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
Danny is a female Indian dog, 2 years of age, who went missing from Sector B, Pocket 1 Vasant Kunj at around 6 pm on Sunday, 13th November, 2011. Danny has only one eye (the right eye). She is very friendly but also extremely scared and incapable of fending for herself. She has a brownish-red collar on and a yellow tick collar as well. She has been sterilized. If you see her please call9810505620immediately.
A reward of Rs 30,000 is offered to anyone who can help find her.
Gorgeous, independent, super-intelligent Mia, described by her lucky owner Snigdha:
Our dog's name is Mia.
My husband Bapoorau and I adopted her from the SPCA in Visakhapatnamin June of 2010. She was born some time in May 2010 making her 18 months old right now. She was brought into the shelter along with her mom and three other siblings.
Her mom belonged to the watchman of an apartment building who pretty much disowned her when she had the (rather out of season) pups. I think people complained and then the SPCA was called in. Mia was the only pup to survive.
Her mom is still at the VSPCA.
The people at the VSPCA told us how happy they were that we were adopting her because they were sure that a black female dog would never get adopted.
Anyway, right now we live in Tamil Nadu, Mia thoroughly enjoying the 18 hour car ride from Visakhapatnam.
She's the first dog that I've ever had; growing up, my family were big cat-lovers. I always thought of dogs as rather silly, as I think a lot of cat-people do. But needless to say, she has now firmly found her way into my heart and I can't imagine life without her.
She was really the most adorable little puppy, very healthy and full of energy.
We had read somewhere that the secret to toilet-training a dog was to lavishly praise them when you caught them in the act. So whenever we would see Mia peeing we would tell her she was a very, very good girl. And because she so smart, any time she did anything naughty (eat books, hide cell phones, steal socks, attack house-plants) she would run straight to the garden and pee! It was impossible to yell at her, she got away with anything.
I love the fact that Mia doesn't really listen to me and has a big spirit all her own. She can be a noisy dog, with an intense dislike of our water delivery boy but she is mostly warm and affectionate. She loves to play her version of fetch which involves her prancing in front of you with a ball in her mouth but not letting you take it from her.
She is wonderfully behaved when we take her out to public places, to such an extent that I can hardly believe it's her.
I suppose like a lot of dogs, she loves to sleep on her back with her legs in the air, chase crows off the roof and eat corn off the cob.
She brings so much joy and wonder and laughter into our lives. I really don't know how anyone can live without a dog!
Photos and story: Snigdha Ehm and BapoorauChidambaram Tamil Nadu
Please do not use content from this blog without permission and acknowledgment
Presenting Coffee, a very handsome Indy-mix belonging to Meena and Nolin Chitnis. He's new on this blog but you can see his images and videos on our Facebook Indog Club Page.
Coffee was born in Pune. Nolin went there to adopt him after seeing his adoption appeal on Facebook. He was a one-month old puppy at the time.
Since his adoption he's been living with Nolin and Meena in Thane.
"Coffee keeping a watch on Meena who is taking a nap nearby," writes Nolin of this picture. This is at their beach house in Gujarat.
He's obviously a very alert watchdog, and he's also proved to be extremely tolerant of little pups and young dogs.
These pictures were taken by Nutan Khalap (my sister-in-law) on a recent trip to Turkey. Kangals are not dingo-pariah type dogs, but they are still an ancient breed apparently developed without much human intervention, so I'm posting some pictures here.
I just love these huge gentle dogs. We saw a couple in Stellenbosch in South Africa at the Cheetah Outreach centre. They are being used in South Africa for non-lethal predator control, as they are known for their ability to protect livestock from big cats, wolves, jackals and other carnivores.
I've read that Kangal numbers are declining with changing lifestyles in Turkey, so I didn't really expect Nutan to see any. But she asked around and got to see and click them in a couple of places (one of them near Troy). Thanks Nutan!
You can read about Kangals on the net. Although they are sometimes considered the same breed as the Anatolian Shepherd Dog, they are in fact distinct as true Kangals are all from the Sivas province of Turkey. Here is one of the pages about the breed.
Photos: Nutan Khalap Turkey
Please do not use content from this blog without permission and acknowledgment
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.
