The Concept of an Aboriginal Dog Breed
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Selected reading from…. The Fan Hitch Journal of the Inuit Sled Dog Published June 2013 in Volume 15, Number 3 environment and they also declined in fitness and became more dependent on food and protection provided by people. The modern concept of a breed is based mainly on knowledge accumulated during work with these kinds of breeds. Dogs that do not fit any known breed listed in the catalogs of cynological clubs remain “invisible” to the public and most often are not considered as breeds at all. On the other hand, if the major kennel clubs adopt an aboriginal breed, it also becomes changed and converted into another cultured pedigree breed. Thus, each of such transactions does not help the preservation of most of the remaining ancient unchanged breeds in the world, Inuit and dogs, with loads, travelling overland to the fishing lake which aboriginal breeds are. southwest of Bernard Harbour, N.W.T. (Nunavut). 27 June 1915. Photo: Sir George Hubert Wilkins, 1888-1958. Courtesy of the Canadian Museum of Civilization: 50968; CD96-654-018 The aboriginal breed and subspecies in zoology Aboriginal dogs are natural breeds, which have This was originally a presentation given at the first never been developed by any planned genetic international cynological conference “Aboriginal manipulation, deliberate selective breeding and Breeds of Dogs as Elements of Biodiversity and the intentional crossing of one breed with another. Old Cultural Heritage of Mankind” held September 10- travelers, when they found them with people in far 15, 2009 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This conference was away countries, commented about the benefits, a unique event because of the exceptional range and depth of the presentations and the warm hospitality intelligence and serviceability of the local dogs to of the friendly representatives of the young native people. At the same time, they used independent country, the Kazakhstan Republic. The unflattering epithets calling them “mongrels”, “poorly author has modified the article since its original bred Collies”, “mangy beasts”, “ugly dogs”, etc. publication in the PADS, International Journal Generally, travelers whose eyes were trained on Number 14. European purebreds, considered aboriginal dogs just local mongrels and it was not too far from the truth. The Concept of an Aboriginal Dog Breed However, those were peculiar mongrels, which now we prefer to call aboriginal race or type dogs; some Vladimir Beregovoy dog lovers and experts are reluctant to apply the term Buchanan, Virginia, USA “breed”, when discussing aboriginal dogs, because they have never been developed in kennels by Introduction systematic selective breeding. Aboriginal dogs have There was a time when aboriginal dogs were the drawn the interest of professional biologists only only dogs available. All of today’s popular dog breeds recently, because of raised public concern about the have been derived, at one time or another, from preservation of nature and national heritage. There ancient aboriginal dogs. Since then they have been are surprisingly few serious scientific studies on “improved” by deliberate selection and crossbreeding aboriginal dogs per se. In fact, they are very much to achieve the desired combination of characters of like wild animals, because nobody can claim appearance and behavior. Through long histories of authorship over any particular type of aboriginal dog. life in confinement, good care, and trainability for The most that we could do is to discover and describe obedience, they became more or less helpless if left them like we discover and describe wild species and on their own. They are sometimes called man-made races. Geographers and ethnographers discovered breeds or cultured breeds. Many other animal breeds aboriginal dogs and left a few more or less sketchy were also obtained by selective breeding and keeping descriptions, from which we now are trying to collect under conditions of good care in a strictly controlled The Concept of an Aboriginal Dog Breed, from The Fan Hitch, June 2013 - 1 knowledge about their origins and historical past. their daily bread. For example, a bad working dog Now, many of the aboriginal dogs are extinct or have would most likely not be treated very well, would become seriously threatened with extinction and an possibly be left unfed and most likely not bred; and it increasing number of enthusiasts are eager to get would be left to die in time of famine or it would be involved in their rescue by importing them from their killed for its pelt to make mittens. Although dogs native countries and taking good care of them, never or rarely lived confined and mated freely, popularizing and keeping pedigree records with the puppies of favorite bitches or puppies sired by the hope of the AKC, FCI, national kennel clubs, etc. best working males, if the sire was known, were recognizing them. Usually, there is no lacking of spared more often to be raised as a replacement for interest to try a new “unspoiled” breed. The question adult dogs growing older. This kind of selective is: to what end? Do we need to spoil aboriginal dogs, mortality worked rather by eliminating the least fit, too? Before getting seriously involved in projects of than by preserving a few of the best dogs. Cyclic rescue and preservation of aboriginal dogs it is fluctuations of productivity in nature, game density necessary to understand how and why they are and all kindS of natural calamities affected both dogs different from cultured breeds and to take a closer and their owners. Natural selection never stopped. look at the very concept of an aboriginal breed. The Another similarity of aboriginal dogs to subspecies real preservation of aboriginal dogs can be only their of wild animals is in the fact that aboriginal dogs are recognition and preservation as aboriginal races of the oldest unchanged kinds of dogs in the world. dogs together with their environment and work for Indeed, according to fossil and archeological people. evidence, dogs of the Laika or sled dog type have One of the most striking traits of all aboriginal been around people since Neolithic times. Excavated dogs is their naturalness. Actually, they are more Saluki type skeletons were dated to 2,500 years BC similar to subspecies (race) of wild animals described and so was the Australian Dingo. Powerful livestock by zoologists than to classic breeds (cultured breeds) guarding dogs are very old as well. of domesticated animals. Indeed, each population of a The similarity between aboriginal dogs and wild peculiar race of aboriginal dog has its own unique animals extends even further if we take a closer look geographic range of distribution and it is always at their behavior when they are working for people. associated with a certain ethnic group. Because they Among dog trainers, aboriginal dogs are well known are domesticated animals and associated with people, by their independent character. They often call them they may be safely called, therefore, ethno- hard heads, stubborn and even stupid. This is because geographic races of dogs. At the same time, like wild aboriginal dogs easily get bored when taught to do animals, each of such ethno-geographic races is a circus type tricks or other behavior unnatural to them. product of slow evolution under conditions of life and So are tame wolves. This is what happens when work for people. It has been subject to natural wolves are trained to do similar unnatural things. selection and selection driven by people in favor of Nobody calls a wolf stupid. However, in their native better working qualities. Selection by people has been environment, aboriginal dogs show great intelligence, very subtle. Sometimes it is called “unconscious” performing amazingly complex tasks, and they do it selection, which may be considered rather like all by themselves. They quickly learn what and how another form of natural selection, than what we call something should be done without much teaching, selection based on modern knowledge of animal training and directing by people. They all work husbandry, animal science and genetics. This is naturally. To start working, the aboriginal dog does because aboriginal dogs live and work for people not need a “stick and carrot” training system. The under conditions of nearly unlimited freedom, are very work is the reward to them. To start working, an never, or rarely, confined, are irregularly fed aboriginal dog puppy needs to be raised in the right (sometimes not fed for weeks), mate freely and environment. At a certain age, every puppy easily sometimes raise their puppies without the assistance picks up the idea what to do and how to do it. Thus, of people. They live with humans rather like symbiotic aboriginal sight hounds called Tazy, Saluki, Afghan, animals than like animals captured, forced, “enslaved” Bakhmul and Taigan learn to hunt by themselves or spoiled by domestication. Of course, the aboriginal when they are taken into an environment where fast dogs obtain their own benefits from sharing their lives running animals occur. In fact they are born, grow up with people, such as protection from wild predators, and live in such an environment near their owner’s sometimes from the weather and from food shortage. tent or yurta. A hunting Laika puppy starts finding The latter is particularly obvious, where people and squirrels and barking under a tree with squirrel or dogs live in extremely harsh climates, such as in the grouse from the age of several months if allowed to polar north or in deserts, where both people and dogs run free in the woods, and the same puppy will switch became literally interdependent for survival. However, to higher value game without much encouragement everyone, people and dogs, had to work to obtain when it matures. A good Laika knows what should be The Concept of an Aboriginal Dog Breed, from The Fan Hitch, June 2013 - 2 hunted and how.