 A white Jindo |
||||||||||||||||
| Other names | Chindo Jindo Jindo Gae JindoGae Jin dog |
|||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | South Korea | |||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (May 2009) |
The Korean Jindo Dog (Hangul: 진돗개; Hanja: 珍島개) is a breed of hunting dog known to have originated on Jindo Island in South Korea. Although relatively unknown outside Korea, it is celebrated in its native land for its fierce loyalty and brave nature.
Contents |
Description
Appearance
The Jindo is a medium-sized, double-coated spitz-type dog. Identifying the Jindo from mixes and other breeds is often done by close examination of head features.
Head
- The topskull of an adult dog should be broad and rounded between the ears and free from wrinkles.
- The underjaw is well-developed and helps give a round or octagonal shape to the head when viewed from the front. Coarse hairs stand away from the cheeks.
- The ears are triangular and upright (leaning forward past vertical). The inside of the ears should be well-furred. Ears on puppies normally lie flat until they are past 5–6 months.
- The eyes are almond/round. They should be a shade of brown (a dark reddish-brown being preferred). Some dogs have light brown eyes but this color is not desirable. Jindos should not have blue eyes.
- The nose should be black on non-white dogs. White dogs may have mottled portions of tan or pink in the center of the nose.
- The muzzle is well proportioned without being bulky. The lips should be taut and black. The preferred color for the tongue is solid pink. Jindos CAN have blue-black tongues like Chows and Sharpeis but is not common.
- Typically, males have larger heads and females have more fox-like features.
Body
Organizations have attempted to categorize the different body types of Jindos. There are two body styles that are most often referred to: the Gyupgae and the Heutgae. The former is muscular and shorter in length, with a chest depth equal to one-half the height at the withers and a shorter loin. The latter is more slender with less depth of chest and a slightly longer loin, resulting in a height to length ratio of 10:11. Some Jindo Island residents value black, black/red, and red/white Jindos as good hunters. The United Kennel Club recognizes six different coat colors: white, red fawn, grey, black, black and tan, and brindle (tiger pattern).
Temperament
The Korean Jindo Dog is well known for its unwavering loyalty and gentle nature. Because of this there is a misconception that a Jindo will be loyal only to its first owner or the owner when young. However, there are many examples of older Jindos being adopted out of shelters in the United States and becoming very loyal friends to their new owners. They are highly active and are certainly not indoor-only dogs. Jindo dogs need reasonable space to roam and run. Jindos require a lot of care and attention. If kept in a yard, the fencing must be at least 6 feet high.
Because the Jindo is an active and intelligent dog, it requires frequent interaction with people or another dog in the family. For some the Jindo may even be too intelligent, for it will commonly think for itself. The same intelligence that allows the dog to learn commands and tricks very quickly can be a bit too much to handle. If left alone for a long stretch, it finds its own entertainment. A young Jindo may attempt to climb over a fence or wall, even by way of a tree or digging under, or tear up the house if confined indoors. Because of this many Jindo dogs are found in animal shelters, abandoned by owners who often did not know what they were getting into when accepting the responsibility of a Jindo. Also because the breed is not well known, there are many good Jindo dogs available for adoption.[citation needed]
Jindos serve as excellent watchdogs, able to distinguish family from foe, friends from strangers. The Korean Army is known to use Jindos as guard dogs at major bases. Because Jindos rarely bark aggressively, especially in familiar environments, an owner may lend special credence to the warning of his/her pet. Many Jindos would not take any food from anyone other than their owners.[1]
Some Jindos display a curious aversion from running water and avoid situations that might get them wet. They let themselves be washed, although with great reluctance.
People adopt Jindo dogs because of their beautiful appearance, high intelligence, loyalty, and sometimes for their fighting spirit, then quickly realize that raising a Jindo dog to be a well-behaved member of the family takes a lot of effort and time. Many Jindo dogs are abandoned in the US because of the difficulty of training them.[citation needed] Potential owners who are prepared and determined to have an intelligent, loyal, but independent companion can adopt a Jindo dog from shelters.
History
There is no written record of the origin of the Korean Jindo Dog, but many authorities agree that the Jindos originated and existed on Jindo Island for a long time.
It is now protected under the Cultural Properties Protection Act.
In 1962, the Korean government designated the Jindo as the 53rd 'Natural Treasure' (or translated as 'Natural Monument') (천연기념물; 天然記念物)[2] and passed the Jindo Preservation Ordinance. Jindos marched in the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. The United Kennel Club recognized the Jindo on January 1, 1998.
Hunting
The Jindo are renowned for their outstanding hunting ability, due to their courage, cunning, and pack sensibility. Besides the usual prey of medium to large game, their hunting prowess is displayed in a legend of three Jindos that killed a Siberian tiger.
They have mainly been used as deer and boar hunters. There have been anecdotal reports of Korean owners being awakened by their Jindo one morning to be led deep into the forest to a deer the dog had taken down alone. There have also been reported cases in America of intruding coyotes being killed by Jindos defending their territory.
In traditional Korean hunting without guns, a pack of well trained Jindos was extremely valuable. A master with a loyal pack could hunt without much trouble at all, for when the pack brings down a deer, boar or other target, one of them returns to the master to lead him to the prey, while the others stand guard against scavengers.
Other uses
In an 2009 interview with Hankook Gyongje magazine, Park Nam Soon(박남순), an expert search dog handler in South Korea, testified that Jindo dogs are not fit as rescue dogs and search dogs. It is because Jindo dogs' hunting instincts are too strong (They can forget their mission because of their hunting instincts.), and they usually give their loyalty only to the first owner, while handlers of search dogs and rescue dogs can frequently change.[3]
Anectodes on Loyalty of Jindos
In 1993, a 7-year-old female Jindo named Baekgu (백구; 白狗; translated as a White Dog), raised by Park Bock Dan (박복단), an 83-year-old woman in Jindo Island, was sold to a new owner in the city of Daejeon which is located about 300 km (180 mi) away from the island. The dog escaped her new home and returned to her original owner Park after 7 months, haggard and exhausted. Baekgu remained with her original owner, who decided to keep the loyal dog, until the dog died of natural causes 7 years later. The story was a national sensation in Korea and was made into cartoons, a TV documentary, and a children's storybook.[4] In 2004, Jindo County erected a statue of Baekgu in her hometown to honor the dog.[5]
Another Jindo also named Baekgu, a 4-year-old male at the time who lived alone with his owner Park Wan Suh (박완서) residing in Jindo Island, did not eat anything and mourned for his dead owner for seven days after the owner died from a liver disease in June 2000. According to Chosun Ilbo, the dog accompanied his dead owner for three days until other people came to find the body, followed the owner to his funeral, and came back to home, not eating anything for four days. The Korean Jindo Dog Research Institute (진돗개 시험연구소) brought him under its care, but a related person announced that the dog would not interact with anyone except for his feeder as of 2005.[6]
Miscellaneous
Other characteristics
Jindo dogs will housetrain themselves as puppies.[citation needed] Even off lead or without direction, they will often relieve themselves in the farthest corner of the yard. They are also renowned for their almost uncanny homing instinct.
Availability
- The Jindo Dogs Guild of Korea(한국 진돗개 조합), as of 2008, issues certificates of pure Korean Jindo Dog, which specifies the registered number of the mother, sex, and birth date of the dog, as well as breeder's address and whether the dog is of purebred.[1]
- Pure Jindo dogs are rare outside of Jin Island even in Korea, however this very much depends on the definition of what a pure Jindo dog is. The situation is complex and not easy for an outsider to navigate.
- Dogs born on Jin island are not necessarily purebreds, and dogs born outside of Jin island are not necessarily mixes. Indeed, a Korean documentary revealed gaps in the checkpoint of Jin island, which allowed the export of an adult Jindo dog from the island and the import of a crated Japanese Shiba inu into the island.[citation needed]
- A dog with pedigree papers has no guarantee of purity. Even if there is no issue of impropriety in registering dogs, closer examination of pedigree papers can reveal unknown dogs, often referred to as "Jindo-sans", in a 7- or even 3-generation pedigrees. Conversely, a dog without pedigree papers could have a known history for 7 generations but the breeder simply chooses not to participate in politics and does not register the dog with any organization.
See also
References
Notes
- ^ a b 2008 Sonyon Hankook Ilbo Article (2008년 소년한국일보 기사)
- ^ Jindo profile, Korean Cultural Heritage site
- ^ Hankook Gyongje article 2009년 한국경제 기사
- ^ Song, J. (1997). 돌아온 진돗개 백구 [Return of Baekgu the Jindo dog]. Seoul, Korea: Daegyo. ISBN 8939514130
- ^ 2004 Yonhap News article (2004년 연합뉴스 기사)
- ^ 2005 Chosun Ilbo Article (2005년 조선일보 기사)
External links
- Jindo Project, a 501(c)(3) dog rescue organization
- Treasured k9s, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization specializing in rescuing and re-homing Korean Jindo Dogs
- Korean Jindo Dogs
- Jindos.com
- Hyungwon Kang's Jindo Dog page
- Jindo Dog Rescue
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
