I am an animal lover. I own two lovely dogs and two gorgeous cats. I work with the wildlife conservation NGO Satpuda Foundation in the tiger reserves of central India. Before that I worked for 14 years with the street dogs of Mumbai. I created and manage the INDog Project www.indog.co.in and the Indian Pariah Dog Club.
This blog is for aboriginal breed enthusiasts and for the INDog/Indian Pariah Dog Club. It is part of the INDog Project www.indog.co.in. Membership of the Club is restricted to Pariah Dogs and mongrels (mix-breeds) only. 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 natural breed cynologists call the Indian Pariah Dog/INDog. The Club is an informal group with over 200 members.
The model for these beautiful Valentine's Day pictures is Samson, once a street dog in Pune!
Owners Kristin and Lee are travelling and Samson has been staying with friends of theirs. This was his Valentine's Day greeting to his mum and dad and friends.
The photo is by Joy Baleisis, and the heart was made by Cynthia Kroening.
I wonder what all his former acquaintances from Pune would say if they could see this? I mean all the people who saw his miserable plight and ignored him. I'm sure most wouldn't believe he could have got all his hair and strength back, let alone grow into such a beauty!
I realize I've only posted one story in this blog this year. People probably think I've abandoned it! Sorry about that. I've hardly had any online time lately, thanks to a number of new duties including Kiba's care and education. More on that in another post.
So here we are back again with two beautiful Indy-mix dogs!
The second hero, gorgeous red-gold Achilles, appeared at the end of last year, again in Pune. And like Samson his fortunes changed when he met Lee and Kristin.
"Samson and Achilles were found (or each found us) within three meters of each other, two years separate in time," writes Lee.
Achilles made the journey to Minneapolis in December '11 and quickly settled down with his new 'siblings', Samson and the family cats.
Some pictures and videos to tell his story:
Above: Pune - just after rescue and a bath
Above: In Minneapolis. Look at that wagging tail!
Above, below: After a couple of days, the two become friends...
Above: With Samson on the day bed
Above: Achilles looking sweet and innocent in sleep. Apparently this appearance is highly deceptive (so often is with dogs...)
Several weeks ago Jura Cullen sent me some pictures of her Sudanese dog Tala.
Tala's immediate ancestors are street dogs of Khartoum, but being an aboriginal dog she must have had ancestors in the area long before that city was built...
I was of course absolutely smitten with this beautiful dog and started nagging Jura to send more pictures and her story for this blog. Here they are:
Tala is a Sudanese dog of rather dubious origins. Her grandmother has only one eye and still lives on the streets avoiding being stoned and still pumping out puppies at a phenomenal rate. Her mother was rescued by a Dutch couple and rather irresponsibly Tala's mother insisted on becoming pregnant before her first birthday...The Dutch couple then proceeded to host frequent dinner parties in the hopes that people would adopt the cute little puppies...Tala was one of the luckier ones and the first to be adopted (by us) as soon as she turned 8 weeks old.
Tala at just over 2 months
As Tala grew up she became more than just your average Sudanese street dog (although my husband may beg to differ). Her striking resemblance to Pharaonic dogs of ancient Nubia became clear as her ears went up and a lithe long-legged frame developed. Her appearance is similar to that of Basenjis (from Southern Sudan), Pharoah Hounds (Malta with Egyptian origins), and Cirneco dell'Etnas (Sicily with Egyptian origins). These breeds have changed little since early domestication and are known as 'primitive' dogs. After a visit to the Ancient Nubia room at the British Museum, I found a small gold statuette of a dog just like her from about 2,000 years ago. It became clear that Tala was a Nubian hound! Calling her a 'pariah' or 'street dog' simply wouldn't do such a regal dog justice...Now after doing more research it is amazing to see how all primitive dogs around the world share such similar features.
Joking aside about her origins, Tala has grown up to be a fantastic companion. She had a great puppyhood in Sudan and enjoyed frolicking in the dunes on desert trips out of Khartoum.
Above, below: Tala at 4 months on the dunes by the White Nile
Above: At the Nubian Pyramids of Meroe
Above: In the Sudanese savannah desert
From a very young age, she also got used to patiently watching us play polo, knowing that afterwards she would get to have a canter with the horses. Amazingly at only 6 months she could almost keep up with their gallop.
Above: Playing with another 'Nubian' puppy in the Blue Nile
We have now moved to Hanoi, Vietname where of course we brought her, despite many people suggesting we shouldn't due to the nature of the hectic city and the unavoidable fact that many Vietnamese eat dogs...
Despite all this she has settled in incredibly well. We enjoy long walks both in the parks and even through the ever-present sea of motorcycles, which don't faze her at all. The Vietnamese are always very curious about her and the growing middle classes are all very in to having various pure breeds, particularly Siberian Huskies which must be tough for them in summer.
Above: At a restaurant with French colonial tiles, Hanoi
Tala, while impeccably behaved when out and about in cafes, is at heart a very mischievous, playful dog who spends most of her time at home trying to steal socks and shred plastic bags. She also has quite a few of the primitive dog traits such as cleaning herself, standing on her hind legs to get a better view, and giving a lovely little yodel of happiness when we get home.
Above: Climbing up to see the view at the Citadel, Hanoi
Above: Digging a hole on a beach, Vietnam
Above: Tala with her friend, a Phu Quoc Ridgeback, an ancient Vietnamese breed
Another happy-ever-after story! Beautiful IND0g-mix Mira was born in Kochi, taken to Delhi and then homed in the US through Knine Rescue.
Here's her story by owner Brittany Powell.
My partner and I had been talking about rescuing a dog for a few years now and kept waiting for the "right time."
I work at an art museum in Baltimore and he is an engineer. We live in the city about two blocks away from my office and there is a small park near our apartment that is always full of dogs of all shapes and sizes.
Every day I would look out of the window of my office and imagine walking a dog in the park, running together, or snuggling with our own dog.
We decided that we definitely wanted to adopt a pet from a rescue group or shelter and we found out about Mira through www.KnineRescue.petfinder.com We were enthralled by the photos of the adorable pups and didn't even realize they had come all the way from India. We worked with Chris Biscardi and after a few days we went to meet Mira and her brother Cappuccino.
With Chris Biscardi of the rescue organization
We fell in love with Mira instantly! She was super-energetic and at 12 weeks old she was very sweet and playful. She is the runt from her litter so she was a bit smaller and skinnier than her brother Cappaccino. But she is getting bigger everyday.
We didn't think that we would be taking a puppy home that same day and were not prepared. We walked into a nearby PetSmart carrying our new pup and said, "We need EVERYTHING!" The staff were super helpful and even gave us some tips on crate training, teething, and helping her to learn to walk on a leash.
Mira is a very fast learner and after just 24 hours she was getting used to walking on her leash, the sounds and smells of the city, and crate training.
Since I work so close to our apartment I am able to go home at lunch and take Mira for a walk and play for a bit.
About a week later she was totally crate trained and even started letting us know when she needs to go out by sitting by the door. At first she would bark or yelp when we would crate her, but now she knows that we are never going for long.
She already knows how to "sit" and we are working on other commands like "stay" and "come".
She is very very bright and we are thinking about working on training her to be a therapy dog. Dogs must be at least a year old to take the test, which consists of several commands and behaviour observation, but we think that she has what it takes to volunteer with Therapy Dogs International.
Mira is still a puppy and every day she is learning and growing, but she is also very sweet and loves to snuggle on the sofa or play with a toy.
She has been wonderful around other dogs of all sizes, adults/strangers who want to say "hi", and even children as young as three years old!
She also gets along great with our seven year old cat. She will snuggle on our sofa with my partner and the cat to take a nap!
She is certainly everything we'd hoped for and we are so excited that we were able to be a part of rescuing her. We love her very much and look forward to lots of exploring and new memories with her in the years to come.
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 in cynology.
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 the First 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.
Joining the INDog Club/Indian Pariah Dog Club: Membership of the Club is free, but open only to Pariah dogs (also called INDogs or Indian Native Dogs) adopted as house-pets. Sorry, the building dog who comes up for his dinner can’t be enrolled. Pet mix-breeds (or mongrels) are allowed. 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.
If your dog meets these criteria, mail me at rajashree DOT khalap AT gmail DOT com with details about the dog and a photograph. Give a phone number so I can call you if necessary to get details. I send all members a certificate and a collar tag. I also have a page on Facebook called The INDog Club. Please join if you find this topic interesting.
Why I created the Club: I had the idea of setting up this Club 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 The Welfare of Stray Dogs (WSD) in 1994, and in the WSD 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,"and my slideshow of photos of pure Pariah-type dogs taken around the country.
Major W.V. Soman pointed out the difference between Pariahs and mongrels way back in 1963, in his book The Indian Dog. 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 mongrel owners meet up and show off our beloved pets, without those pets attacking one another?
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/Indian Pariah. Mail your dog stories, opinions 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 cynologists -clickhereto seephotos 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 cynologists 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 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. Pariah 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 pariah dogs of Asia and Africa are of the highest value for study of genetics and origin of the dog.
Cynology is not well-known in India as a field of study 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 aboriginaldogs 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 indigenousbreed.
Pariah 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, the Carolina Dog in the US, and the African Basenji.
It is generally 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 Pariah dogs 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 genetic contamination has occurred. In the Club and in this blog we will go by appearances and refer to the "pure-looking" dogs as INDogs/Pariah Dogs.
People sometimes use the words "Pariah" and "stray" interchangeably. This is an incorrect usage.
INDog: A dog which perfectly conforms to the true pariah-type. This is the name many of us have started using for the Indian Pariah Dog.
Mongrel: (called mutt in the US) A dog of mixed butindeterminate 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.
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.
(I've nothing against mongrels - in fact, I think they are adorable - but the reason for their existence is poor pet ownerhip, which is regrettable to say the least. It would be a pity to lose the unique character of our ancient aboriginal race because some silly people 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 Pariahs or mongrels, all these terms are often used interchangeably. This is wrong. Purebreeds abandoned by their owners become strays. Pariahs 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.
