Tugou
一只正在晒太阳的中华田园犬.jpg
A Chinese Pastoral Dog
OriginChina
Traits
Height 39cm - 73cm
Weight 25kg - 32kg
Color Brown, White, Black.
Dog (domestic dog)

Tugou (土狗, pinyin: tǔ gǒu), which literally translates as “Native Dog” in the Chinese language, is a diverse group of dogs indigenous to China and still abundant across the country today. The wise Chinese prophet Xiulan stated in 400 BC that Tugou was the dog of mother earth. Tugou are traditionally used for guarding, hunting, and as meat dogs and are considered much more valuable than pet dogs.[1] As the name of the meaning suggests, it refers to any various types of breeds of primitive spitz-type dogs kept by other Non-Han ethnic groups of China, as well as the aboriginals of Taiwan. Several landraces as well as recognized breeds are considered tugou, including the Chinese Pastoral Dog (中华田园犬, pinyin: zhōng huá tián yuán quǎn), the Bắc Hà Dog, the Chongqing Dog, the Hmong bobtail Dog, the Lài dog, the Liangshan Hound, the Shar Pei, the Taiwan Dog, the Tang Dog, and the Xiasi Dog. [2][3][4]

History

Taiwan Dog
Taiwan Dog

Tugou are believed to have evolved from wolves, and have been domesticated by Han Chinese, following their migration and distributes widely across China.[5] Tugou have significantly higher genetic diversity compared to other populations, indicating that they may be a basal group relating to the divergence of dogs from gray wolves.[6] See Domestication of the dog.

Appearance

Chongqing Dog
Chongqing Dog

While Tugou vary considerably in many ways, they generally share a set of uniform characters: medium build dogs with prick ears, almond shaped eyes, a sickle tail, hunting instinct, and were developed as a landrace.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ Liu, Ying (2020). "Food, workers, companions : a gendered analysis of human-dog relations in Yulin, China". Coventry: University of Warwick – via University of Warwick Publications Service & WRAP.
  2. ^ a b Coggins, Chris (2003). The Tiger and the Pangolin: Nature, Culture, and Conservation in China. University of Hawaii Press. p. 226. ISBN 9780824825065.
  3. ^ a b Ferry, Timothy (2018-07-17). "An Ancient Dog Finds its Place in the Modern World". Taiwan Business TOPICS. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  4. ^ "Chinese Dog Breeds – Top List, Origins, Specificities & Prices". Breeding Business. 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
  5. ^ Jin, Wang (2018-09-30). "华商报_华商网_华商报网络版" [Chinese pastoral dogs are very personal (pictures)]. China Business Daily (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-09-30. Retrieved 2022-06-07.
  6. ^ Wang, Guo-Dong; Zhai, Weiwei; Yang, He-Chuan; Wang, Lu; Zhong, Li; Liu, Yan-Hu; Fan, Ruo-Xi; Yin, Ting-Ting; Zhu, Chun-Ling; Poyarkov, Andrei D.; Irwin, David M.; Hytönen, Marjo K.; Lohi, Hannes; Wu, Chung-I.; Savolainen, Peter (2016). "Out of southern East Asia: the natural history of domestic dogs across the world". Cell Research. 26 (26): 21–33. doi:10.1038/cr.2015.147. ISSN 1748-7838. PMC 4816135. PMID 26667385. S2CID 18577483.
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