet there are so many unsolved mysteries about dogs, and so many astonishing errors in our assumptions about them. Sometimes I feel more is known about the rarest species than about Canis familiaris. Familiarity breeds contempt?
Anyway, if there is one book every dog lover should read, it's this one. The Coppingers shatter all illusions about dogs being "like humans," something most humans (strangely) seem to think an enormous compliment. They show how canine behaviour is shaped, and what leads dogs to behave the way they do. If we can respect and love dogs for what they are, without illusions about their intellectual and emotional capacity, that, to me, is true love.
The book also explains, in hard-hitting terms, the appalling wrongs we do to dogs through modern breeding practices and also through warped, exploitative human-dog relationships.
So please, if you want to appreciate what a dog really is, don't miss this one. Order it through any good bookstore, or through Amazon.
The Pauls recently lost their beloved mix-breed dog Sabrina and wanted to adopt another street dog. So when Minnie and her daughter Priti saw this little pup on the road, they decided to take her home. It was Priti's choice really.
Millie is three months old now. I've been laughing at her funny expressions ever since I received these photos. Specially the picture of her sleeping, and the one of her fighting with Priti. It reminds me of my animal-filled childhood, a long long time ago! I always feel so sorry for children who grow up without pets...
Millie is going through a nipping phase, so the whole family are nursing puppy bites right now. But no-one minds, because, as Minnie says, the pup "has brought life into our lives."
This charming little puppy, "Hugo Boss," came across our paths severely malnourished and too young to survive on his own. With some loving care he has bounced right back to great health and is in need of a good home. Hugo has had all his vaccinations, deworming, bathing etc. He has been living on our front porch but needs a proper, lifelong home. Sadly we cannot keep him as we already have three dogs.
Hugo Boss is cute as a button, smart as Bill Gates, very playful and supremely sweet. We would love to keep this little fellow if we didn't already have three others. If you love dogs and are interested in providing a permanent home to a gorgeous little pup who needs you, please email me at lisa.warden@gmail.com or call 9177 787145. In any event, we'd love it if you could help us out by forwarding this email to anyone who might be interested, or to anyone who would be willing to spread the word.
I just wrote about the book on "calming signals" by Turid Rugaas.
Here's another brilliant book on canine training and behaviour: The Other End of the Leash, by Dr Patricia B McConnell.
What makes it really unique is that it deals with HUMAN behaviour as much as canine. The author is a well-known Applied Animal Behaviourist and dog trainer who has studied the behaviour not only of canids but also of primates - and that includes us. It's fascinating to learn just how similar our body language is to that of chimpanzees and bonobos (after all, we share 98% of our DNA with these species). It's also humbling to realize how little control we have over our essentially primate gestures and how difficult it is to change the ape-like communication techniques that come so naturally to us. For instance, hugging is entirely a primate expression of affection. (We never see dogs hugging each other, do we?)
Dr McConnell explains how problems so easily crop up because of the completely different communication styles of our two species. We can bridge this gap to a large extent by learning to behave more like dogs than like primates, when around our pets. She also explains the pitfalls of the conventional "dominance" kind of dog training, and how it can often worsen your pet's behaviour.
I think one of the most important points she makes is that communication with dogs is NOT intuitive in humans, whatever we may think. But it's something we can and should learn.
Her acute observation and insights make this book a delight to read, specially as it's also written beautifully and with a lot of humour. Much of it had me clapping my hand to my forehead and wondering how I could have been such an idiot all these years. Though my mistakes have not arisen from stupidity (not all of them, anyway), but simply from being human.
I think some of us are secretly a bit scared of anything to do with training. Possibly we fear that we will ourselves have to undergo a personality change - from baby-talking softie into military-type disciplinarian - and we don't quite feel up to the task! Trust me, read this book. The suggestions are based on common sense and can be practised by anybody.
Even if you don't own a dog, you get the sheer thrill of understanding the mind of another species, of connecting with it. One of the greatest joys in the world.
Last month I wrote about the training book On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals, by Norwegian dog behaviourist Turid Rugaas. The book gives fascinating insights into dog communication and simple solutions for some common behaviour problems. Click here for the post.
Turid Rugaas also has a website in which she explains her theory about the conflict-resolving signals used by dogs. Apart from articles and illustrations, there is a very useful question-and-answer section. I think most of us dog-owners will have experienced at least one of the problems covered. I want to thank Veera Antsalo for sending me the link. Click here for the site.
Another look at beautiful Nana, who lives in Helsinki with her owner Veera Antsalo. Veera adopted her from a shelter in St.Petersburg. Nana is either wholly or partly a Laika, the aboriginal hunting breed of Russia. True to her nature, she is busy searching for rodents in these pictures. In the winter picture, you can see her thicker coat.
Click here for an earlier post on this interesting and highly intelligent dog. There are lots of lovely photos of her in Veera's blog: click here.
This is an informal, unofficial group of INDog enthusiasts, linked to my awareness campaign the INDog Project. "INDog" is what we call the Indian native dog, (earlier known as the Indian Pariah Dog). The INDog belongs to a group of dogs known as aboriginal and primitive dogs, or indigenous village dogs. See also padsociety.org
This is not a welfare or animal rights blog, though health and welfare are discussed sometimes. It is not about any organization. It is not about the "stray dog issue." There are many other sites dealing with such topics. Moreover, primitive and stray are NOT the same thing (see the glossary below, and also the INDog website).
This blog celebrates the INDog as an aboriginal race of domestic dog - its origins, characteristics, appearance, temperament, behaviour, and the sheer fun of keeping it as a pet. If, like many of us, you are captivated by our indigenous village dog, read on.
Quoting from this blog or the INDog site: I have noticed that while most people follow the normal etiquette and credit my blog or site if they use content, there are a few who have copied text and pictures or quoted copiously without any acknowledgment. Please do not use any content from here or from the INDog site without permission and acknowledgment.
Dogs featured in this blog: I only feature INDogs adopted as house-pets. I also feature INDog-mixes who are house pets. In fact, if you live in an Indian city, your dog is possibly of mixed lineage and not a 100% indigenous native dog. I call these dogs INDog-mix or Indies. This is a point of difference but NOT a point of superiority or inferiority. INDogs, INDog-mixes, and in fact all dogs are equally wonderful as pets!
If you'd like me to post your dog's story in this blog, please write to me at rajashree DOT khalap AT gmail DOT com, along with photographs. I also have a page on Facebook called The INDog Club. Please join if you find this topic interesting.
Why I created the INDog Project and INDog Club: I had the idea of setting up this forum after adopting my own dog, Lalee. I was disturbed by the general confusion and misconceptions about our native dogs. My pet project is to get this ancient race the respect and recognition that is its due.
The Indian public is not particularly dog-literate, and the common third world mindset affects perceptions about dogs. As in many countries of Asia and Africa, pets are still selected according to an outdated colonial-era ranking order which perceives anything foreign as superior to anything native. The growing middle class also seeks to display its spending power by purchasing expensive European breeds.
If you believe that artificially developed modern breeds are superior to landrace indigenous ones, read no further. This blog is not for you.
In a slide presentation on stray dogs I created for a Mumbai NGO in 1994, and in their website, I pointed out that the INDog is NOT a mongrel but a primitive breed in its own right, evolved by natural selection over many centuries. This is based on the theories of canine biologists and experts worldwide. True primitive dog populations have suffered minimal or no genetic admixture with modern breeds. To read more about this, click here.
The INDog is a beautiful early version of our best friend Canis lupus familiaris. It’s probably what Nature intended dogs to be.
Why I created this blog: This is the informal side of my project. It's a place for us besotted INDog and INDog-mix owners to show off our beloved pets.
INDog owners, please use this space to share your experiences, dog photos and videos, useful information for other dog-owners. Owners of mix-breeds (Indies) are also welcome, as long as the dog is at least part INDog. Mail your dog stories and dog images to me at rajashree DOT khalap AT gmail DOT com. They will be moderated but everything relevant to this topic will appear here.
Must-know stuff
Primitive/aboriginal dog:A type of domestic village dog which evolved a distinct appearance and character without human intervention. This appearance was earlier called the "long-term pariah morphotype" by some scientists -clickhereto seephotos of the type.The modern and preferred term is 'primitive type' or 'dingo type.'
Primitive-type dogs across continents have the same basic physical characteristics. These naturally evolved dogs are not only extremely hardy, they are also very alert and have the high-order intelligence required for a free-roaming life under circumstances that are often difficult and hostile. In biological terms, the aboriginal dogs of Asia and Africa are of the highest value for the study of genetics, behaviour and the origin of the dog.
Dogs were never studied in India till recently, and in the early days there were no Indian experts in this area, so terms coined by western scholars tended to stick. I believe the term "Indian Pariah Dog" is very generic (apart from having negative social connotations) and that our aboriginaldogs should have a name of their own, like the Canaan Dog of Israel and other landraces. The name INDog, coined by Col. Gautam Das, is perfect for this native landrace. I have been using and promoting it since 2007.
Aboriginal dogs in some parts of the world have now been officially recognised by canine registries, including the UKC, which has a 'Pariah and Sighthound' group. The FCI (Federation Cynologique Internationale) refers to this category as "Primitive Types." In some countries such dogs are being selectively bred. The best-known are the Canaan Dog of Israel and the African Basenji.
It is now accepted that many of the free-roaming dogs in Indian cities and towns are actually mix-breeds, though some certainly look more "mixed" than others. Pure INDogs are more common in remote rural areas where there are no Eurobreeds or other types of dog to interbreed with, and minimal or no admixture has occurred.
INDog: An aboriginal dog which perfectly conforms to the true primitive-type and is not mixed with any other breed. This is the name we use for the 'Indian Pariah Dog.'
How would you identify an INDog? By both type and location. Read the criteria in this post.
Indy, INDog-mix: A mix-breed dog descended from INDogs. I prefer these terms to 'mongrel', for our urban street dogs and other mix-breeds with INDog ancestry (see 'Mongrel', below). Since our mix-breeds are almost descended from INDogs, they are different from mixes of only Eurobreed dogs.
Mongrel: (called mutt in the US) Defined as a dog of mixed butindeterminate breed,whose lineage is not known. Primitive dogs were once considered to be mongrels, but for the last few decades it has been recognised that they are unmixed, natural types of dog in their own right. In India almost all mongrels have INDog mixed in their lineage. I prefer to call such mix-breeds 'Indies' or INDog-mix.
Mongrels exist thanks to irresponsible dog-owners who let their pets mate with street dogs. This practice not only exposes the pet to serious health risks (including venereal disease), it also increases the already huge street dog population, and lessens the number of indigenous dogs.
(Let me clarify that I love mongrels - in fact, I think they are adorable, and I have adopted four over the years - but the reason for their existence is poor pet ownership, which is regrettable to say the least. It would be a pity to lose the unique character of our ancient aboriginal race because substandard dog owners let their pets roam and breed on the street.)
Pi-dog, pye-dog: A term used by the British. It also means street dog.
Stray: There is a lot of confusion about this word and it is frequently used incorrectly. “Stray” does NOT refer to breed but to the legal status of the dog. In India it seems to mean an ownerless, unlicensed free-roaming dog. Since most "strays" in India happen to be INDogs or mix-breeds, all these terms are often used interchangeably. This is wrong. Purebreeds abandoned by their owners become strays. INDogs and mix-breeds adopted into homes are no longer strays but pets.
I find this word very vague and don't use it much. I prefer the terms "free-roaming" or "free-ranging" dog.
Purebreed: A dog of only one breed, born of selected parents. Most of the commercially recognised 'pure' breeds have only been created in the last two centuries, as strict breeding norms were not followed earlier. In actual fact, almost all modern 'pure' breeds have been created by mixing two or more breeds.
We use the word 'pure' to describe landraces as well. In this case it means a dog of only one landrace/type.
