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Ma-Chu-Gou

Chinese Hound

   One of the earliest written observations we have of these hounds was supplied by Russian explorer Berezowskij, at the end of the nineteenth century, referring to dogs he had seen in the province of Sichuan in the land of the Lo-Lo, an ethnic group usually living in mountainous areas of China.  Berezowskij describes quite a tall pack hound, up to 27", that was powerful and well sprung in the ribs with a racy rear-end and appearing morphologically like a cross between a pointer and a setter.  Berezowskij may have been familiar with the British gundog hybrid the dropper (pointer x setter).  The bushy tail was borne either horizontally or stiffly erect, i.e. not gay as in some hound breeds.  Eyes were reddish-yellow and coat colour was various shades of wolf-gray.  The ears were small and hung forward when at ease but pricked when the dog was alert or excited.  The breed was considered to be an excellent hunting dog.
   Laska, the 19th century German hunter, dog-breeder and hound expert considers this breed to be very ancient and to be the ancestor of all the Eastern hounds brought to Russia by the Tartars. Whereas local hunters maintained that the Ma-Chu-Gou was a descendant of the Buansuah, Cuon alpinus (or Dhole).  This belief mirrors the views of some western cynologists at the time who considered it at least a possibility that the domestic dog could be descended from the Dhole.  Although the Buansuah is regarded as a different species to the domestic dog there is at least one, unauthenticated, report of a successful dhole/Golden Jackal (Canis aureus) mating (Fauna of British India, Mammals Volume 2, p163).  As both the Ma-Chu-Gou and the Buansuah had bushy tails and small pricked ears it may be an understandable assumption for hunters to make but the Ma-Chu-Gou is considerably taller than the modern dhole.  Although in the middle Pleistocene the Buansuah was a lot taller than it is now.
  As Berezowskij's description is somewhat similar to the Phu Quoc there has been some suggestion that the Ma-Chu-Gou could be the ancestor of that breed but unfortunately Berezowskij makes no mention whatsoever of a ridged back.  If it were the case that the Ma-Chu-Gou was a ridgebacked breed then that could be a possible vector for ridged backs to appear in African dogs as we know that in the early 15th century (Ming dynasty) admiral Zheng He and his fleet reached Africa.  Zheng He's fleet took packs of hounds with them on their expeditions.



Fauna of British India. Mammals Vol 2
Reginald Innes Pocock, 1941
Archive.org

A Standard Guide to Pure-Bred Dogs, Harry Glover
Macmillan London Limited, 1977

Encyclopedia of Pedigree Dogs.
Hans Raber, 2014

Great Maps, Jeremy Brotton,
Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2014

The Dhole

 

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