Indian pariah dog | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Common nicknames | South Asian pariah dog [1] Pye-dog [2] INDog [3] Desi dog [4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Origin | Indian subcontinent [5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dog ( domestic dog ) |
The Indian pariah dog, also known as the Indian native dog, INDog, Nadan, [6] [7] South Asian pye dog, Desi Kutta, [4] [6] and Neri Kutta, [8] is a landrace of dog native to the Indian subcontinent. [5] They have erect ears, a wedge-shaped head, and a curved tail. It is easily trainable and often used as a guard dog and police dog. [9] [10] This dog is an example of an ancient group of dog known as pye-dogs. There is archaeological evidence that the dog was present in Indian villages as early as 4,500 years ago. [11]
Though most street dogs in the Indian subcontinent are in fact Indian pye-dogs, the names for this breed are often erroneously used to refer to all urban South Asian stray dogs despite the fact that some free-ranging dogs in the Indian subcontinent do not match the "pariah type" and may not be pure indigenous dogs but mixed breeds, [2] [12] especially around locations where European colonists historically settled in India, due to admixtures with European dog breeds. [13] [14]
It is a medium-sized dog of square to slightly rectangular build and short coat. The dog has a double coat, a coarse upper coat, and a soft undercoat. The most commonly observed colours are browns, ranging from dark to reddish-brown, with or without white markings. Solid blacks are rare, but some dogs are pied. Shaded coats, brindles, solid white and dalmatian-type spotting are never seen in pure populations. These may be a sign of mixing with modern breeds, as they are only seen in dogs in cities and other sites where non-native dogs have been introduced. [15]
The head is medium-sized and wedge-shaped. The muzzle is pointed and is of equal or slightly greater length than the head. The neck is noble and the forequarters are erect. Hindquarters are minimally angled. The trot is short. The eyes are almond-shaped and dark brown in colour. The ears are held erect and are pointed at the tips, with a broad base, set low on the head, and the tail is curled and held high when excited.
The namesake of this breed was given during the British Raj in India after the Pariah tribe of the Madras Presidency. [16] From the Anglo-Indian word pye or paë and Hindi pāhī meaning 'outsider', the Indian pariah dog is sometimes referred to as the pye-dog (also spelt pie or pi) and the Indian native dog. [17] It is popularly known as Desi Kutta or Desi Dog (which derives from the Hindi-Urdu word desi , meaning native), as well as the Indi-dog or In-dog (in various spellings). [4] [18] It was referred to in the works of Rudyard Kipling as the "yellow pariah dog". [19]
The pariah dog of India is an ancient autochthonous landrace that is found all over India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and even beyond South Asia. [5] [ better source needed ] [20] [ page needed ] A pariah-like dog skull was discovered in the ancient Indian site of Mohenjo-daro and prehistoric rock art depicting a dog of similar type has been found in the Bhimbetka rock shelters. [4] [ better source needed ] It was featured on National Geographic Channel's film, Search for the First Dog along with the other ancient types such as the Canaan Dog of Israel and the Australian dingo. [4]
The Indian pye-dog was introduced to the Andaman Islands with the establishment of a penal colony there, dogs having been previously unknown to the native Andamanese. [21]
Despite the Indian pariah dog being highly intelligent and easily trainable, the breed was intentionally downplayed during the British Raj by merchants who wished to sell their foreign breeds within the country. [22] Their popularity in the West in recent years, however, has resulted in hundreds of dogs being exported out of the Indian subcontinent. [23]
In 2015, a breed standard was published in the Indian Kennel Gazette, the publication of Kennel Club of India, [6] and the dog has been recognized by the Primitive and Aboriginal Dog Society (PADS), a worldwide grouping of enthusiasts based in the US. [11]
Some in the society view these dogs as a risk citing their increasing population in India in recent years[ weasel words ]. They consider these dogs as menace and nuisance owing to constant barking and biting people. Nevertheless, most of these attacks are caused due to human provocation like hitting them with sticks or throwing stones at them. [24] The numbers of dog bites and deaths due to dog attacks are increasing every year. Since these dogs are largely not vaccinated, they frequently carry rabies. [25] Only a few island territories of India, eg, Andaman and Nicobar Islands are rabies free despite having pariah dog population.
Indian Pariah dogs make for loving family pets and are great with kids and adults. They are high on energy and complement kids with an active lifestyle. Indian pariah dogs are one of the oldest dog breeds in existence today. Archaeological findings indicate that this dog was in existence some 4500 years ago. Excavations in the Mohenjo-Daro site found in the Sindh region of Pakistan (Indus Valley civilisation) revealed an Indian Pariah dog skull dating to 2500 BCE. Also, there are various cave paintings across the Indian subcontinent that hints at pariah dogs to be one of the oldest dog breeds in the world. [26]
Pariah dogs are very alert and social. [11] They are used as guard dogs and police dogs, being very territorial and defensive. [9] [10] They need good socializing as pups and do well with families and children if provided with such socialization. [23] They are highly intelligent and easily trainable; to this end, veterinarian Premlata Choudhary stated that "desi dogs are much more intelligent and hardy than most pedigreed dogs that people spend so much money on." [23]
Being a naturally evolved breed, they have very few health concerns and thrive with minimal maintenance in suitable climates. [10] The skin needs very little grooming and the dogs themselves are relatively clean. [10] They have little body odour. [4] [10] Genetic health ailments like hip dysplasia are extremely rare, since there is no inbreeding and the dominant genes that aid their survival are naturally selected over time. [10] Most of their deaths occur due to accidents on the roads and railway tracks, starvation, drinking polluted water, tumors in the body, snakebites, or harm from humans. [27]
The Afghan Hound is a hound distinguished by its thick, fine, silky coat, and a tail with a ring curl at the end. The breed originates in the cold mountains of Afghanistan. Its local name is Sag-e Tāzī or Tāžī Spay. Other names for this breed are Tāzī, Balkh Hound, Baluchi Hound, and Barakzai Hound.
The Sloughi, or Arabian Greyhound, is an ancient breed of domesticated dog, specifically a member of the sighthound family. It originates from North Africa and is found in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Libya.
A dog breed is a particular type of dog that was purposefully bred by humans to perform specific tasks, such as herding, hunting, and guarding. Dogs are the most variable mammal on Earth, with artificial selection producing upward of 360 globally recognized breeds. These breeds possess distinct traits related to morphology, which include body size and shape, tail phenotype, fur type, etc, but are only one species of dog. Their behavioral traits include guarding, herding, and hunting, and personality traits such as hyper-social behavior, boldness, and aggression. Most breeds were derived from small numbers of founders within the last 200 years. As a result of their adaptability to many environments and breedability for human needs, today dogs are the most abundant carnivore species and are dispersed around the world.
A mongrel, mutt, or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed, including those that result from intentional breeding. Although the term mixed-breed dog is sometimes preferred, many mongrels have no known purebred ancestors.
The Finnish Spitz is a breed of dog originating in Finland. The breed was originally trained to hunt all types of game from squirrels and other rodents to bears. It is a "bark pointer", indicating the position of game by barking, and drawing the game animal's attention to itself, allowing an easier approach for the hunter. Its original game hunting purpose was to point to game that fled into trees, such as grouse, and capercaillies, but it also serves well for hunting elk. Some individuals have even been known to go after a bear. In its native country, the breed is still mostly used as a hunting dog. The breed is typically friendly and good with children, so it is suitable for domestic life. The Finnish Spitz has been the national dog of Finland since 1979.
Dog crossbreeds, sometimes called designer dogs, are dogs which have been intentionally bred from two or more recognized dog breeds. They are not dogs with no purebred ancestors, but are not otherwise recognised as breeds in their own right, and do not necessarily breed true.
Pye-dog, or sometimes pariah dog, is a term used to describe an ownerless, half-wild, free-ranging dog that lives in or close to human settlements throughout Asia. The term is derived from the Sanskrit para, which translates to "outsider".
The Carolina dog, also known as a yellow dog, yaller dog, American dingo, or Dixie dingo, is a breed of medium-sized dog occasionally found feral in the Southeastern United States, especially in isolated stretches of longleaf pines and cypress swamps. Efforts to establish them as a standardized breed have gained the Carolina Dog breed recognition in two smaller kennel clubs and full acceptance into the breed-establishment program of one major kennel club.
The Bully Kutta is a type of large dog that originated in the Indian subcontinent, dating back to the 16th century. The Bully Kutta is a working dog used for hunting and guarding. The type is popular in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, including Haryana and Delhi.
The Africanis is a dog landrace found across southern Africa. It is a medium-sized, short-coated dog, with a distinctive black patch around the front of the muzzle.
Indian dog may refer to:
The Austrian Pinscher is a medium-sized breed of pinscher-type dog from Austria, where dogs of the type were originally farm dogs, keeping barns free of rats and acting as home guards, livestock guardians, and drovers. The name originally given to the breed in 1928 was the Österreichischer Kurzhaarpinscher to differentiate it from similarly named breeds, but today in its country of origin the breed is officially called the Österreichischer Pinscher, or Austrian Pinscher in English.
Askal, also called aspin, refers to the diverse population of mongrel dogs found in the Philippines. The term "askal" is derived from the Filipino language and is commonly used to describe stray or mixed-breed dogs that roam the streets of urban and rural areas across the country.
The Sinhala Hound is a landrace of dog from Sri Lanka.
Podenco Canario is a breed of dog from the Canary Islands. The Podenco Canario is still used today, primarily in packs, most often for the sport hunting of rabbits. The word "podenco" in Spain refers to a certain type of dog, typically rabbit hunters with the same body shape. "Canario" is a reference to its region of origin, the Canary Islands. The Spanish Kennel Club, Real Sociedad Canina de España, recognises the following similar dog breeds that use the identifier "podenco" in their names: Podenco Andaluz, Podenco Ibicenco, and Podenco Valenciano.
The Telomian is a type of dog found in isolated villages near the Telom River in the rainforests of the Malay Peninsula. It has been introduced into the United States. Some US-based breeders were selling these dogs as pure breds, which was dismissed with the Malaysian Kennel Association in a statement that these are pariah dogs and not a breed.
Street dogs, known in scientific literature as free-ranging urban dogs, are unconfined dogs that live in cities. They live virtually everywhere cities exist and the local human population allows, especially in the developing world. Street dogs may be stray dogs, pets that have strayed from or are abandoned by their owners, or maybe feral animals that have never been owned. Street dogs may be stray purebreds, true mixed-breed dogs, or unbred landraces such as the Indian pariah dog. Street dog overpopulation can cause problems for the societies in which they live, so campaigns to spay and neuter them are sometimes implemented. They tend to differ from rural free-ranging dogs in their skill sets, socialization, and ecological effects.
The Gull Terrier is a rare breed of dog that originates from the Punjab region of Pakistan and India; it is believed to be several hundred years old. They are often used in dog fighting, hunting, and guarding. The Gull Terrier is a direct descendent of the Bull Terrier breed that came from Great Britain. These English dog breeds, along with those indigenous to the Indian subcontinent such as the Bully Kutta, played a major role in the Gull Terrier's breeding development and are considered to be a direct ancestor of the modern Gull Terrier. Old photographs of the English Bull terrier delineate many of the same features such as height pointy ears and a long muzzle of the Gull Terrier.
The Nenets Herding Laika is an aboriginal spitz landrace of dog originating from the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in Russia. Unlike other laikas, Nenets Herding Laika are less commonly used for hunting. Instead they have been selected primarily for reindeer herding ability, originally by the Nenets people, and later by reindeer herders through Russia. Nenets herding laika are thought to be the progenitor of several modern breeds, the most well-documented being the Samoyed. Despite this, the breed almost died out during the Soviet era due to lack of interest in preserving genetically purebred examples. In 1994, the Russian Kynologic Federation (RKF) approved the first official standard of the breed.
The Lài dog is a distinct landrace of dogs native to the northern mountains of Vietnam, but also sometimes used ambiguously to refer to any indigenous landrace of Vietnam including the Indochina dingo. It is considered to be one of Vietnam's four great national dogs, and the only one that is not recognized by the Vietnamese Kennel Club. The Lài dog is indigenous to the highland areas west of Thanh Hóa along the Mã River and in some remote villages in the northern border area where they function as a farm dog, providing pest control around the house, herding cattle or hunting for food in the forest. Today, this landrace is critically endangered with only a few hundred remaining.
Indian Pariah dog also known as the Pye Dog is a perfect pet. There is always some confusion when it comes to this specific dog breed. Most of us assume every street dog to be Pariah. But not all of them belong to this breed. Many strays are mixed breeds, often referred to as mongrels, and cannot be considered pure Pariah dogs.
They are commonly seen in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. They adjust well in tropical climates as there is a mix of both winters and summers. But, even extreme weather conditions do not affect them in any way. This breed of dog sheds little fur. As they have short coat, the need for regular brushing and combing is less. They don't even need regular bath as they do not have an unpleasant body odour. ... They are very devoted to their family/owners. In rural areas, these dogs are seen guarding farm animals. ... These dogs are free from all genetic health problems as they are a natural breed.
A pariah is a desi dog, while a stray is an ownerless dog and a mongrel is a mixed breed. In India, most strays are pariah dogs or mongrels.
Desi is a Hindi/Urdu term for South Asian native