The Himalayan mountains have been going through a series of ecological and social transformations. In systems where communities depend on natural resources, externalities in government policies and development interventions can have unexpected consequences for people–environment relationships. Our study investigates agro-pastoralism changes across a decade in the Upper Spiti Landscape in Himachal Pradesh, India. It evaluates these changes in the framework of ecological and social perturbations with respect to human–dog relationships.