Re: [RC] in praise of mutts/genetics/Nat'l Geographic - Maryanne Gabbani
Sounds like our baladi dogs. Amazing creatures. They are ready to move out on their own at about a month, often choose a farm family to live with/protect/guard although they are given little more than a scrap of bread in return. They never kill their own livestock but lord help the neighbours'! They are smart, tough, and the best watch dogs in the world. I always have one of them at my house even with my gang of RT's and the odd other rescue.
Nat'l Geo had a TV feature about 15 years ago about dogs that exist around people but are not in any way intentionally bred or well cared for,from the slums of Nairobi to the remote villages of Central Asia,etc etc: well,world-wide,they all looked very similar-about 35 lbs max,pointed noses,lean,"tight" musculature,total lack of neotany or such genetic ailments as hip dysplasia,and plenty of brains.Pretty much free from disease.They are both pets and pests,played with by kids and tolerated by adults,rarely if ever actually fed except when thrown an occasional scrap. Nowadays,my taste in bird dogs runs to light-footed,sharp(and conceited!)little females;if I wasn't running field trials,I'd have mutts of that sort.
