Are you a Pariah Dog fan?: Portrait of Tommy

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, also known as the Indian Pariah Dog. The INDog belongs to a group of dogs known as natural breeds, and aboriginal and primitive breeds.

Indian dogs, including INDogs, were sampled a few years ago for a genetic study by Cornell University. Read about their distinct genetic profile in this early post, and in the published paper 'Genetic structure in village dogs reveals a Central Asian domestication origin.'

Click here for our record of pure INDog populations around the country.

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, Pariah and stray are NOT the same thing (see the glossary below, and also the INDog website).

This blog celebrates the INDog/Indian Pariah Dog as an aboriginal race/breed - 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 India's First Dog, read on.

Click here for some articles on INDogs, one written by me and the others about the INDog Project.

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 (Indian Native Dogs) adopted as house-pets. Sorry, the building dog who comes up for his dinner can’t be enrolled. 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 pure-blooded native dog. I call these dogs INDog-mix or Indies.

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. My pet peeve is the general confusion and misconceptions about our native dogs. My pet project is to get this ancient natural breed the respect and recognition that is its due.

The Indian public is not particularly dog-savvy and the common third world mindset affects perceptions about dogs. As in many of the poorer 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 Eurobreeds.

If you too believe that artificially developed modern breeds are superior to ancient 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 Indian Pariah Dog 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 pariah-type dog populations have probably suffered minimal or no genetic contamination by modern breeds. To read more about this, click here . You'll see my post of May 11, 2008 on the "long-term pariah morphotype."

Major W V Soman pointed out the difference between pariah dogs and mongrels way back in 1963, in his book 'The Indian Dog'. (You can download the book from our blog!) Even earlier, the famous naturalist, environmentalist and Tamil scholar M. Krishnan wrote in praise of these dogs in his essay "The Pariah" (read about his essay here). It's time Indians got the message.

The INDog/Pariah Dog is the blueprint, the prototype for our best friend canis familiaris. It’s what Nature intended dogs to be.

Why I created this blog: My friends and family are sick of this topic and I have to find some new people to pester!

Seriously, where else can we besotted INDog and INDog-mix owners meet up and 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 (or mongrels) 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. No objectionable or offensive posts please.

Must-know stuff

Pariah: An indigenous and ancient race of domestic dogs which evolved a distinct appearance and character without human intervention. This appearance is called the "long-term pariah morphotype" by scientists - click here to see photos of the type. The word comes from the Pariah tribe of Tamil Nadu which was considered outcast.

While the original usage of the term is derogatory, it has become a scientific term and has been used by zoologists and ethologists for decades, for instance by Dr B S Guha and Colonel Sewell in their chapter on zoological remains in "Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization" (ed. John Marshall, 1931). It has no negative connotation in the scientific, canine context. (We should remember that even the words dog, its Hindi equivalent kutta, and bitch are used in a derogatory way although they are obviously perfectly acceptable when used in reference to dogs alone).

Pariah-type dogs across continents have the same basic physical characteristics. Enthusiasts consider such primitive breeds to be superior in most ways to artificially developed breeds as they are perfectly adapted for survival. These breeds 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 even hostile. In biological terms, the aboriginal dogs of Asia and Africa are of the highest value for study of genetics and origin of the dog.

Dogs are not much studied in India 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 and that our aboriginal dogs should have a name of their own (like the Canaan Dog of Israel). The name INDog is already being used by some experts and is perfect for this indigenous breed.

Aboriginal breeds in some parts of the world have now been officially recognized by kennel clubs, including the UKC, which has a Pariah and Sighthound group. The FCI (Federation Cynologique Internationale) refers to Pariah dog types 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 (mongrels), though some certainly look more "mixed" than others. Pure INDogs are more common in rural and remote areas where there are no Eurobreeds or other types of dog to interbreed with, and minimal or no admixture has occurred.

People sometimes use the words "Pariah" and "stray" interchangeably. This is an incorrect usage.

INDog: An aboriginal dog which perfectly conforms to the true pariah-type and is not mixed with any other breed. This is the name many of us have started using 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 always part INDog, they are different from mixes of only Eurobreed dogs.

Mongrel: (called mutt in the US) Defined as a dog of mixed but indeterminate breed, whose lineage is not known. Earlier pariahs were considered to be mongrels but for the last few decades it has been recognized that pariah dogs are a pure, natural breed in their own right. In India almost all mongrels have INDog/Indian Pariah 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 strays. 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 genetically pure INDogs.

(Let me clarify that I love mongrels - in fact, I think they are adorable, and 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 some inferior dog owners let their pets roam and breed on the street.)

Pi-dog, pye-dog: A term used by the British. It also means pariah 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 mongrels, all these terms are often used interchangeably. This is wrong. Purebreeds abandoned by their owners become strays. INDogs and mongrels 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 recognized “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.

Pedigree: A recorded line of descent.

Also read the glossary in the INDog site http://www.indog.co.in

About Me

Are you a Pariah Dog fan?

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Portrait of Tommy

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