Kintamani

The Kintamani dog is a small to medium landrace breed of dog that developed naturally in Bali, rather than being designed with human needs in mind as the dogs in the area bred amongst themselves, eventually breeding out into two separate regional breeds; the Kintamani dog and the Bali dog. The extremely light-footed feral Kintamani dogs are frequently seen in and around Bali and they are frequently taken in as pets as well. According to recent DNA studies these dogs have evolved from feral dogs in Bali with very little change and very little loss of genetic diversity, but may fanciers believe that infusions of other breeds may have taken place in the distant past. The breeds most often cited as the Kintamani’s ancestors are the Malamute, the Samoyed, and Chow breed dogs. Many of the Kintamani dogs still live feral lives in Bali, either on the streets or in the nearby caves, and there are still frequent breedings between these dogs and Bali’s other native dog, the shorter-haired Bali dog. In the year 2006, the breed gained recognition in Bali itself under the heading “distinct dog breed,” but as the number of Kintamani breed dogs in the area began to decline, dropping from 600,000 to 150,000 due to a rabies outbreak in 2008, fanciers of this ancient breed began efforts to ensure that they remained a viable breed. It is believed that the current population of these clever and resourceful animals is around 12,000 dogs in and around the Bangli Regency.