A Dog's Day with Humans - Time Activity Budget of Free-Ranging Dogs in India

Free-ranging dogs, Canis lupus familiaris, are an integral part of the human environment in India and many other countries. They can serve as the perfect model system for understanding the process of development of the human-dog relationship that led to the domestication of the wilder ancestors of the dogs and created 'man's best friend'. Yet, very little is known about the ecoethology of these animals and all our understanding of dog behaviour is based on studies of pets reared by humans. The free-ranging dogs lead a scavenging life, depending on human excesses for their survival, and rarely hunt. They are often considered as a menace by many people, as dirty animals that bark, bite and spread rabies. These notions are often founded on personal biases and little scientific data exist to either support or refute such claims. As part of an extended study on the behavioural ecology of free-ranging dogs in India, we carried out random sampling of dog behaviour through censuses in two cities and one township of India. We used our data from 1941 sightings to draw up a time activity budget of dogs during the part of the day when they share the streets with humans. Our analysis reveals that dogs are generally lazy and friendly animals, and their rare interactions with humans are typically submissive. Thus dogs do not usually pose a threat to human wellbeing, and proper management of our refuse and a tolerant, if not friendly attitude towards dogs can ensure their peaceful co-existence with us.