Wild Dingo

Wild Dingo received a voice mail message from a person asking if I had any available Formosan dogs or where to get them. If only I had the answer. Formosan dogs seem to be replacing Pit Bulls and Chihuahuas as ‘the cool breed to own.’  Though I have to roll my eyes at this, because if you don’t know what you’re getting into when you get a Formosan dog, you probably should either talk to those that have them or do some more research. They are high-energy, high-drive, working dogs who need their brains worked constantly. If you don’t have the capacity to do this, then you’ll probably have a dog who acts out and gets into a little trouble.

From what I read, Formosan dogs are very rare and it’s unlikely you’ll find a pure bred Formosan. It’s more likely you’ll get a mixed breed Formosan. Loki is not full Formosan and is definitely part German Shepherd. I made the educated guess that he is also part Formosan from his build and his temperament (high drive, working dog, similar to the GSD). He has a triangular head, muscular body shape, long legs and no belly hair just like a Formosan dog, but his markings and ears are definitely GSD. At first I thought Formosan dogs had large ears, but lately read that they are smaller. Still, I’m pretty sure since he is from Taiwan, he’s part Formosan based on his build and temperament. It seems Formosan temperaments are similar to GSD’s in terms of herding, guarding and high-working drives.

For the record, I do not have any available Formosan dogs and I have no idea where to get them, however, I would suggest searching the Internet for rescue organizations that rescue dogs from Taiwan. Loki was a complete accident in terms of what breed we got. When I was ready to adopt, I was actually looking for a dingo. Try finding one of those! I found an American Dingo breeder but because I believe in rescue, I didn’t purchase a dingo pup. Besides, the breeder did not have a return policy, which I believe is important for any breeder or foster/rescue organization. Not because I think about just giving back a dog willy-nilly, but because if for some reason I become incapacitated and can no longer care for my dogs, I would like to know he or she will always have a dog-mother home to go to in his rescue/foster parent or breeder. I think it’s a shame when a breeder doesn’t offer or insist on this policy in a contractual format, especially since they took the time to raise the pup. Some rescue groups make you sign a contract that you cannot adopt out your dog to anyone without their permission, which I think is an excellent idea. These groups put so much time, money and effort into their rescues that it’s their way of ensuring that the rescued dog goes to a good home lives out a healthy normal life and doesn’t end up in the pound on death row. Either way you get a dog, make sure they have a return policy, so your dog will always have a safe place to go in the event you can’t take care of it. And he has someone watching out for his family history.

Both Loki and Juno have dog-mother/rescue groups they can go to should anything happen to Scott and me. That makes me feel much happier knowing they’d be taken care of.

Anyway, I chose Loki not for his breed, but because he didn’t have any more chances at having a home due to his challenging temperament. That temperament and looks reminded me of the dingo, so that was good enough for me. He fills the dingo paws very well. Though I have to say, if Mags was around today, she’d turn him into pudding pretty fast. And he would gladly do her bidding. So if you’re looking to adopt a dog, please consider rescuing! There are plenty of rescue groups out there! Even ones that specialize in breeds. And if you’re looking for a Formosan dog, please consider rescuing a mixed breed from Taiwan. Many of the mixed breeds are part Formosan.

In the mean time, I still have plenty of folks writing into me about Formosan dogs and I plan to share their stories soon. But these darn dogs keep eating up all my free blogging time.

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This weekend Mr. Wild Dingo took the dogs out on the trail for their walk. He came back so surprised at how well they walk together and how they automatically walked behind him on the steep descents. In the early days, walking Loki and/or Juno was a major health risk, between dislocating your shoulder or a getting a concussion from having them pull you into a head-first rolling descent down steep rocky trails. He was flabbergasted that Loki automatically went behind him before steep descents and stood there to remind him to make Juno go behind him too. Apparently, he told Juno “back” once or twice and she did it. He casually asked me if they knew what the word “back” meant because when he said it, they went behind him. I’m all like, ‘Yah, they’ve been taking English at the community college. They’re not so good with the grammar, but they’re better than the average immigrant. They’re also taking film classes too. Next time, try telling them ‘Super-cali-fragilistic-expiali-docious.’ Don’t be surprised if they break out their umbrellas.” Sigh. Sometimes Mr. Wild Dingo greatly underestimates the effort it takes to train these darn neurotic dogs.