Nature

The Breed of Double-Nosed Dogs

In the Andes

By Stefan Anitei, Science Editor

13th of August 2007, 18:06 GMT

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You may have read about animals and humans with two heads or more than four legs. But all these occurrences were determined by developmental impairments, and if those individuals survived, they usually were either sterile or had normal offspring.

But what about when such an oddity is genetic? And can be transmitted from generation to generation? This is the case of the Andean double

nosed dogs. "This breed could be used for sniffing out mines or narcotics because they have an enhanced sense of smell.", said explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell, chairman of the Scientific Exploration Society, who encountered this rare breed of Double-Nosed Andean tiger hound on a recent trip to Bolivia.

He first met a Double-Nosed Andean tiger hound called Bella in 2005 in the area near Ojaki. "While we were there, sitting by the fire one night, I saw an extraordinary-looking dog that appeared to have two noses. I was sober at the time, and then I remembered the story that the legendary explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett came back with in 1913 of seeing such strange dogs in the Amazon jungle. Nobody believed him, they laughed him out of court.", Blashford-Snell told Radio 4.

On a second trip in the area, who lasted from May to July 2007, the explorer found Xingu, the son of the double nosed bitch called Bella. Xingu had just had a litter of puppies with a normal one nosed bitch, but both double-nosed pups from the litter died three days after birth, while the two normal nosed offspring survived.

A veterinary expert from the expeditionary group investigated Xingu to see if it possessed a cleft palate, but the dog had a normal fused palate.

"There is a chance that these dogs came from a breed with double noses that's known in Spain as Pachon Navarro, which were hunting dogs at the time of the Conquistadors. I think it's highly likely some of these were taken to South America and they continued to breed. They're good hunting dogs." said Blashford-Snell.

"Xingu was quite an aggressive little chap who stood about 16 inches (40 cm) in height and loved salt biscuits but wasn't a terribly handsome dog. Other dogs snarl at Xingu, because they can sense he's different. He's the smallest dog there but he sees the other dogs off. He's very intelligent and with a wonderful sense of smell, as you might think. The Bolivian Army came and took DNA samples because they're interested in the breed. He's not the only dog like this, there are others in the area.", he added.

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dog | nose | smell

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