As of June, 2018, and according to their own figures, the AKC recognizes 202 dog breeds. The Kennel Club recognizes 211 dog breeds, the United Kennel Club acknowledges over 300 dog breeds and varieties, the Canadian Kennel Club recognizes 175 breeds (as of March, 2018), and the Fédération Cynologique Internationale accepts 344 breeds.
As many breeds as these clubs validate, it’s thought that there are over 400 breeds world-wide. It’s unknown if that figure includes landraces (dogs local to their area that may have more variety in their appearance than standardized dog breeds), but even if it does, landraces often become the focus of organized efforts to bring standardization to their gene pool.
We delight in learning about breeds unfamiliar to us, and take even more pleasure in sharing them with you on the chance that it may be an unfamiliar breed to you, as well. With that in mind, meet the Alangu Mastiff, one of the three mastiff breeds found in the areas around Persia and India (the other two are the Alaunt Mastiff and the Assyrian Mastiff). Some say this breed is the purest descendant of the Molossian Hound, a breed nicknamed the “Beast from the East:”
The Alangu is a big dog, and a rare one. It’s also an old breed. So old, in fact, that it was believed to have been used by the Persian Army for guarding camp-sites and prisoners-of-war in their campaigns during antiquity. Some cynologists have posited that the ancestors of the breed were introduced to the Indian continent by Xerxes I of Persia between 486-465 B.C.
In modern times, the breed can be known as the Sindhi Mastiff because before Pakistan became independent of British rule in 1947, it was under Sindh rule, and locals called it the Sindhi Mastiff. The breed’s origins, however, lie in India where it’s known as the Alangu Mastiff. The Alangu has become associated with, if not synonymous with the Bully Kutta, a large Mastiff sadly used in illegal dog fights in Pakistan; if not found in annual dog fighting tournaments, the breed is often owned by prosperous farmers as a protection dog.
A long history of fighting either in war or sport has imbued the Alangu Mastiff with a dominant and aggressive nature making it unsuitable for inexperienced, docile, or first time dog owners. It is, however, an extremely loyal dog that doesn’t take kindly to strangers.
Image of Alangu Mastiff bas relief from dharasuram temple by YAALI – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68190825