Male Poongsans in Southern California

I think BokDol's head has widened a bit since I got him, but he still has a ways to go before being completely filled out.  Below are some pics of some males that were/are older than him.

Here is the first Poongsan that I have ever met.  He was imported from South Korea via the Korean National Dog Association.  The KNDA were involved with bloodlines directly from North Korea.  He was never bred as at the time there were no female Poongsans on the West Coast.  He is now dead, much to my great sadness. 

2002

2007, ear broken from a fight with a Jindo

Here is a picture of a male Poongsan that I visited in the spring.  I think he was two years old at the time.  He was imported from South Korea with pedigree papers.  His bloodline is via China.  I would be hard pressed to remember the name of the organization but my dad did manage to find the organization online. 

It's normal for one or both ears to be naturally dropped or tipped in the Poongsan breed.

Typical friendliness

 

Here is a picture of PoongSoon's dad.  He is also an import from South Korea but with Korea Kennel Club papers.   He came from an area of South Korea that differs from the one above.  His bloodline is also via China though.  I think he is also two years old.

This is another picture of him taken by his owner:

There is another male Poongsan in southern California, but I've yet to meet him in person.  I think he is Korea Kennel Club registered.  He's fully mature in this picture. 

Then there are an assorted number of males without documentation.  I haven't been tracking them.

Dirty Dogs

 

This is just from playing with each other.

Training PoongSoon vs. BokDol

PoongSoon is in her 6th week of Puppy Socialization class at HVOC.  At the same time, I've been working with BokDol at home.  He's still rather scared of traveling outside the home so no group class for him until he's better.

Here are some differences that have evolved between the two though:

PoongSoon is slower to respond to verbal commands but acts faster with hand signals.
BokDol is very, very good with verbal commands and only needs the hand signals for reminders.

PoongSoon can be very sloppy with her sits, her comes, her watch-me's, etc.
BokDol sits very precisely, comes to a neat front.

PoongSoon has no reservations about climbing on top of agility equipment during puppy class.
BokDol is still afraid of the vet scale, the outdoor dog house, etc.

PoongSoon will sometimes try to knock out food with her paw when I tell her to "leave it."
BokDol will flatten himself on the ground.

PoongSoon doesn't normally pull while on lead.
BokDol will pull using the harness, the Alaskan Collar, the EZ Harness by Premier, and the Gentle Leader.

Most of my ouchies from PoongSoon is from her using her jumping on me and scratching me with her front paws.  Most of my ouchies from BokDol is from him ramming the top of his head against my legs (right on the bone!) while trying to twist out of my grip on his collar.   When I first got him, he gave me a bad hyper-extended knee.  I've learned since to never lock my knee around him. 

Heights

As of 8/18/2011,

BokDol is 25 inches at the shoulders.  He's about a year old.

PoongSoon is 21 inches at the shoulders.  She's 5 months old.

KamMee, the temporary boarder Jindo, is 19 inches at the shoulders.  She's 8+ years old. 

Night Hunt

Well, BokDol has discovered the joys of hunting by moonlight.  Instead of coming inside like his usual routine, he's determined to get the tree rats that live in the palm tree.  I really don't like palm trees and was planning on cutting this one down, but if the dogs continue to get their fun out of it, I guess it can stay.

Not a Jindo

This is PoongSoon dunking her nose and entire muzzle into her water bucket.  My old Jindos would never ever consider doing this.

PoongSoon will also drink like a baleen whale when it suits her - big mouthful of water which gushes out through the sides of her mouth.  I haven't caught a video of that yet.

Landscaping Find

Once in a while I encounter something that reminds me that I'm not a California native.  My mother found this bright blue guy while landscaping my front yard.

  
After a moment of thinking "Bright = Poisonous", I went online and found out that this is a "blue-tailed skink".  After finding "blue-tailed skink", I had to google "skink" as I didn't know what skinks were.  Amphibians?  Reptiles?  There aren't any skinks where I grew up in Arizona.

Eventually I found out that he's a harmless little lizard that likes living in leaf litter.  Formal name of  Plestiodon skiltonianus skiltonianus or Skilton's Skink.
 
We took some pictures and released the guy where we found him. 

PoongSoon is Growing Up

PoongSoon is starting to shed her young puppy looks now.  She's about halfway done with losing her puppy fuzz with only her head fuzz and tail fuzz remaining.  I'm curious to see if she'll lose the long hairs on the ears.

She has also lost her baby canines after a week or so of having double canines.  For a while I was concerned that I would have to have them extracted, but I shouldn't have fretted so. They all came off on their own.

I've been looking back on her baby pics and marveling at how much she's changed.  She's lost that puppy hop...

....and is now moving much more gracefully.

She still does love her balls.  That hasn't changed. 

I think this is the same ball.

Once in a while though, she'll remind me that she's still got a ways to go before being all grown up. 

Goofball

Hot Day Play (Or PoongSoon Finally Tires)

This is after PoongSoon and BokDol had wrestled and tumbled in the dirt and after BokDol ran around the yard, trying to avoid PoongSoon with her piranha teeth.

The Play Style of a Poongsan

Tonight was the second night of Puppy class at HVOC and I think I can safely conclude the preferred play style of not only my Poongsans but also Poongsan dogs in general.

For the Poongsans that do indulge in wrestling play, they take the position of a play bow (low chest, high rear) right on top of the other dog.  It's face to face and tail to tail. They'll put their entire weight to their chest to keep the other dog pinned.

It looks a lot like a dominant dog taking advantage of a submissive dog, or a bully picking on a smaller dog.  I don't discount that there may be an element of one or both developing in PoongSoon, but BokDol also does the same to PoongSoon. 

It's very self-reinforcing to PoongSoon and I'm concerned that letting her continue to play with submissive or smaller puppies is not the way to go.  I would rather put her with an adult that will loudly put her into her place if she tries the same with him or her.    I would also rather put her with an adult with an entirely different play style that discourages her "prey pinning" style.