Kintamani Dogs

The Kintamani is a dog breed native to the Indonesian island of Bali. The Kintamani dog is an evolving breed indigenous to the Kintamani region of Bali. Kintamani dogs cohabitate with feral Bali street dogs, although folklore has the breed originating 600 years ago from a Chinese Chow Chow. The physical and personality characteristics of the Kintamani dog make it a popular pet for the Balinese, and efforts are currently under way to have the dog accepted by the Federation Cynologique Internationale as a recognized breed. To study the genetic background of the Kintamani dog, 31 highly polymorphic short tandem repeat markers were analyzed in Kintamani dogs, Bali street dogs, Australian dingoes, and nine American Kennel Club (AKC) recognized breeds of Asian or European origin. The Kintamani dog was identical to the Bali street dog at all but three loci. The Bali street dog and Kintamani dog were most closely aligned with the Australian dingo and distantly related to AKC recognized breeds of Asian but not European origin. Therefore, the Kintamani dog has evolved from Balinese feral dogs with little loss of genetic diversity.

Kintamani Dogs have a distinctive form and character which sets them apart from the average village dog. Whilst they live much the same kind of life as an average village dog, Kintamani dogs have longer hair and dig holes in which to nest their young. Some even live in small caves among the boulders around Kintamani. Nowadays, these good-looking dogs are increasingly sought after as pets. They have a broad face, a flat forehead and flat cheeks. In this way, they resemble the Chinese mountain dog, the Chow Chow, to which recent genetic studies have confirmed; the Kintamani Dog is distantly related.