Here is a video of some native "Tamil" breeds. Rajapalayam, Chippiparai, kanni and Combai.

Tamil nadu is in the southern region of India (where I live) and we have our own unique geography, climate and culture.

Two dogs I have currently Bommi and Kari belong to these native breeds. The video is good except for dramatic music and dramatic narration and cheesy graphics.

You can see the kind of environment in which these dogs are bred and also the people who breed them. Not exactly high tech. There are no certifications or field trials, just breed the dogs that work best for them. In hunting and guarding. You can see that some people dont even have access to dog collars and use ropes instead.

The Video is in my mother tongue "Tamil".

It has two parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTzA-QAlXV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFFUMheA3Pg&feature=related

They are a regal looking dog, I see traits of english pointer, weimer and fox hound there, I know the pointer was brought about by spanish hounds back in the 1700's, but the head and carriage looks similar, they look quite big too??

How are the pups and mum doing?

tracy, the pups and mother are doing well. On this topic, you can be pretty sure that these dogs did not have any of the breeds in them. Tamil people have been living there since 1500 BC . These dogs would have been developed at least a 1000 years ago.

But your statement is valid too in the sense that all dogs are almost genetically the same. So those traits may have been brought out by selection for hunting.

THe bitch held by the lady wearing the orange dress is absolutely magnificent in my view. What a fabulous fantastic looking dog.
Someday I'm going to live someplace WARM and have a beautiful sighthound!!!!

Glad the brood is doing well

It must be a good strong breed without any interference from crossing, a rare thing in these times I wonder..?? Very handsome breed, and clearly fully functional!

Beautiful!

Ram I keep coming back to watch these clips - these dogs are mesmerizing!

How do you pronounce Rajapalayam?

Just as it is writtern RA-JA-PA-LA-YAM .

That is RA as in rabbi JA as in jam PA as in papa LA as in lama and YAM as in sweet yams.

The other two breeds are Chippiparai Chip-pee-paa-rai and Kanni Kann-nee.

Thanks! the others I took a stab at the others but mis-pronunciation is one of my pet peeves so wanted to get it right

I love these dogs, will be nice to get some more vid of the pups as they progress, are you getting any local interest for them? I guess if they are working dogs you won't have much problem, and because of their lineage and proven track record, I guess you will also have experienced, if not familiar owners out there.

It is not like that in India . there are two kinds of dog owners. The first kind are city dwelling people who want dogs to show off their wealth and prosperity. They don't want any thing to do with Indian breeds as it does not have the glamour value. They will pay a 1000 USD with out batting an eyelid for a dysplastic GSD or Rott and junk it in 3 months. It is all about looks and when they get together they talk about how much their dogs cost and which has the bigger head. My dog looks like "Terror" etc. An adult version of "My dog can beat up your dog".

The second kind is village dwelling or poor people who really need and work the dogs. (The kind you saw on the videos) They get it from a local source where there are no registrations, databases or micro chips. Dogs can be bought for as cheap as 10 - 20 dollars, if that. I got Bommi for 50 USD and I was told the price was jacked up because I went in a car. If I had gone by walk , public bus or bicycle I could have got her for 10 USD.

But I drove 1400 Km up and down to get her from a place where they breed Rajapalayams with the right temperament and not ones that look like Rajapalayams. These people live in the middle of no where and have no use for a dog if it does not do what it says on the box, no matter how good it looks.

So the cost of travelling was 250 USD and puppy was 50 USD.



Now coming to Bommi's puppies, None have been spoken for yet. It will be difficult for me to find good homes for them. However Bommi has made a lot of admirers because she won several Obedience shows. She has competed with police dogs (which does not say much for the police dogs) and won.

So people are amazed that a Rajapalaym (which was thought of as a dog to be kept by dumb villagers to chase boar and bark like crazy) can do this kind of work. I am counting on a few Obedience show judges who have seen her in action to spread the word.

I plan to sell her pups for 100 USD and offer additional discounts (and sell for 60 USD) if I find a owner like me who wants to give the dog a fair shot and not pre judge it as a dumb savage.