Landrace dog

A landrace dog is part of a regional population that developed over many generations to suit local conditions and jobs, such as herding, guarding or village scavenging. People chose the dogs that worked well, but there was no written breed standard, no closed stud book and often no paperwork. The dogs vary more in looks than a registered breed does.

Village dogs and pariah dogs found across Africa, Asia and the Middle East are often described as landraces. Some modern breeds began as one, and the Canaan Dog is a well-known example that was later standardised from free-roaming dogs of the region.

A landrace is not the same as a mixed breed of unknown parentage, and it is not wild. It is a long-standing local type. Researchers value these dogs because they carry a wide range of genes, which is the opposite of the narrow genetic diversity found in some closed breeds.