Philippine Aso Project - Project Details

    TERMINOLOGY

**** Askal

 (from "ASong KALye"; Street Dogs) = Filipino term that means 'stray dog'.

It is also used to denote the landrace dog population of the Philippines in general. 

**** Aspin

(from "ASong PINoy"; Filipino Dogs) = Any dog that is not purebred, residing in the Philippines or with origins in the Philippines. May be a native dog, crossbred, or mixed. Term coined by animal welfare activists who consider the original "askal" term to be derogatory, hence needing a close replacement. It has been also used to denote the landrace dog population of the Philippines.

Askal, Aspin, Native, Philippine Native Dog (PND), Asong Katutubo, Mongrel, Mutt, Mixed breed are terms that have been used interchangeably until today. 

**** PHILIPPINE ASO

The Philippine Aso, however, is now the term being used to denote the natural and formal breed of native dogs of the Philippines. There is NO certified purebred Philippine dog yet as there never had been a registering body unti now.  Creation of a purebred Philippine Aso will take some years to establish. The creation, development, establishment, preservation and promotion of the purebred Philippine Aso is the mandate of the Philippine Aso Project.

However, for the time being, the term "Philippine Aso" shall be used to mean ANY dog that is thought to be a native to the Philippines:  

• Dogs that are obvious members of an established breed cannot be labeled "Philippine Aso".  
• Dogs in the landrace population that are offspring of a sire or dam that are obvious, known members of an established breed cannot be labeled "Philippine Aso".  

WHY "PHILIPPINE ASO"?

The term puts the name of the country of origin, Philippines/ Philippine, plainly and directly upfront (as compared to the shortened "Pinoy" = "Pin" in "Aspin" which wouldn't really accomplish anything of the sort).  This is a direct and very obvious branding effort to connect the dog breed with everything else that is Filipino - in identity and heritage: The Philippine Aso is the Philippines' own dog, and the Philippines is the Philippine Aso home, and the Filipino and the Philippine Aso are best friends.  

"Aso", plainly, means "dog" in the Filipino language.  

"Aso" has been used by the Tagalogs from time immemorial to pertain to their dogs, the native dogs the early Filipino ancestors brought into the country or were given them.  

MATERIAL FOR THE PHILIPPINE ASO

What we know is that ALL dogs in the Philippines have been imported, as the country has no indigenous wolf population.  What we consider our native dogs are from those dogs that our earliest ancestors had.  Those early imported dogs, most probably originated from Malaysia and India and thus must be related to the Pariah Dogs.  

OUR OWN ADAPTED DOGS

However, those dogs, over centuries, adapted to our particular climate, natural and man-made conditions, diseases/ parasites that are present in our soils, with only the strong and fit surviving and breeding and those that are weal and unfit dying off as early as puppyhood; and what was left, adaptations of them, is what we see, what we have.  

This is the material for the Philippine Aso Project to work on.  This material is what will be documented, registered, selectively and exclusively bred, guarded, and protected.  

WHAT WE HAVE TO DO

To have a natural or traditional breed that we can speak of, we will have to register all the dogs we can get our hands on. We will then also document breeding activity and also register their puppies through the generations. To have a formal breed/ pure breed, we will be establishing the Breed Standards very soon, as well as if it will include varieties and what kind of varieties will it include.  After several generations of careful management of the gene pool, we shall be breeding true to type.  We would have weeded out as much recent adulteration as possible, as well as detrimental genetic factors that predisposes dogs to identified diseases and conditions.  

GOAL

We will have a natural breed and a purebred Philippine Aso for everyone to enjoy, love, protect, and be proud of, probably a decade from the start of the Project.... by August 29, 2021.

Definitions of other terms:

Landrace population:

The local dog variety which has developed largely by natural processes, by adaptation to the natural and cultural environment. Landraces are usually more genetically and physically diverse than formal breeds. Distinct from ancestral species of modern stock. Distinct from separate species or subspecies derived from the same ancestor as modern domestic stock.

Landraces are not all derived from ancient stock unmodified by human breeding interests. In dogs, it is common to have owned dogs revert to "wild" status by escaping in sufficient numbers in an area to breed feral populations that, through evolutionary pressure, form new landraces in only a few centuries.

Natural breed or traditional breed:

An animal landrace codified as a pedigree breed without significant selective breeding to alter it.

Formal breed:

Dogs that were selectively bred purposely to conform to a breed standard. Many of these formal breeds were results of attempts to make landraces more consistent. Sometimes, a particular type has both landrace and formal breed populations.