dogs club

Time to highlight one of the 'not-INDog' village breeds I mentioned in my June post, INDogs and Not-INDogs: Village dogs of India.    I have some lovely pictures to share of the Dhangari Kuttra , sheepdog of Maharashtra, thanks to a few nice people in the doggy network! A bit of background: The Dhangar community are nomadic shepherds of this region, and kuttra of course means 'dog' in marathi. Though the name Dhangari Kuttra is well known in Maharashtra, no-one seems to have consistently documented the breed or tried to preserve it in any way since W V Soman included it in his book 'The Indian Dog' (Popular Prakashan, 1963). That's the only book on Indian dog breeds till now, by the way. Major Soman's description mentions a moderate coat, tufted tail turned over the back, weight about 25 to 30 pounds (that's 11-13.6 kilos), height of males about 20 inches, strong legs, mixed colours; '...occasionally met with tan mixture but very seldom...body...

Yes, my first post on this blog was on 3 August 2007! A big day for me, if for no-one else. My aim was to create a virtual showcase of INDogs and dogs of INDog ancestry. To spread knowledge about aboriginal dogs out of the academic circles to which it was restricted, to a wider, general audience. And to make owners proud of their pet INDogs and INDog-mixes. I had no idea how to create a blog, and Gunjan Arya kindly helped me set it up (thanks Gunjan)!  Today we have 421 posts about adopted INDogs and INDog-mixes, or Indies as I like to call the latter. Thanks entirely to all the wonderful people who sent in photos and stories over the years. To celebrate, I put together this photo gallery of all the gorgeous dogs I featured in the first few months of this blog. Sadly some have passed on, but many are with us and continue to be brilliant ambassadors for INDogs and Indies!  Each of them is very special to me. My deepest gratitude to  their humans, who took the trouble to sh...

Champ and Jebo are settled in Ulaanbaatar now, with Neha and Anoop at last! Neha shifted them there in May.  They're loving all the long walks and new friends. Soon after arriving in Mongolia they set off on a road trip with the family.  No more text required. Enjoy the pictures and all the stunning dogs! It was hard to pick just a few from Neha's album, so there are lots of photos this time! A cute local dog (maybe mix-breed) and a husky, at a highway restaurant about 50 km outside Ulaanbaatar. Below: These teddybear beauties were at Orkhon Valley near a nomadic family  ger.  What a treat to see these two very different types in the same picture! The lithe INDog and these handsome furry giants. This is one of my favourite dog images ever. And finally, here are some more Champ and Jebo pictures, in this very different landscape. Do have a look at Neha's   earlier photos of Mongolian village dogs ,  in case you missed that post. More adorable dogs to swoo...