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Indian pariah dog

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Indian pariah dog
Common nicknamesSouth Asian pariah dog[1]
Pye-dog[2]
INDog[3]
Desi dog[4]
OriginIndian subcontinent[5]
Traits
Height Males 20–25 in (51–64 cm)
Females 18–23 in (46–58 cm)
Weight Males 20–30 kg (44–66 lb)
Females 15–25 kg (33–55 lb)
Coat Short
Colour solid fawn, pied (fawn/black & white), black (rare)
Kennel club standards
Kennel Club of India standard
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]

Appearance

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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.

Names

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Kukur Tihar is annual Hindu festival where people pay homage to stray dogs and feed them.
A pet Indian pye-dog in Pune
Indian pariah dog -'Shanu' in village Ghel, District Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab
Indian pye-dogs have been used as guard dogs for centuries.
Pariah dogs in a city park in Yelahanka, Bengaluru, India. They are alert to the presence of an unfamiliar pariah dog from outside the park.

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]

History

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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]

Temperament

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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]

Health

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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]

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  • Domesticated Indie dog
    Domesticated Indie dog
  • A pet Indian pye-dog in Raigarh, CG.
    A pet Indian pariah dog 'Pinku' in Raigarh, CG.
  • A Pet Indian Pariah Dog in Bengaluru
    A Pet Indian Pariah Dog in Bengaluru
  • Stray pariah dog in India
    Stray pariah dog in India
  • Pariah dog
    Pariah dog
  • Mixed Indian pariah dog in Lonavala, Maharashtra, India.
    Mixed Indian pariah dog in Lonavala, Maharashtra, India.
  • Indian Pariah Dog with pointed ears in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
    Indian Pariah Dog with pointed ears in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ van Asch, B.; Zhang, A.-b.; Oskarsson, M. C. R.; Klutsch, C. F. C.; Amorim, A.; Savolainen, P. (10 July 2013). "Pre-Columbian origins of Native American dog breeds, with only limited replacement by European dogs, confirmed by mtDNA analysis". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 280 (1766): 20131142. doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.1142. PMC 3730590. PMID 23843389.
  2. ^ a b Vellampalli, Jaya (13 January 2018). "Why the Indian Pariah is a perfect pet". Telangana Today. Retrieved 12 April 2019. 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.
  3. ^ "INDog-Primitive and Aboriginal Dogs Society". Archived from the original on 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Choudhury-Mahajan, Lina (12 July 2011). "Paws for thought". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Vellampalli, Jaya (13 January 2018). "Why the Indian Pariah is a perfect pet". Telangana Today.
  6. ^ a b c "Article on the Indian Native Dog in the Kennel Gazette, Kennel Club of India, July 2015 – INDog Project".
  7. ^ "Primitive and Aboriginal Dogs Society, INDog". Archived from the original on 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  8. ^ "Kolkata's stray 'Neri' dog proves herself in the dog squad!". Get Bengal. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  9. ^ a b Mukherjee Pandey, Jhimli (5 March 2019). "Rescued pup trains her way into elite dog squad". Times of India. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Vellampalli, Jaya (13 January 2018). "Why the Indian Pariah is a perfect pet". Telangana Today. Retrieved 12 April 2019. 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.
  11. ^ a b c "INDog, The Indian Pariah Dog Project". October 2010.
  12. ^ "Opening doors to what we call pariah". The Telegraph. 27 November 2005. Retrieved 12 April 2019. 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.
  13. ^ Shannon, Laura M. (2015). "Genetic structure in village dogs reveals a Central Asian domestication origin". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112 (44): 13639–13644. Bibcode:2015PNAS..11213639S. doi:10.1073/pnas.1516215112. PMC 4640804. PMID 26483491.
  14. ^ "Dog conservation and the population genetic structure of dogs" (PDF).
  15. ^ "Indian breed dogs - Indian breed dogs - Indian street dog, dog breed lists". www.meramaal.com. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  16. ^ Chakrabarti, Pratik (June 2010). "Beasts of Burden: Animals and Laboratory Research in Colonial India". History of Science. 48 (2): 125–151. Bibcode:2010HisSc..48..125C. doi:10.1177/007327531004800201. PMC 2997667. PMID 20582325.
  17. ^ Merriam-Webster Dictionary
  18. ^ Purkayastha, Bandana (8 June 2005). Negotiating Ethnicity: Second-Generation South Asians Traverse a Transnational World. Rutgers University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-8135-3780-1. Desi is a Hindi/Urdu term for South Asian native
  19. ^ Kipling, Rudyard. (1894) The Jungle Book.
  20. ^ Pathak, Arun (1995). Handicrafts in the Indus Valley Civilization. Janaki Prakashan. ISBN 8185078874.
  21. ^ Cipriani, Lidio (1966). The Andaman Islanders. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 81.
  22. ^ Choudhury-Mahajan, Lina (12 July 2011). "Paws for thought". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  23. ^ a b c Sharma, Purnima (13 February 2017). "Desi stray dogs are finding loving homes thousands of miles away from the mean streets of India". Quartz. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  24. ^ "Are stray dogs a major problem in India?". 22 June 2018.
  25. ^ Harris, Gardiner (7 August 2012). "Where Streets Are Thronged with Strays Baring Fangs". The New York Times.
  26. ^ "Indian Pariah Dogs". 9 April 2020.
  27. ^ Pandey, Ashish (1 August 2021). "Over 300 dogs poisoned to death by Andhra village panchayat, alleges activist". India Today. India Today. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
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