Beautiful INDog-mix puppy for urgent adoption, Indore

This is one of the prettiest puppies I've ever seen. He was rescued two days ago by Tapas in his housing society in Indore. Some big dogs were trying to kill him.

Tapas can't keep him because he has a job with very long working hours, and his sister who lives with him is a student. Please help find this pup a home by sharing this appeal.

Contact
Tapas Upadhyay

08982146414 (mobile)
tapas.u99@gmail.com

Indore

INDog at Velas, Maharashtra

This lovely dog was clicked by a friend (Kirti Chavan) in the village Velas on the Konkan coast, south of Mumbai. He belongs to a family running a 'homestay' there.

Velas has become famous for its annual Turtle Festival, organized by an NGO to protect the endangered Olive Ridley. The beach there is a nesting site. The NGO protects the eggs and releases hatchlings into the sea; the event has become a big draw for nature lovers and photographers.

One of the many threats to nests is what the media call 'feral dogs'; there is also predation by jackals; and hatchlings are hunted by birds of prey. Major threats of course are coastal development, poaching, and incidental capture in commercial fishing nets.

Homestay tourism has become popular in this village due to the Turtle Festival. Let's hope this well-fed and distinctly un-feral village dog keeps away from the beach!

More images by Kirti and others here.

Photo: Kirti Chavan
Velas
Ratnagiri District
Maharashtra

Under the noonday sun

This is Kimaya on her mid-day walk in our building compound. Racing on beaches and in gardens and coconut plantations happens only on about eight days a month. The rest of the time it's leash walks around our society, which is fortunately quite spacious.



Most of our walks are devoted to sniffing, following scents, and generally catching up on news about the other animals here. What I mean is, Kimaya does the sniffing and I obediently trot behind!

I do wish we could keep the noonday walk brief though. It's meant to be only for elimination, but the brat craftily 'holds on' till she's examined at least half the car tyres on the premises. If she does this in May I might just die.

There are 10 other pet dogs in our society, plus two dogs living in the compound, plus at least 12 resident cats and several feline visitors. I believe there are a couple of rats as well. So there's just LOTS to sniff in limited time.

She would really need a few hours to get a complete smell-picture of the place.

Only about one-third of our time is spent on vigorous walking and of course a few seconds on the necessary 'jobs'.

A friend once commented that Kimaya's walks were not really walks at all. We don't huff and puff around in a military-type drill. But that's probably how it should be. How boring and sterile our apartment must be for the dogs. No interesting smells at all (except in the dustbin, which is locked away). No other animals coming and going let alone peeing!

So on walks we have an understanding that the dogs can amble around sniffing freely, so long as they don't try to pull me to the trash area, or chase cats, or pick up bones or pigeon poop or other such rubbish.

Because of this agreement, my dogs are quite obedient about the no-pulling rule. Some might actually mistake them for well-behaved dogs!!

Mumbai

Save Shaar Hagai Canaans

Our aboriginal dog enthusiast readers must have heard of the Shaar Hagai Kennels in Israel. You may have read this post here about Canaans.

Managed by Myrna Shiboleth, world authority on this breed, Shaar Hagai has been a pioneer in the breeding and preservation of this ancient pariah-type dog.

In case you haven't read it yet, here's Myrna's article on Canaan Dogs which she generously contributed for the INDog site.

Canaans have traditionally been used as livestock guardians by Bedouins; however with changing lifestyles among their former owners, many of these dogs have become ownerless desert dogs and are in danger of disappearing through mongrelization with modern breeds.

Shaar Hagai constantly brings in fresh blood through these remaining free-born Canaans.

Once looked down on in Israel, much as our 'pi-dog' is here, the Canaan is valued and respected today in its native land thanks to the hard work of Shaar Hagai over many decades.

However this kennel might have to close down soon thanks to a recent dispute with the Israel Lands Authority.

This would be a terrible loss to the canine world, specially the world of pariah breeds! It was dogs such as these that entered human society as the first domesticated animal. They are part of our history, and the history of the dog-human bond.

If you care at all for the preservation of these unique dogs, please sign and share this petition.

I have posted the text of the petition below.

Thanks!

Den

This is not a pure INDog but a mix-breed who used to live in Nagaon. I'm posting this because of her habit of 'denning' every winter when she had puppies.

She belonged in a loose sense to our neighbour, a villager who owns a tourist lodge next to our bungalow. She was very shy and couldn't be touched by anyone, but our neighbour fed her and allowed her to stay on his premises.

When she had pups however, she wouldn't keep them in his compound, most probably because she wanted to hide them from his other dog, also a female. She would make a den like this in our garden or in my aunt's coconut plantation (see pic). It would be dug out under a heap of leaves, or else she would make a burrow in the ground.

As long as her pups were there she'd be very aggressive and rush out to attack anyone (me, my dogs) who walked too close.

Though I see many pups of many different mothers every year in Nagaon, I'm never very sure where exactly the pups are kept in the first weeks. This is the only den I've had the opportunity to see.

Usually village dogs around India are allowed to use some space by local people, like a cow shed. For instance my Kiba's mother and aunt had kept their litters in a covered space attached to a highway shop, and were even being fed by the shopkeeper.

Has anyone seen this denning behaviour in village dogs? I'd love to know more about this.

(This dog died suddenly two years ago by the way. I suspect one of the villagers poisoned her, as she was a habitual chicken-killer. In my experience 'sudden deaths' of healthy village dogs are usually caused by poison, and for similar reasons - killing of poultry or livestock.)

Nagaon
Maharashtra