We have reliable records about imports of dogs from Europe during the colonial period. This was related to the growing popularity of hunting among British officers in India. The abundance of wildlife, sustained by varied habitats, offered them tempting opportunities to hunt. The hordes of migratory waterfowl that sought out and landed in water bodies in the country attracted duck shooters and they needed dogs trained in retrieving. Indian breeds, which were able to chase and corner quarry, were not useful as gun dogs nor were they good at retrieving. European breeds like retrievers and pointers, which had been bred and trained as gun dogs, were imported into India. We know that bloodhounds were brought into India during the time of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. By the seventeenth century, archives show that other European breeds had arrived on the subcontinent. We have it on record that emperor Jahangir requested Thomas Roe to get him different breeds of dogs from England. Roe did bring British mastiffs to the emperor who provided caretakers along with silver vessels for these dogs.