Google

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Philippine Native Dogs


Dog's are always considered as man's bestfriend. They interact with emotions and could read the thought of their master. Loyalty is the best single word to describe them. This is why among pets, they are the ones who are mostly to be kept home as a companion. I know what I said is a common knowledge not just to pet lovers but almost to everyone. But what I'm going write here is about how our culture (Filipino Culture) towards our native pets. And I want the international community to know this.

I grew up in a family of pet lovers. I could not remember a moment when we don't have a dog at home. We have four now. Two are less a old month puppies we bought from a friend because he can no longer afford to keep. All are native. But our story is not a common thing. Most people prefer to keep High-Breed Imported dogs as their pets. They neglect our very own native dogs and called them "Askal" literally means "Street Dog". They have less compassion for them simply because they are not like Labradors, Pitbulls, Japanese Spitz or any High-Breeds. If you bring an Askal with you in a park it would be a funny thing. We had one dog who just died 2 months ago. He was already 4 years old when given by my friend who's mother was about to throw him away because they have a new schitzu. So we decided to keep. Our City pound catches stray dogs and feed it to the crocodiles if unclaimed in few days. But they keep the imported ones... simply because they are not filipino dogs. They are just like foreigners. I remember one TV program who features Askals treated like poodles. hmmm.... so it's uncommon for filipino dogs to have special treatment. The usual thing is treating them worse than rodents. In Baguio City dogs are even served in local restaurants as their main dish. We filipinos fail to realize that our local dogs represents us, our identity and our symbol. In Britain they take pride of their own British bulldog, in Japan: Japanese Spits, China: Schitzu, Germany: German Shepherd, Denmark: Great Dane, Soviet: Siberian Huskie, US: American Pitbull Terrier, Canada: Labrador Retriever, and more.

But why cant we? Do filipinos hate their own? Does it mean we hate ourselves? Or we hate each other? We are fond of imported stuffs. Like Gucci watches, Armani clothing line, Hugo Boss, and other western stuffs. We don't like to buy products with a "Made in the Philippines" label. Simply because it's from here and made by our own people. What our country needs is PATRIOTISM. This is what other countries in the world have that we absolutely don't. We love the world but dislike ourselves. It manifest on how we treat our dogs. We have to wake up and make a difference!

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

All humans are created equal, so are animals

Anonymous said...

Nice Article! All Filipinos out there, rise up and start loving your own!

- Anne

Anonymous said...

one thing i can say it's been a deeply rooted culture of the pinoys, having the colonial mentality. you're right we filipinos are not proud of what and who we are. in as simple as for caring native dogs, we simply would rather have imported dogs than native ones.

the government should emphasize and work real hard on this. not just campaigns through words, it should be done in action.

Anonymous said...

Wow I loved your article. I was thinking about the dogs of the world and wondered...I have never heard of the dogs of the Philippines. Now I know. I wish I could met one. Also in a way one shouldn't be overly proud of one's heritage, but a good healthy pride is of the greatest importance. So I am very thrilled with your words. Mrs. Johnson

Pinoy Dogs said...

What an informative article. Thanks for sharing your views! To be politically correct, the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) has suggested that we now call the Philippine Native Dogs by an alternative term.... Aspin, short for Asong Pinoy (Pinoy dog).

Hope to see you guys and your best friend at www.pinoydogs.com! Show the world your dog whether it's purebred or mixed, big or small, hyper active or lazy, we love 'em all!

PinoyDogs.com is an online, interactive social community for Pinoy Dog Lovers. Create your dog's unique profile, post photos, share stories, get advice and connect with fellow dog loving friends from the Philippines.

See you and your dogs there! :) Mabuhay ang mga asong pinoy!

Anonymous said...

I'm familiar with many kinds of dogs here in the U.S. But our native dogs have the attributes that many dog owners would want. They are gentle, sociable, resistant to disease, and so undemanding. If the western community will know of our native breed, they will find that this dog is the perfect family dog one can have. We should be proud of our island dogs!

M.L. Hope said...

I know this is an old article, but this is really great. My mom is from Southern Leyte, and we've kept several of the natives dogs as pets. Of course, my aunt won't let them in the house.

I may be moving there for a while, however, and I have a pet Jack Russell. So, they're going to have to get used to house dogs - and if we're lucky, maybe their aspin will be let inside too! :)

Anonymous said...

i think we filipinos should love our native dogs for me their more adorable than any other high-breed gods if they call shih-tzu,labrador or pitbull a high-breed i call our askals royal-breeds!?

Anonymous said...

tunay namn yan sinabi mo eh, ay la-ang na ang ating sariling aso ay bigyan ng kakarampot na amor. aba'y pwede gang laging sila abay tayo din. salamat sa iyong sinulat wari ko bagay akoy nagising sa katutuhanan na ung palang aming pulutan ung isang araw eh pwede rin pet.

Anonymous said...

I love my aspin dog I named BANTAY!Bantay is the most loyal, very white and charming, mother of 4 white puppies, and Bantay is the best personal watchdog. Bantay is very agile, fast, active, very healthy athletic built and never obese. Bantay never got sick since she was a puppy. Bantay is very, very faithful, gentle and very obedient and loving. He always longs for my voice calling her to me, Bantay! Bantay! Bantay! Love you! Love you! Love you!inyis

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this article.. I have a 4 month old little puppy. I call her "Tofu" because she is white. Tofu is a mixed breed of Askal and a Labrador, I call her "ASKDOR", hehehe.. Because her mom is an Askal, so she inherited almost 90% of being an Askal.. In the first place, I just wanted her to be like her Dad who is a 100% Labrador, but reading your article touched me. Now, Tofu is even more obidient than any dog I know, she does knows how to signal me when she is about to poohpooh and be quiet when she is barking.. Now thanks to you, I love my own dog more than before.. I am proud of Tofu...

Genesis

Bacs said...

Ouch this really hurts on the spot. This article is very real and im one of this so called not loving our own dog thing. i have a "coton de tulear" named terry, an "australian sheperd" named prince and an "askal" named sunshine. i love my dogs but the love i show is different towards my sunshine. i love the imported more than the local. maybe because their expensive and the local one is free i guess. or maybe because i dont have much care on the local dog than the imported one.

Anonymous said...

I salute and commend to your article.
We have 5 native dogs and all are loved and are treated as family members. We actually planned to buy a highbred dog this year.
Unfortunately, our youngest and sweetest Aspin died, just last night and it was devastating for us. And I am missing her so much. We loved all of them. Now I have no more interest in highbred dogs. Our own native dogs are the sweetest, most loyal, and perfect dogs for our homes and our families. I love Aspin!

Anonymous said...

My parents are both animal lovers. My mom grew up in a farm with eight dogs- all Aspins and my father grew up in a house full of cats but by default, we ended up having dogs and this has been our way since. I have four aspins- one was sold to my former housemaid for 50 pesos. He was the last of his litter to go because he was the smallest. (But now he's the biggest). I call him Zorro. Then there's Akira, who was given to me by a friend from Church, Denby his offspring who has short legs and long fur- my brother calls him a "fake corgi" and Panda who was found walking at the neighborhood as a puppy. She was full of mange before and now she's the princess of our house. I totally agree with the comments here. We're not proud of our own dogs, wherein fact they possess the best traits- faithful, loyal, independent, resilient and hardworking. Once you have an Aspin, it's one-of-a-kind. On a personal note, I get pissed of when people ask me about the breed of my dog when they see me buying cans or sack of dog food. They assume that my dogs are foreign. When they tell them that I'm buying those foods for my Aspins, they would give me the look that seemed to say that I'm wasting my money. We Filipinos are full of paradox. When we are being labeled to be inferior, we get angry at once whereas we are racist towards the color of our own skin and towards our own dogs.

Thank you by the way for this article. I hope more Filipinos will realize that we have a big work cut out for all of us- that is to love and appreciate and promote the uniqueness of the Philippine Dog.

Anonymous said...

I completely agree! even with stray cats... When I was in Pinas, I adopted 2 stray cats straight from our kanto. raised them and loved them as i would my family. ung ibang tao, ginagawang hobby ang mang torture ng stray dogs at cats. Glad to know, hindi lang ako nag aalala sa wellfare ng askals at pusakals. Pinoys can be so uneducated and out of their ignorance about animal rights, they dont have a stitch of compassion for our native animals and I hope that stops. I love this campaign... Sana maraming Pinoy ang maka-realize at ma-educate that animals do have rights!

-Elay

Anonymous said...

para sa akin, kahit anong klaseng aso ang meron tayu.ma-aspi or maapanese spitz, or mashih tzu..basta't loyal, playful, smart,talagang mamahalin natin.kasi kapag nagmahal ka ng aso, susuklian ka ng walang katumbas na ligaya at pagmamahal....

naomi said...

Askal or "street dogs" are beautiful before ,they are just lost imported dogs who lives in the street trying to find their owners and because of the time and year their getting dirtier and older until they die and nobody cares.... some owners there keeps looking for their dog but they didn't notice the dog in their front begging for them to notice that the dog they are looking for is in their front.... so instead of buying and wasting your money save somebody's life and you will be rewarded of obedience , loyalness and love <3

-Naomi

Anonymous said...

I love dogs. And i easily fall in love with each of them no matter what their breed is. I have a shih tzu, a dominant chiuaua, and 3 fil native dogs. I could say each breed has their own character but our native dogs are the most submissive. But i love all of them.

Anonymous said...

Filipinos don't love their own language, let alone native dogs. What a shame, really. Colonial mentality is a disease, it's like stage 4 cancer. Incurable. Hopeless. :(

Leah P. said...

Do not lose hope. There is a growing number of Filipinos, especially outside the country who are becoming more aware of our culture and returning to the roots, even as we look forward into the future.

Yes, it's important that we talk about some of the issues affecting our people, but it is also important to look on the bright side of things in order that we can help each other and to stand strong together in the face of our challenges.

Hindi lang tayo ang nagiisa sa mga ganitong bagay. Karamihan ng mga ibang kultura ay nagsa-suffer din sa tinatawag na colonial mentality. It will take time and self discovery (and perhaps healing) for some Filipinos to realize this. There are those, on the other hand, who have broken free from this thinking and are moving onward.

Let's try to understand one another instead of pointing fingers at each other. Mabuhay kabayan. Salamat sa article.

Anonymous said...

Nice blog. Good point.Very sensible. Our Japanese Spitz named Iceman just passed away a few days ago. A blood infection of some sort took him. My wife and I were deeply saddened.Then this askal pup came. My wife bought him from our neighbor. He may not bear that same good looks of his predecessor but I'm sure he'll grow up to be a fun-loving loyal dog. We may have lost our sweet bugoy but another bugoy came in. Fair trade I suppose. We're also waiting for the arrival of yet an additional member of our family. A female retriever we will name Helga. But for now, I'm quite happy this mongrel to whom we named Bambam will get to spend his happy years with us. Mabuhay ang asong pinoy!

Anonymous said...

I just found this and I know the post is old but thank you for the info! My stepmother is from the PI and when my half-siblings were little and visiting their grandmother in the Philippines she gave them a little puppy that they brought back to the U.S. (Surprisingly with no problems) She is pretty much a Phillipine street dog but has lived with us for 14 years now in Florida. We always said she was the luckiest dog alive but after reading your article I truly believe it!!!

irish said...

May aso po kaming aspin. Alam po niya kung paano buksan yung gate namin. So kapag lumabas siya(may dinadaanan siya pag lalabas siya ng bakuran nmin) tapos gusto na niyang bumalik sa loob,siya na mismo yung nagbubukas sa gate. Nakakamangha kasi ang tatalino nila. Kaso wala na siya ngayon.😔

Momma Dog said...

Feed to the crocodiles? Seriously?! May I know your local pound's location please? You can contact me through the following link: http://www.wecarefordogs.com/p/contact.html (this is really serious)

Anyway, we have a couple of rescued aspins in our house. They're treated the same way as our pure-bred dogs. Dogs are dogs. No matter what their breed is, they all have the same perception, heart, and ability to give unconditional love.

I'll be waiting for your message, ha? Thank you so much!

Unknown said...

i also have phillippine native dogs(2) and the other one is crossbreed with japspitz and a chihuhua all of them are loving and loyal.. we treat them equally..

Unknown said...

i also have phillippine native dogs(2) and the other one is crossbreed with japspitz and a chihuhua all of them are loving and loyal.. we treat them equally..

Jimmy said...

That meal in the restaurant was odd tasting for sure. Was it beef?

Anonymous said...

You said that native dogs represents their country, I can say it's absolutely right. I admit that imported dogs are liked because of their cute appearance and great intelligence that our Aspins don't usually have but somehow some of them have personalities that are moody and aggressive which can sometimes result in attacking their master which our native dogs don't naturally possessed. Imported breed dogs are loyal just like the other but needs to be trained and exercised to be sociable and well behaved otherwise they'll be aggressive. While some are fighting dogs in nature that are pure aggressive. My mother and I talked about trying to have an imported dogs like Huskies or Labradors but she is afraid because of the dog-attacking-master incidences done by imported dogs that we are seeing in some news. Our Aspins are gentle, friendly and loyal in nature just like us and never demanding for any extra leisure to keep them satisfied. Just being with them is their happiness. No need for formal trainings to be sociable. That's our Aspin.

Anonymous said...

ah yes aspins or maybe any kind of animal of dog species are trainable as long as they have brain inside their heads coz my on was so obedient to & play tome but as a youngster at first i toilet trained him by hitting him hard wid a wooden stikto crying in real pain when shits inside the house and i really get mad i grab his neck & smudge his own nose into his own shit & point to his shit while hitting him so hard w/o bleeding 3x occasions only & we develop love & understanding he became xtremelu obedient & playful to me i named him riggiding coz my tdiscipline was rigid & rugged/ ingrantly coz i was in elementary dat time & i became his servant i always feed n water him before he needs iti obey him first really b4 he obeys me but when i was about to fetch water to a distant manual water pump area he just runs w/o being told & comes back to me wid d medium size p4 liter empty cleaned up plastic gallon for a 4 liter engine oil for cars i took it from him & walk to fetch water but just happily walks beside me unchainedsometimes goes ahead to the fetching area then runs back to me barking 4x when the que of fetchers are long but comes back tome silent if there are not much people linedup for d bomba[jetmatic] areaeven now in england iwasnt able to see or observed a dog like him only here i learned these modern people find it a criminal offense to train-by-hurting a dog but for me in my ignorance as an underschooled rural kiddoin my time it was fun :) i can feel riggiding rubbing his neckon my feet while i'm typing dis one or if he's around now he would hsve been beside & he'd be staring on d screen observing/ reading stuff haha ha funny dogs

Unknown said...

I am an American moving to Bacolod next month. I am bringing my lab/pitbull with me. She is my best friend and guardian. I was there last week and we adopted an Aspin puppy. She is a sweet little dog, and I on understand why they are not appreciated for the good traits they possess.

Unknown said...

I'm an American ExPat living in Philippines, and I have to agree, how sad it is, the neglect and disrespect that many of these fine dogs tend to receive.

Our neighbors next door are exactly as you describe. Though they are a nice family, they have a native dog that they neglect, and a highbreed dog that gets regular baths and lots of treats and attention. It's heartbreaking. The poor native dog has a terrible skin condition and looks very malnourished. If nothing else you would think that they would care for him so that their other dogs won't get sick, too.

Before I came to Philippines, I had no experience at all with these dogs.

I liked them right away, but it was four months before one of these dogs would trust and befriend me.

The very first one that became my friend, is a total sweetheart, and my wife and I had the opportunity to adopt one of that dog's puppies, in the summer of 2016.

Our baby Timmi is now about nine months old. She was very willful and a bit of a challenge for her first few months, but she has quickly become daddy's girl and is very sweet, loyal, and protective of our home and our cats.

She was recently quite ill with hepatitis, and was in danger of losing her eyesight, but thankfully we found a good veterinary clinic nearby, and the doctor prescribed her antibiotics and vitamins.

She's been such a good girl to let daddy give her medicines and take care of her. She began responding to the medicine right away and became so much more affectionate to me, by the day. It's as if she's been thanking me for helping her feel better.

After about ten days, her eyes finally began clearing and we can finally see those pretty brown peepers again.

She hardly leaves my side now, and likes to sleep by my side of the bed.

In fact she's curled up at my feet right now, as I write this post.

We love her very much.

Thanks for the great article.

Unknown said...

Amen!

Unknown said...

We must be proud of our native dogs..

Unknown said...

We must be proud of our native dogs..

Anonymous said...

napansin ko rin talaga yan sa mga pinoy. may kakilala nga ako na nagsasabing dog lover sya pero nandidiri kapag nakakakita ng aso sa kalye. ang dumi daw.

J. Ortega said...

I was guilty of that before nung teenager pako kasi it was during the time na nauuso ang mga imported na aso at nagkaron kami ng poodle, first imported dog namin. Prior to that nung bata pako, wala akong paki sa kung anung lahi ng aso. Ngayon nanumbalik na ang dating pananaw ko sa mga aso, maski anung breed pa yan at the end of the day mga aso pa rin sila na pare-pareho ang style kapag umiihi at jumejebaks. Meron ako ngayon 2 furchildren, panganay kong si Batusai ay almost 7 months old labraspin male big puppy (3/4 aspin, 1/4 labrador mix though he looks like an oversized aspin with his size na nakuha niya sa labrador gene) na hari ng bahay at si Mocha, 1 month old na belgian malinois female puppy. Yung isang anak ko na 3 months pure aspin female puppy, si Milky, just last week hiningi siya sakin ng kapitbahay kong dog lover din kasi wala silang aso at ako naman dahil pumapasok kami at hindi ko mabantayan ng husto si Milky lalo pa't siya ang aggressive sa 3 at marami na siyang nasirang mga gamit pati na yung flooring namin sa bahay kaya pinagkatiwala ko siya sa kanila. Pantay ang trato ko sa kanila at ang pinapakain ko sila ng mga gourmet wet dog food kasi ayaw nila yung dry kibble at yung ulam namin (hindi po kami gumagamit ng betsin sa bahay kaya safe sa mga aso). Sa gabi, magkakasama kaming natutulog sa 1 kama. Si Batusai ang nagmimistulang hari at protector namin, alam niya kapag oras na para gumising kami kaya kapag may pasok ako, siya ang gumigising sakin sa madaling araw, pati asawa ko ginigising din niya. Hindi lang yan, umeebak at umiihi pa yan sa restroom which I hope na sana tularan siya ni Mocha.

J. Ortega said...

Grabe naman yung city pound ninyo, kung tratuhin ang mga aspin parang mga kaning baboy lang. Personally kumukulo ang dugo ko at nadudurog ang puso ko everytime na me nakikita akong mga asong inaabuso o kinakatay, parang gusto kong lusubin ang mga abusadong yan para bugbugin at pagsasakalin sa leeg nang maramdaman nila ang sakit at hirap na ginagawa nila sa mga kawawa at walang kalaban-laban na mga aso. Kalalaking tao pinapatulan ang mga kawawang hayop. Dapat silang i-report at kasuhan ng animal abuse at violation against animal welfare act. Nakakalungkot na tama lahat ang mga sinabi mo tungkol sa discrimination at abusong nangyayari sa ating mga aspin. Hindi ko alam kung kelan pa darating yung time na tuluyan nang mawala ang colonial mentality sa atin, kung mangyari yun I'm sure mag-iiba na din ang kapalaran ng mga aspin natin dito.

Unknown said...

Thank you for this article. It moved me, stirred something within me. Keep inspiring people!

Anonymous said...

All I can say is, being a pet owner is a status symbol in the Philippines, that's why a lot of pet owners here don't get and deserve my respect. I'm a staunch supporter of Philipine Animal Rescue Team (PART).

Anonymous said...

I've owned several dogs all of them were aspins, except for one poodle that I loved as much as my aspins. I've rescued these aspins, nursed them back to health,then rehomed them. These dogs have so much personality and intelligence that calling them street dogs does not give them justice of what they're actually capable of.

Unknown said...

I love my aspin "barkiee"

Anonymous said...

This is sad but true, thank you for this article, we should treat them equally,stop buying start adopting. :)

Anonymous said...

All dogs are smarts but Askals are STREET SMART.