Indie Dogs.
India's original dog - hardy, intelligent, and underestimated.
The Indie is not a breed. It is a landrace - the original dog of the Indian subcontinent, shaped over thousands of years by natural selection. This guide explains what makes them distinctive, and why HeartDogs chose to work with them.
Indies are not strays that happen to be Indian. They are a genetically distinct population of dogs that evolved alongside human settlements across the subcontinent for thousands of years - without selective breeding, without human intervention in their survival. The result is a dog with exceptional resilience, strong environmental adaptability, and a temperament that is often misread as unpredictable.
HeartDogs chose to work exclusively with rescued Indies. Not as a compromise - as a deliberate choice. Their adaptability, their natural intelligence and their deep familiarity with Indian environments make them well-suited for assistance and therapy work. And working with them rather than imported pedigree breeds means the programme creates local impact at every stage.
Understanding the Indie dog.
Two articles that explain what an Indie dog is and why HeartDogs chose to train them for assistance and therapy roles.
What are Indies actually like?
Indies are frequently misread. These articles explain their actual temperament, health profile and behaviour - and clear up some persistent myths.
HeartDogs works exclusively with rescued Indie dogs - by choice, not by default.
Cohort 1 is eight rescued Indies, each paired with a woman in rural Karnataka. They are learning to become assistance and therapy dogs for people with disabilities.