LOVE DOGS? Here is a crash course into the history of a few canine breeds!

-Review by Gaurav Lama

The Book of Indian Dogs- The first comprehensive guide to Indian dog breeds in over fifty years

Published by Aleph Book Company, the hard bound book has a simple and unassuming cover comprised of the image of a brown, collared hound with a black snout. The back cover has a picture of the author with a beautiful dog, probably his pet. The book claims to be the first comprehensive guide to Indian dog breeds in over fifty years, and it does rightly so, more or less in the first section of the book. The second half is a brisk narration on several different breeds of dogs tightly packed into a little over thirty pages. The information is quick, swift, and surprisingly helpful (considering it is such a short book). The author is thrifty with his dissemination of ideas, history, and information, and the book is rather punctilious with very few loose, unwanted trails.

This being said, the first fifty pages of the book discuss the history, origins, and the contemporary scene of dogs in India. It is quite a helpful and informative guide on the general history, association with mankind, and ethology of dogs. There are several quotes from other books by various writers, as well as scientific research papers in the paragraphs that add a tinge of credibility to Baskaran's ideas. Also, Baskaran does a good job linking his findings and views in this section to various supporting texts throughout the book. Furthermore, an unusual feature is that he even asks the viewers for additional information and photographs (that shall be duly acknowledged and credited) in his footnotes. He regularly garnishes his writing with personal anecdotes and quotes from several other writers. This, somehow, makes a monologue-type sermon on a single subject matter a little more interesting and lighter on the mind as the reader browses through pages of dog history and geography. His colloquial and dialogue style of writing comes across clearly and convincingly.

An impressive feature is the width of research that this section exhibits. It showcases dogs and their association with man from right ancient civilizations, to early Romans and other medieval kingdoms, to recent Indian history. And,the numerous illustrations and photographs certainly are a welcome sight. Besides, Baskaran is specific and precise in his narration – naming the kings, the eras, and the cities even!

The descriptions on the dogs, however, are brusque and deal with only the major factors like origin, breeding history, utility to man, availability, size, weight, etc. The second half of the book indulges mostly in skimming through the surface as a regular, non-committed dog aficionado would require. The twenty five breeds that he discusses are neatly stacked as working dogs, companion dogs, and hounds. He does well quoting other writers in support of his descriptions of the dogs, and cleverly plots connecting links of the various breeds to civilizations and kings. There is however, a rather major gap in information dissemination as the author does not discuss the common diseases, congenital-genetic health issues, conditional health issues, animal temperament/aggression, and grooming related topics that might come in very handy if a reader decides to adopt a dog based on Baskaran's text. It is very important to understand the personality and the physical conditioning of certain special breeds before adopting it. Another handy feature would be if the book contained a short walk through on how much exercise a certain breed requires, levels of training, tolerance level to other humans/dogs, as well as its recommended diet.

The end portion of the book is an effort to culminate the discussion to a holistic end with a discussion on stray dogs. However, it brings an uneasy effort and a hesitant adoration to the same dogs that he has loved throughout the book. His findings, statistics, and directive narration shall lead you towards a rather dark and confused ending. After the entire reading on a happy, playful, and benevolently useful species, the concluding chapters will throw you abruptly to the other side of the coin and remind you that animals are animals, after all.

The book might not be a 'comprehensive' guide to various breeds, but it surely is a good guide to the history of canines vis-à-vis man. The illustrations are well supported with varied and multidimensional references that include even personal anecdotes, and the research is mildly impressive in terms of its sheer width- encompassing so many civilizations, generations, and scientific journals. The book would have done justice to its title if only it had discussed each specific breed in such multifaceted detail. Overall, it is a good read if you want to read about how the cliched 'man's best friend' has served man with his friendship over the years. On the other hand, you might not want to rely solely on this book if you are looking for an authoritative and professional guide to understanding specific breeds of dogs, or if browsing different materials before adopting one.

In short, the book, although complete in itself leaves scope for more research by the readers, especially pertaining to their first hand experiences with their canines. All in all, a good read for all Canine-lovers.

BOOK TITLE: The Book of Indian Dogs

AUTHOR: S. Theodore Baskaran

PUBLISHER: Rupa Publications Pvt. Limited

PRICE: Rs. 399

NUMBER OF PAGES: 148

The writer can be reached at tomahomei@gmail.com