- "Primitive"
is not a derogatory term when it comes to dogs, but denotes dogs that
are natural and unspoiled, or nearly so, by human interference.
- While there
is a negative connotation to "pariah" when used as a metaphor,
a pariah dog is simply one living as a scavenger on the periphery of
human habitation. These are dogs that remain close in type and aptitudes
to the very first dogs, that developed in geographical isolation and/or
with little or no artificial selection by humans, and sometimes are
still living in a wild or semi-wild state.
- While some of
these breeds have found a secure place in modern life, a number of lesser-known
primitive breeds are threatened by contact with modern society through
unplanned crossbreeding, foreign disease, and the disruption of the
human societies alongside which they live; some have already lost their
fight with extinction.
- Primitives
can be coursing dogs of a less extreme
type than those long bred for the purpose, hunting dogs like the Rhodesian
Ridgeback, or scanvengers like the Kritikos Lagonikos; several are spitzes
of a Southern type (Northern spitzes
have their own section of pages).
|