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ABSTRACT

 

India possesses a wide array of native breeds of cattle, buffalo. Sheep, goat, poultry, camel, equine, yak, and Mithun. Sadly, however, India’s canine population hasn’t always been appreciated by the people of that country, and many indigenous breeds have vanished because of indifference. One such canine breed is The Gaddi dog, or the Himalayan sheepdog reared by Gaddi shepherds for herding and guarding their sheep. This dog has a large head with erect ears. These dogs have double coats, a short and dense inner coat that provides insulation. The outer coat is long and fluffy. These dogs carry their curled tails over their bodies. This unique canine germplasm needs to be documented and registered at the National level for the benefit of the dog owners, dog breeders, and kennel clubs. The breed can be popularized through dog shows and other forms of documentation.

Keywords: Gaddi, dog, canine

 

With the increasing trend of nuclear families, rearing a dog for company as well as guarding has gained much attention. While everyone seems to be obsessed with exotic dog breeds, not much attention is being given to indigenous dog breeds. There are several Indian breeds that are famous for their loyalty, sturdiness, guarding traits, suitability to adapt to local climate, and resistance against diseases. One of such breeds is the Gaddi dog or Himalayan Sheepdog. It is named after the nomadic shepherds who rear them. Due to their fighting ability with snow leopards, they are also known as Indian Panther Hound or Indian Leopard Hound (Dutta and Dutta, 2021). These dogs are mostly found in the Himalayan region in India from Jammu & Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh in India, and in Nepal and Bhutan. In Nepal, it is called Bhote Kukkur or Bhotiya. In 2005, the Gaddi dog was one of four Indian dog breeds featured on a set of postage stamps released by the Indian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to celebrate the country`s canine heritage (Somvanshi, 2019).

 

Origin of Gaddi Dog

The exact origin has not been well documented, but the breed is known since ancient times. It was originally developed from the Tibetan Mastiff dog (Morris, 2002). It has phenotypic similarities with the parent breed. Some people confuse them for the Tibetan Mastiff but the Gaddi dog is less bulky and has a tufted mane like a big black lion. 

 

Utility of Gaddi Dog

Gaddi dog breed was developed for guarding encampments and livestock (mainly yak, sheep and goats) from predators. Local tribes have used these agile and confident dogs to guard their livestock against predators since historical times. They are fearless, resilient, and make great companions for the farmers.

 

They can be tough and aggressive out on the trail but are loyal and devoted to their owners. They adapt well to the family but need plenty of training and socializing to make them friendly with strangers. Perhaps this behaviour is natural as they have been bred to increase protection and guarding traits. They are the best herding dogs and can walk up to 20-25 Kms daily (Dawydiak and Sims, 2019). They are also used to assist hunting.

 

Appearance of Gaddi Dog

The Gaddi dogs are in mostly solid colours of black and tan, dark fawn and sometimes reddish, black and shadow white colour. Sometimes they have markings on their toes, chest and neck. They have a smooth and medium to heavy coat which makes them a suitable breed to be reared in cold climates. They have wide forehead small drooping ears like a pendulum. The tail is heavily plumed and curled over their back. The height of an adult Gaddi dog ranges from 61 to 71cms. Adult male Gaddi dog weighs around 25 to 45 kgs whereas female weighs around 20 to 35 kgs. The life expectancy of these dogs ranges from 9 to 14 years. The distinguishing characteristic of Chamba Gaddi dogs, a strain of Gaddi dogs, is their long pointed muzzle without any mellower appearance. These dogs are enormous in size and have a deep loud bark similar to Tibetan Mastiff.

 

 

Table. 1 Height and body weight of Gaddi dog

Parameter	At 6 months	At 12 months	At 18 months
Height (inches)	13.5	17.5	29
Weight (kg)	10	20	37

 

The temperament of Gaddi Dog

A Gaddi dog is not for the faint-hearted. They are huge, aggressive, and incredibly strong. However, they are very intelligent dogs and can herd livestock including yak, goat, sheep and sometimes buffaloes with little or no instruction (Pawsindia, 2021). They are very friendly with the owner and family but can be ferocious with strangers which make them quite good guard dogs.

 

 

Status of Gaddi Dog

It is a matter of great concern that the important germplasm is unknown to the masses. The Gaddi dog breed is not recognized by any major kennel club or agency to date. Furthermore, due to decreasing trend of a nomadic lifestyle, the population of Gaddi dogs is decreasing at an alarmingly high rate (Robert, 2021) and it has become difficult to find thoroughbred Gaddi dogs. As per estimates, the population of Gaddi dogs is less than 1000 now (Mahajan, 2020). The Gaddi breed of dog, like many other indigenous breeds, is on the verge of extinction due to the dilution of the gene pool and lack of dedicated breeders and breeding programme.

 

References

Dawydiak, O. and Sims, D., (2019). Livestock Protection Dogs. Dogwise Publishing.

Dutta, S. and Dutta, S., (2021). Palampur University To Conduct Research On Indian Panther Hound Gaddi Dogs – Hill Post. [online] Hillpost.in. Available at: <https://hillpost.in/2021/04/palampur-university-to-conduct-research-on-indian-panther-hound-gaddi-dogs/115453/> [Accessed 15 November 2021].

Himalayan sheepdog. (2020). https://twitter.com/betterphilately/status/1300022607102779392

Mahajan, N., (2020). Breeding Centre for gaddi dogs to come up in Himachal. The Pioneer. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from https://www.dailypioneer.com/2020/state-editions/breeding-centre-for-gaddi-dogs-to-come-up-in-himachal.html.

Morris D., (2002). Dogs: The ultimate dictionary of over 1,000 dog breeds. Trafalgar Square; 2002.

 Pawsindia, (2021). Bhutia The Indian Tibetian Mastiff. [online] Available at: <https://pawsindia.com/blogs/news/bhutia-the-indian-tibetian-mastiff> [Accessed 15 November 2021]

Robert, F., (2021). Barks.in - Indian dog breeds. The forgotten dogs of India!. [online] Barks.in. Available at: <https://barks.in/indian-dog-breeds/> [Accessed 15 November 2021].

 Somvanshi, R., (2019). Our Pride: Indigenous livestock breeds depicted on Indian postage stamps. RASSA Journal of Science for Society, 1(1and2), 27-31.

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The Gaddi dog A Lesser-known Treasure of Himalayas_compressed.pdf