Primitive Dogs

No one really knows when mankind first domesticated dogs. That they have been so for many millennia is definite. It is also true that Ice Age humans kept dogs or at least early dog ancestors.

What is known is that the domestic dog we know today is descended from the Gray Wolf. Gray Wolves have a very wide range, from Europe to Siberia, the Middle East, Persia, India, China, and northern North America all the way to Greenland. They vary considerably throughout this wide range. The smallest of the Gray Wolves is the Arabian Wolf, which weighs 40-50 pounds and has a short coat. The largest is the Arctic Wolf, which has a thick, white coat and can weigh as much as 140 pounds. Various other subspecies occur throughout the Wolves' range, which are in between these two extremes of type.

It is thought that domestic dogs descend mostly from the South Asian wolf, known as canis lupis pallipes. This is a smallish wolf, usually weighing 50-60 pounds. It lives in a broad swath extending from Israel to Persia and north India. This would account for the fact that dogs have smaller teeth than most Gray Wolves do, as the South Asian, being smaller, also has smaller teeth.

Wolves can be domesticated and it is probable that as humans living in caves or primitive dwellings were cooking meat around the fire, wolves would approach for the scraps. At first, humans probably saw them as enemies and competitors and probably tried driving them off. Slowly, however, humans would have begun to see them less as enemies and more as potential companions, because the wolves would alert the humans to approaching animals or strange humans and would hunt in packs just as the humans would. Wolf cubs were probably raised with humans in the caves and the humans bred for particular characteristics that they liked, which would have doomed those wolves in the wild, as wolf packs don't generally take well to aberrations and mutations. In addition, it is probable that those wolves that became friendly towards humans and stayed with human dwellings could not go back to their wild packs because they were rejected. This would have been where dog and wolf took separate roads.

Over time, the early wolves that shared primitive dwellings with Stone Age humans became more domesticated and hunted together with the humans. The humans benefited from the wolves' noses, pack hunting, and speed, and the wolves benefited from human ingenuity in acquiring food.

Because humans bred wolves for desired characteristics, the wolves changed in form to become the earliest dogs. Primitive dogs generally speaking were (and are) quite small, certainly smaller than their wolf ancestors. Humans would have preferred smaller wolf-dogs because they needed less food. Natural selection would have favored this too, as the early wolf-dogs usually got the leftovers from what the humans did not eat. They also had to be very agile to catch smaller prey. Very often the wolf-dogs would have to fend for themselves, because if the food supply amongst humans was low, it was less likely that the wolf-dogs would get their share. In many societies they would live on the periphery of human society, feeding off the offal and also hunting for themselves.

To this day there are primitive dogs in many parts of the world that live this way. One such primitive dog is the Dingo of Australia. This dog has reverted to a wild state and occupies the highest rung of the ladder on the ecological food chain, but early Aborigines most likely brought it to Australia where it thrived in the new climate. Australian Aborigines kept the Dingos as pets for centuries and still do today. However, they are usually kept only as puppies and are not allowed to remain amongst humans and they revert to a wild state. They are basically wild hunting dogs, also descendants of the Gray Wolf, and are not recommended as pets. Their place is in the wild as part of the functioning Australian ecosystem, where, hunting in packs, they can bring down kangaroos and young camels, and also hunt the introduced rabbits and the native goanas, snakes, and smaller marsupials.

There are also Dingo-type dogs in New Guinea, the Solomons, and throughout the Indonesian archipelago all the way up into Indochina. There are also feral dog populations in many other parts of the world and many of them have been there for centuries or even millennia.

It is important to note, however, that there are other wild dog species in the world. These include the Red Wolf and Coyote of North America, the Bush Dog of South America, the Cape Hunting Dog of Africa, the Dhole of India, the Raccoon Dog of the Far East, and various foxes and jackals. These are not related to domestic dogs. Some, like the Cape Hunting Dog, can not be domesticated at all. Others, like the Coyote, can to a certain extent but never become nearly as amenable to humans as Gray Wolves are. None of these species are ancestors of our domestic dogs, though some may have contributed some genes along the way, as Coyotes, for instance, can breed with Gray Wolves, and probably contributed in a small way to the development of some of the American Indian dogs.

Primitive dogs are once again returning into human life and are becoming pets even in posh homes of advanced industrial nations, particularly for people who are attracted to their small size, cleanliness, easy-care, and exotic natures. There are only a handful of primitive dog breeds but they are an important link to our past.

How does one define a primitive dog? Basically if we were to release all the dogs in the world tomorrow and allow them to mate indiscriminately, we would end up with an animal that looked basically like a Dingo. All of the primitive dogs look roughly (some more roughly than others) like a Dingo and they all are accustomed to fending for themselves and taking to the wild if the need should arise. Primitive dogs evolved to be more adaptable to extremes of climate and condition than their wolf ancestors but always retained a closeness to humans and were used by humans for hunting, guarding, and sometimes, herding.

The less advanced a society is technologically, the less variety one finds in its dog breeds. In Western society, with its high degree of advancement, we get such oddities as the English Bulldog, Irish Water Spaniel, Miniature Pinscher, Bichon Frise, Great Dane, and Saint Bernard. The relatively highly advanced cultures of the Far East produced the Chow Chow, Shar Pei, Akita, and Lhasa Apso. This is because a more advanced culture is better able to find the leisure to develop different strains, which are more useful for different purposes. Less advanced cultures do not have this leisure, especially in hotter climates where most primitive breeds come from, and they basically had to use, to the best of their abilities, the dogs that they had with them. In addition, some relatively advanced cultures, like India, Portugal, and the Middle East, had sighthounds and even mastiffs, but local pariah dogs also remained at the periphery of civilization and the poorer elements of these societies found them useful. This is not to say that the primitive dogs lack functional ability. They actually are superb hunters and can be excellent watchdogs and vermin controllers. But these are dogs that have been shaped by nature at least as much as by man and have adapted so that they are able to take advantage of what mankind leaves over. They also live on the vermin that tend to thrive around human civilization, like rats, rabbits, foxes, and the like, and still hunt for wild game if they have to.

There are two other families of dogs that are very similar to the primitive dogs, the sighthounds and the nordic dogs. Both of these two groups, however, are the result of a much greater degree of selective breeding by humans than one finds with the primitive dogs. Sighthounds were generally bred for being able to run down game while nordic dogs were bred for greater strength and thicker coats. Dogs from both of these groups do not tend to be found on the periphery of human society but are treasured members of the tribe. Some breeds can be considered members of both groups, including the Portuguese Podengos (I have included them in the sighthound category, not only because they were crossed with sighthounds from the east but also because selective breeding has produced distinct types for particular hunting purposes) and the Jindo (Which, due to its close connection with the Foo Dog of China and the Shika-Inu types of Japan, I have included in the nordic dog category.).

1) The New Guinea Singing Dog. Of all the domesticated dog breeds this is the most primitive. It is a small dog, usually weighing no more than 17-23 pounds and is very jackal like in appearance. They are thought to be descendants of Dingoes brought by New Guinea tribesmen from Australia and have been well adapted to life in the dense jungles of New Guinea, where they would hunt everything from snakes to rodents to birds. They also lived very much on the periphery of tribal life in the New Guinea highlands and fed off the scraps of human society. They were not well treated by humans on the whole.

New Guinea Singing Dogs (NGSD) were discovered by the zoos of the world and displayed until they discovered that these are not true wild animals. There still is a pair of NGSDs in Sydney's Taronga Zoo. Currently there is a breeding program taking place to save these dogs because they are becoming rare in the highlands of New Guinea, due to interbreeding with introduced dogs, which they were genetically isolated from for millenia. The NGSD is now the latest thing on the pet scene. There are not many of them around but they should become more common as enthusiasts of primitive dogs discover them.

NGSDs are little dogs that are very clean and have high energy levels. They make loving pets and are intriguing because of their unique natures. It is probably not a good idea to have an NGSD if you have cats, rabbits, and other small animals, because these dogs have retained many very primitive instincts and their prey drive is extremely high.

They will need backyard time but they will go after prey they see. They are master escape artists so any potential owner will need to secure the yard very well. This may require invisible fencing, because a New Guinea Singing Dog can climb chain link fences and can burrow under them as well. They can not be expected to be easy to train or to be watchdogs. House rules, however, must be established and kept to consistently because these clever little characters will exploit any weakness they see in the system.

The most endearing thing about New Guinea Singing Dogs is their operatic voices. NGSDs really don't bark much but they make lovely melodious songs and are very vocal. These songs have been recorded and have been used in operatic themes.

To find out more about the New Guinea Singing Dog, go to this site: www.freeyellow.com/members5/singingdog

2) The Basenji. Certainly less primitive than the New Guinea Singing Dog but still a primitive dog, the Basenji hails from Central Africa, particularly in the region of the Congo delta. There they were and are, kept by local Pygmy tribes as hunting dogs for the rain forest environment. But they extended all the way out to the Zambezi River, where they were very useful in controlling the Long Toothed Rat, a threat to livestock and crops. In addition they are useful for hunting small antelope, birds, and even the occasional monkey. They also were useful for killing snakes, including cobras.

Basenjis are slightly larger than NGSDs are. They usually weigh 20-25 pounds and stand 16 to 17 inches high. They always have prick ears and a tightly curled tail. The tail is proof that it is a descendant of the Gray Wolf because no wild African dog has such a tail. The head is wedge shaped and the coat is always short and can come in red and white, black and white, and tricolor. Brindle is not allowed by the breed standards of most kennel clubs in the West. I feel that this is arbitrary because if one goes to Africa, one will see many Basenjis that are brindle colored.

The Basenji runs like a horse and is known for keeping itself clean by licking itself, like a cat does. Basenjis also do not bark. Instead they give a yodeling sound, usually indicating happiness. They have a very high energy level and high predatory instincts. They are also difficult dogs to train. Still, the Basenji is by far the most popular of the primitive dog breeds and is well established in the West where all the major kennel clubs recognize it.

Basenjis make delightful pets. They are full of mischief and just a bundle of fun. They are affectionate to family members but aloof towards strangers. Early socialization is a must if they are to be kept with other pets and especially other dogs. An unsocialized Basenji can be obnoxiously dog aggressive. Early socialization with humans can help to ensure that they do not act shy or afraid when in public. However, a well socialized Basenji that is also obedience trained can be a very welcome addition to a home with other pets and will never cease to amaze its owner with its intuition and intelligence. Basenjis can be used as hunting dogs in the West and their hunting capacities are somewhere between those of a terrier and those of a sighthound. In addition, Basenjis are used in lure coursing activities in Western countries, where they compete side by side with the sighthounds.
http://www.basenji.org/index.htm
This site has lots of links to various Basenji sites:
http://www.ultranet.com/~basenji/sites/webring.html

3) The Carolina Dog. The Carolina Dog is an aboriginal dog from North American and was once kept by the American Indians of the Southeastern United States, and used for hunting. This dog is a primitive breed, which most likely descends from primitive dogs that predate the nordic breeds. It is almost certain that this dog is descended from dogs brought by the ancestors of the American Indians over the land bridge during the Ice Ages. The bigger husky type dogs were probably brought later by the predecessors of the Inuits. Skeletal remains of early American Indian dogs found at ancient gravesites resemble the Carolina Dog almost identically. So how did they survive until this day, given the onslaught of European dogs, with which the dogs of the American Indians mated and mingled? Significant portions of large untouched wilderness exist in the Southern United States, especially in the Carolinas and there, the dogs of the Indians, which had always lived a semi-wild existence even when they were kept by the Indians, reverted to a wild state. There they were discovered in the late 1970s and since then, have been brought back into human society. Today they are being bred by a significant number of fanciers and are becoming popular as companions and as hunting dogs.

The Carolina Dog resembles the Dingo of Australia more than it resembles any other dog. It stands 17-24 inches tall and weighs 35-55 pounds. It has erect ears, a tail that curls to different degrees depending on the mood of the dog. It has a wedge shaped head and a medium length muzzle. It is a dog of medium build and has a coat that differs with the season, being heavier in the winter and lighter in the summer. The dominant color is a ginger-fawn, though black and tan and piebald dogs also occur.

The Carolina Dog makes a wonderful pet. It is patient with children and gets on well with other pets. They have submissive personalities and will not challenge older dogs or their owners for dominance. Many Carolina Dogs can even be taught to accept rabbits, guinea pigs, and other small animals as members of their pack. They need significant exercise and a large back yard that is secure is a good idea. They enjoy playing with people in their pack and have unaggressive personalities. Except for the New Guinea Singing Dog and wolf-dog hybrids, no other breed exhibits so many behavioral characteristics associated with wild canids as the Carolina Dog does. This breed has a strong pack instinct, high prey drive, and digs dens during the winter months. It also has the endearing habit of burying its feces and regurgitates food for its puppies. As a hunting dog, this breed is fantastic and is usually used in packs. A pack of Carolina Dogs will spread out around the prey, much as a wolf pack would. Carolina Dogs are trainable and can compete in obedience and agility competitions. Because the Carolina Dog establishes a pack territory it can be kept in a fenced yard and will not dig out, as long as it is kept busy and happy.

To find out more about the Carolina Dog go to the following site. http://www.carolinadogs.org

4) The Indian Spitz and the Santal Hound. The Indian Spitz is a master of survival. It lives in a semi wild state all over most of India in tropical and temperate zones, but not in the Himalayas (Feral dogs there tend to be larger mastiff types.). They look like tall Basenjis (Males can reach 22 inches.) and vary little over their range.

The Indian Spitz is a spitz in name only. It is by no means a northern dog, but a more primitive variety which lives well in harsh conditions and can be found living off the throw away of human society. Sometimes they are kept as pets as well and especially as hunting dogs, specializing on deer and wild boar. They did not actually kill the large game but would corner it and the hunters would kill it. They have prick ears, almond shaped eyes and a tail held in a slight curve over the back as well as a sweet musk odor from its cheeks. Reds, fawns, and black and tan are among its color variations. This breed is in the process of being saved and bred by Lt. Col. Gautam Das of New Delhi.

The Indian Spitz should become a rather popular pet in the future because it has some very attractive characteristics. For one thing, it actually has a more controlled prey drive (Though of course, it is still a high prey drive.) than most primitive dogs do and can be socialized with poultry. It is much easier to train than most primitive dogs are, as well. It is not human aggressive, because any human aggressive dogs would have been killed long ago by peasants in India. I have no links for this breed because it has not reached the West in any significant numbers yet.

The Santal Hound is a dog that is being bred by Mr. Bulu Imam of Hazaribagh, India. It is kept as a hunting dog by a tribe in that region of India, known as the Manjhi Santals, an ancient Negrito people and it is different from the Indian Spitzes. Santals specialize on hares and mongooses but will go for small deer as well. Males average 17-18 inches and females about an inch less. They are usually brown but can be black or brindle and have white markings. One of the most endearing things about this dog is that you can tell its mood by how curled its tail is over its back.

The Manjhi Santal engage in annual hunts with large numbers of these dogs and the dogs get a portion of the meat equal to that of a widow.

I have no links for this breed yet, as it does not exist in the West.

5) The Telomian. This dog comes from Malaysia. It lived and still lives with aboriginal people and shares their diet of tapioca, fish, and fruit. The locals use it to catch fish and to hunt snakes and other small game. It also climbs ladders into the tree houses where their families sleep. They are similar to Basenjis in appearance and make a similar sound, but they are a little heavier set than Basenjis are. Because they are good climbers they are difficult to confine and this is something any potential Telomian owner should be aware of. They usually weigh 18-28 pounds but are larger today than they ever were before because they are fed better. Telomians make terrific companions and are very intelligent but must be socialized with people from an early age. I have no website for them, though they do exist in the West.

6) Aboriginal dogs of southern Africa. The only aboriginal African dog that is well known to Western society is the Basenji. This dog, known as the African barkless dog, is recognized by all the major breed registries. However, the Basenji is not the only aboriginal dog from sub-Saharan Africa. There are others, especially in the southern part of the continent. These dogs tend to be medium sized and they have been used by local African peoples for hunting and guarding the kraals and villages from predatory animals. The African dogs are extremely hardy and live on relatively small amounts of food. These dogs have lived on the periphery of African tribal societies and those societies tend to take a purely utilitarian approach to the ownership of dogs. Therefore, the African dogs tend not to be treated very well in their original environments. These dogs can handle different extremes in temperature and can live on diets with high carbohydrate content and low protein. However, because of this, African dogs that are kept in ranches owned by Western-oriented people, can easily get fat, since they are not used to the Epicurean diets Western dogs are used to. These dogs still exist in southern Africa in large numbers and to ensure that they don't disappear through mongrelization with Eurasian dogs, they are being bred and promoted by local primitive dog enthusiasts, though it may be a long time before they become recognized by the major breed registries.

Where do these dogs come from? Like all other dogs, they originate with the wolves of southern Asia, which were probably domesticated first in the Middle East and spread through India to Southeast Asia and also, south to Africa. Dogs have been kept by the local peoples of Africa throughout the continent, for millennia now. Like elsewhere, the original dogs were primitive dogs, which, if not like the Basenji (It should be remembered that the Basenji has been bred by humans and shaped by natural selection, especially for life in the rain forests), at least like the Canaan Dog or the Indian Spitz. In addition, the development of the sighthounds, which was the next step in the evolution of the canine world, also had much effect on the dogs of Africa. Sighthound types have percolated down through Africa as a result of trading both by land and by sea with Persian and Arab traders, and probably by earlier peoples as well. In southern Africa in particular, the primitive dogs definitely show some sighthound characteristics and influence (Even the Basenji is sometimes counted as a sighthound by many sighthound groups and it participates in lure coursing side by side with Greyhounds, Afghans, and Salukis.).

In southern Africa, the aboriginal people are known as the Khoisan people. These people, known for their small statures (Though not so small as the Pygmies, which developed the Basenji.), copper-colored skin, peppercorn hair, and eye-folds. These people have lived in that region longer than white or black Africans have, and, not surprisingly, their dogs have been there for longer too. This dog contributed to the development of other African dogs and also is the ancestor of the more famous Rhodesian Ridgeback and Thai Ridgeback Dogs. While most dog books say that this aboriginal dog is extinct, it actually still exists and are the subject of a breeding program overseen by Sian Hall and Frans Prins of the Natal Museum's Anthropology Department in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

The Khoisan Dog, as it is commonly known, stands around 21 inches tall and weighs around 40 pounds. This dog has a slender, greyhound-like build and erect or semi-erect ears, broad heads and pointed muzzles. It comes in different coat types, short and medium and though it is usually white it can come in a variety of colors. The most distinguishing characteristic of this dog is the ridge of upright hair along its spine. This dog is still kept by Bantu-speaking people, such as the Xhosa (who refer to it as the I-Nqeqe) in rural South Africa and Namibia (The Khoisan contributed click sounds and words to the languages of the Bantu peoples who came later, so it makes sense that they contributed their dogs as well.). It is the ancestor of the Rhodesian Ridgeback and probably, the Thai Ridgeback, and gave those breeds its ridge.

These dogs are used to hunt mainly small animals. They also are used to keep large animals away from the camps, such as hyenas, leopards, and elephants. They do this by harassing these large animals until they go away (Elephants may be the largest land mammals on earth, but they are easily spooked.). They are very bold dogs and are very loyal to their territories. There are varying sub-types within the Khoisan Dog and the peoples of rural Africa identify the different sub-types as good for different purposes.

The I-Twina is probably the original African greyhound type. It stands about 20-23 inches tall and weighs 40-55 pounds. It can also be considered a sighthound and probably results from the percolation of sighthounds from the Middle East down into Africa where they were crossed with local primitive dogs. They have ears, which are quite large and stick out to the side while standing erect. They can come in a wide variety of colors and usually have short, thick coats.

The I-Twina is used for hunting big game over the savannas. They hunt by sight and also sprint after their prey in short, speedy strides. This activity has become rarer over time, in contrast to hunting in brushy areas. Thus, the I-Twina has also become rarer. A breeding program has been established for them. This dog is of a very sweet and affectionate nature and is beginning to be kept by Western farmers.

The I-Baku is another sighthound-like primitive dog that is closely related to the I-Twina. This dog is similar in size to the I-Twina. This dog may have had the blood of the Arabian sighthounds in them. It has large ears that are floppy. It has a high hind leg, a wooly coat, and big paws. It comes in different colors, including brindles.

The I-Baku is still very popular in southern Africa among such peoples as the Venda and is used for flushing hyraxes and other small game out of the bushes. This dog may look like a sighthound but does not function like one because it hunts mainly by smell. It is loyal to its property and makes a very good guard dog, because it keeps predators away from the kraals. This dog has been selectively bred for this particular type of appearance to a greater extent than the small pariah dogs have.

The Zulus keep a unique dog called the Sica. It is about the size of the Canaan Dog and has a more heavyset build than other African dogs have. It has a narrow head and a medium length muzzle with a blunt edge. It has a thicker, more muscular body than the other, racier dogs of southern Africa, including the local pariah dogs. Its ears are erect or semi-erect and its coat is thick and short and comes in white, brown, and brindle. Most characteristic of this breed is its thick and long tail, which is useful in maneuvering the dog around. Its feet are large and hard. Sicas in highland regions are thicker in build than those in the lowlands.

The Sica is a hunting dog par excellence and it catches its prey with its jaws and pulls it down with its feet and kills the prey. Sicas are popular hunting companions and some of them lead the hunter to the downed prey. They can be hunted alone or in packs and among their prey are baboons, bushbuck, and snakes. The Sica is a dog with very high energy and great agility. It will tease a snake until it is exhausted and will then grab it, pinning the snakes head down and killing it by biting its neck.

The Sica is also a very intelligent dog and makes an excellent watchdog, always barking when an intruder approaches. Sicas will also bark when they down their prey. This dog also guards the kraals and the cattle herds from predators. The Sica is good at hunting on slopes for hyraxes and small antelopes. It uses its tail as a rudder and with a swing of their tail can actually stop itself.

The Sica is becoming noticed by primitive dog enthusiasts. In addition it is still kept widely by the Zulus. In fact it is one of the most popular dogs in the Natal region of South Africa. This dog is probably the original dog of the Bantu peoples when they moved south from the Congo region 1,000 years ago. It makes a wonderful companion and is very loyal but is also very active and needs an outlet for its energies.

7) The Canaan Dog. This is the national breed of Israel and is gaining popularity in Europe and America as well as in its native country. The Canaan Dog is definitely an ancient type, going back to Biblical times and earlier. Bedouin tribes used them to herd and as watchdogs but, like other primitive dogs it lived on the periphery of human civilization, feeding off the waste products, but also hunting for small animals. It was discovered by Jewish settlers roaming in semi-wild packs in southern Israel and Dr. Rudolphina Menzel established a breeding program and also stabilized its type. The Canaan Dog weighs 35-60 pounds, which is quite large for a primitive dog. It has prick ears, a curled tail, a wedge shaped head with a medium length muzzle, and cat like feet. Its coat is generally short and can come in yellow, red-brown, black, and white and sometimes has combinations of these with white markings.

This dog is an excellent tracker and very alert. It has excellent senses of smell and hearing and can detect the approach of people from far away. They are easy dogs to train but are also independent minded, so don't expect the kind of obedience from one that you would get from, say a Border Collie or a German Shepherd. These dogs also are used for herding compete well in agility and obedience competitions. They are very loyal and affectionate towards their families and make superb watchdogs. They are always alert and aware of their surroundings, because when they were living in a feral state they had to be on the lookout both for prey and predators. They get along well with children but should have early socialization with them. With strangers they are polite but aloof. They need to be a part of the family and will need a good amount of exercise.

Canaan Dogs need early socialization with other dogs because they are naturally dog aggressive. They also have very high prey drives so they will need to be socialized early with cats and other small pets if they are to live with them. In addition they are extremely clever dogs and can find ways to outwit their owners, so it is always necessary to be a step ahead of them. These dogs need patience and loving affection, which they will reward with their great loyalty. They tend to be very clean dogs and require low maintenance. They are very useful in many different fields - the Israeli military employs them as messenger dogs and bomb detectors. The Red Cross often uses them as rescue dogs because the combination of agility, brains, and nasal abilities enables them to perform admirably when victims are lost under, say, a building that collapsed from an earthquake.

All on all the Canaan Dog is a rewarding companion that is also exotic. One can brag that one owns the dog of the Bible, with a Canaan Dog in the home. A Canaan Dog will never cease to impress its owner with its clever ways.

Here are some good websites on Canaan Dogs:
http://www.cdca.org/
http://dns.itb.t/canaan/icdca/

9) Thai Ridgeback Dog. This is a relative of the Khoisan Dog. It has the same ridge of upright hair along its spine and in some dogs, this ridge extends down to its flanks. It is the largest of the primitive dog breeds, weighing as much as 75 pounds and stands 22-26 pounds. It can be black, blue, or fawn with white markings permitted and a black mask desired. It has a deep chest and prick ears and its head is wedge shaped with a muzzle of medium length. Some Thai Ridgebacks develop wrinkles on their forehead. This is an extremely muscular dog with a thick neck and powerful jaws.

This dog lives in the forests of eastern Thailand. There is also another population on Vietnam's Phu Quoc Island, which is slightly heavier set than the Thai dogs are. Many books say that the Phu Quoc dog is extinct but this is incorrect. Peasants in Thailand and on Phu Quoc keep these dogs for hunting and protecting the home. Among its prey are tapirs, wild boar, and deer. Packs of Thais can harry and chase off a tiger and may well have been used to hunt tigers and leopards.

Thai Ridgebacks make fine pets. They are extremely protective and distrust strangers, so a Thai Ridgeback will need a master who has control over it. They are very clean and lack odor and they drool very little. If they are allowed to be on the furniture they will monopolize the furniture. They run very fast and jump very high and are generally very athletic dogs. They enjoy running and will need a backyard. Early socialization with other dogs and pets is a must or they can become dog aggressive. They also should not be allowed to romp around in the yard with the cats because this can turn on their intense prey drives. They get along very well with children and are adoring towards family members, following them from room to room in the house.

The Thai Ridgeback has a very interesting history. It has existed in Thailand for centuries where, isolated from other dogs, it has bred true to type. Dogs with ridges along their spines only occur in one other part of the globe - southern Africa. There, the Khoikhoi or Hottentots people kept an ancient dog for centuries, which is usually called the Khoisan Dog. This dog is the ancestor of the famous Rhodesian Ridgeback. Both the Khoisan and the Rhodesian Ridgeback have the same ridges. It is very likely that Thai traders, who were known to have traded along the eastern coast of Africa before the arrival of the Europeans, may have acquired ridge-backed dogs from the Hottentots people and brought them home to Thailand. It is also possible that Thai traders brought these dogs to Africa from Thailand, but I think this is less likely.

Click on the following links to find out more about these fascinating dogs. These sites have good info:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/6385/temperment.html http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/breeds/thai-ridgebacks.htm
This site has great photos: http://home.earthlink.net/~ll889/mainphoto.htm

11) The hairless breeds of Mexico and Peru. No discussion of the primitive dogs would be complete without mentioning the hairless dogs. There are five hairless breeds, of which two, the Chinese Crested and American Hairless Terrier (Which is actually unrelated to the other hairless breeds.) will be dealt with in our discussion of toy breeds.

The phenomenon of hairlessness pops up in a number of places in the world. Hairless dogs exist in Africa, India, China, and the Americas. Except for the American Hairless, the hairless breeds carry a gene for it, which is both dominant and lethal. This same gene also gives the hairless breeds an absence of premolars.

So if the gene is lethal, how in the world do hairless dogs survive? One out of every three dogs in a hairless litter is fully coated and is referred to as a "powder puff." The powder puffs also have the premolars that the hairless dogs lack. Powder puffs are indispensable for the survival of the hairless breeds (Except for the American Hairless, which will be dealt with at a later time.). The more hairless to hairless matings that take place, the more still-borns or births of extremely unhealthy puppies. Therefore, powder puffs are used in the breeding process and thus the hairless breeds are quite healthy today.

Hairless dogs need to be kept out of direct sunlight for long periods of time because they will sunburn. Though they need no grooming (Except for the powder puffs), they will need skin care. People with allergies towards dogs are less likely to be allergic to hairless breeds.

There are two hairless breeds we will deal with here. One, the Xoloitzcuintli, is from Mexico. The other is the Peruvian Hairless Dog. The Xoloitzcuintli (pronounced Show-Low-Eats-Kweent-Li) is the prized companion of the Indians of Mexico. How these dogs came to be with the Mexican Indians is unknown and a subject of great disagreement. Some believe that the Mexican Indians got these dogs from Chinese traders after the Spanish conquest. I think this theory is untenable because China had a closed-door policy at the time. Instead, I think it more likely that the gene for hairlessness is a recurring one in dogs and especially primitive dogs, but it only survives if a particular culture takes a liking to it. This is what happened in Africa, India, China, and the Americas.

It is very likely that the Xolo originated with the Toltec Indians who prized it as a sacred animal. Since it is hairless (Except, of course for the powder puffs) the high body temperature of the Xolos can be readily felt. They are literally hot to the touch. For this reason, Indians used Xolos to warm their beds and water skins. They also used them as living poultices, and Xolos were said to be able to cure rheumatism and other diseases if you touched the part of the body afflicted to the dog. They were also said to have guided the soul to the next life and were often sacrificed when their master died.

Xolos were long thought to be extinct but they were found in the 1950s living with poor Indians in the mountain regions of Mexico. The Mexican Kennel Club instantly recognized them and even gave them the honor of being classified as a working breed because of their importance to the Indians. Today Xolos are quite popular in Mexico especially amongst the upper classes and celebrities. They also have a strong fancy in the United States and Europe.

Xolos come in different skin colors. They also differ dramatically in size. There are three size varieties: the Standard, which weighs as much as 55 pounds (Though some get bigger. If you go to Taco's website, which I have listed below, you will see a picture of a Standard Xolo that is the size of a Doberman!), the Miniature which weighs up to 25 pounds and the Toy Xolo which weighs no more than 14 pounds. Some dog books list these three sizes as different breeds but they are not, because a Mini can be born from a Standard litter, a Toy from a Mini litter, and a Mini from a Toy litter.

Xolos are sweet and affectionate, bark little, and of course, don't shed. They are easy dogs to train and can compete in obedience trials. These dogs are perfect for anyone who is allergic to dogs, particularly the hairless ones. They tend to be joyful with their family and aloof around strangers.

This website has lots of interesting Xolo information: http://members.aol.com/AHTerrier/xololink.html
This website is very cute and has nice pictures:
http://ch.taco.home.mindspring.com/

The Peruvian Hairless Dog, or Perro Sin Pelo Peru, is very much like the Xolo. They originate with the Inca Indians in the Andes of Peru and were highly respected dogs. Some authorities divide this into two breeds, with shorter, more heavyset dogs being known as the Inca Hairless Dog and the taller, leggier dogs known as the Peruvian Inca Orchid, or Peruvian Moonflower. I consider them to be one and the same breed with variations within the breed. These are sweet sensitive dogs that do not like the sunlight and tend to be more active at night. Like the Xolo, there is a powder puff variety, which looks remarkably like a longhaired Whippet. These dogs were held by the Inca to be sacred and they were sometimes used for hunting.

The Peruvian Hairless Dog stands 17-23 inches tall and weighs 24-40 pounds. As with the Xoloitzcuintli, the Peruvian Hairless Dog comes in a hairless variety and a powder puff variety with a full coat. The Peruvian Hairless usually has a pink skin but darker colors and white skin, with pink spots also occur. On the powder puffs the coat may be short or long and the coat can be straight or curly. The build is always racy and sighthound-like, with a deep chest and a deer-like appearance. The hairless dogs have prick ears while the powder puffs have rose-shaped ears (Drop down and curl back.). The reason the powder puffs have rose shaped ears is because the weight of the hair on the ears causes them to drop. These dogs are sweet and affectionate, with sensitive natures. They enjoy the company of people and other animals but they retain the high prey drive that comes naturally to a primitive dog and will chase after rodents and other small animals. Like the Xolo, the Peruvian Hairless, particularly the hairless variety, are good for people with allergies to dogs.

The Peruvian Hairless breed appeared around 750 C.E. among the Moche people. How they came to be with these people is unknown. They may have been acquired from trade with Mexican Indians. They also may be the result of a spontaneously occurring hairless gene and thus developed independent of yet parallel to the Xolo. They were prized by the Incas who kept the hairless dogs as sacred dogs and as bed warmers, while the powder puffs were used as hunting dogs. Sometimes these dogs were eaten as well.

The Peruvian hairless breed is rare in Peru today and is not being bred much there. However, they are being bred in Germany, Scandinavia, and the United States. Here is a nice web site about the Peruvian Hairless (click here):
http://www.peruvian-pasos.com/perudog.html

I can't find a website about the Inca Hairless, but that does not mean that there isn't one. This web site deals with the American Hairless Terrier, but it has links to info on all the hairless breeds:
http://members.aol.com/AHTerrier/home.html