dogs club

My first trip to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh was in March this year; and I managed to click some lovely village dogs in spite of all-day birding and wildlife-watching.  Earlier in this blog I've posted photos of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh dogs clicked by Gautam Das and Kiran Khalap. Assam INDogs are somewhat shorter and smaller than the dogs in the peninsula (which also vary in height). There were also some distinctly short-legged dogs that may not have been mixed with any other breed. I've seen a very few natural 'dwarf' dogs in Mumbai over the years, but the trait seems more common in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh than in the rest of the country. I remember  seeing  similar short dogs in Thailand and Cambodia many years ago. Their heads, ears, coats, tails and everything else were the village/pariah dog type. His tail was lowered because I was staring at him and clicking his photo In Arunachal we were in Tenga Valley and went up to Eaglenest. The village dogs look lik...

Are puppies capable of rational decision-making? Do they intentionally seek the protection of certain humans? Or do they just follow those who show them kindness, without any thought of the future?  We know for sure that Boo sought out her humans; what led her to do so may always be a mystery. The story of Boo and Choco, by  Caitlin Jackson:  Boo was born a street dog on a beach in Varkala, Kerala, sometime in early 2014, to a beautiful elegant black INDog with large ears and a curled tail. She was born a near carbon copy of her mother,  but with the long sporty legs of her probable father. A few months later I arrived at the beach. The last two weeks of our three month trip to India were supposed to be spent relaxing, but instead they turned into a rescue operation. I played with Boo's mother on the beach, as well as the other street dogs who hang around the resort. My boyfriend Chris spotted Boo later with her mother, and we were able to pet her briefly. She was th...

Kia and Punchie are extremely lucky Indies. They have experienced only kindness and love from the moment they were born! In fact even before that! Vidya tells us about these beautiful twins: Kia  Punchie Kia and Punchie are my 'baby sisters' back home in Kerala. Though they are siblings and litter mates they are very different looking.  These monsters live with my mom, dad and sister. They are a handful and spoiled brats as well.  Kia is lazy. She doesn't allow anyone but immediate family to pet her on the head. Punchie on the other hand is a softie and is very sensitive but also very sly! Their mother was Sundari, our neighbour's 'adopted' street dog. Sundari had followed our neighbour all the way from her old house to the latest one. The lady didn't completely adopt her, but she was kind enough to open up her terrace for Sundari who she knew was pregnant. She fed her well and took good care of her.  Sundari delivered her nine puppies, and apparently the la...

These handsome dogs could easily be mistaken for INDogs, and I think one of them looks quite like a dingo. They were clicked by Barry Drew on the eastern side of Tioman Island, Malaysia. It would be very interesting to know what dogs in the neighbouring parts of Malaysia look like.  Barry's description: 'Tioman's locals are predominantly Muslim Malay and due to tradition do not keep dogs; there are are a couple of pets owned by foreign business owners on the more "developed" western side of the island, something in stark contrast for those who are traveling from neighbouring Thailand. So I was thrilled to see this pack of dogs coming down to the beach to drink from the river. Very beautiful, natural looking and I think larger than the famed Telomian. I asked a local how their existence was possible given the local attitude to dogs. He told me they were owned by a local man and used for hunting purposes.' 'They were in fantastic condition. There were also t...

Another lovely and lucky little girl who got the perfect home she deserved!  Kuttu is about four years old and lives with Prasanna and his family. Prasanna tells us how she entered their lives: She came in cowering with downcast eyes on the night of Buddha-Poornima.  She was hiding from the other street dogs in the neighbourhood behind pots outside our house. There was a case of mange developing on her left foot which I mistook at the time for a dog bite.  She had a blue collar so I presumed she was either abandoned or lost. I took her in for the night in the hope that someone would come looking. I have always been partial to street dogs and never understood why people picked foreign pedigreed dogs over them. It felt like a renewed chance to help that cause. So we kept her! She remained very docile with us. Only ate when she was offered food. Did not over-eat. Remained alert.  But she never barked.  This left us wondering since it had been 20 or 25 days and we h...