Friendly "Guard" Dogs

SeonHee and BokDol

I was inside the house when I saw a neighbhorhood walker come up to the backyard gate.  She started to sweet-talk SeonHee who was loose in the yard.  SeonHee, who is normally an overtly friendly dog when I'm around to okay it, was having none of that and started to vigorously bark at the person from only a few feet away.  When the lady made attempts to offer a hand, SeonHee would dart and circle back, all the while barking her head off.

A few hours later, BokDol was loose in the backyard by himself.   The neighbor is having some workers clear the dead avocado grove behind my property and they had to stop to unlatch a barrier which was near my backyard gate.  BokDol gave a few of his tough enraged-dog barks and followed the guy and then the truck as they moved parallel to my back fence.  BokDol is normally the softest, shyest dog around.  He even likes the neighborhood walker that had set off SeonHee earlier.

Are either dogs good guard dogs?

Right now, I would not consider SeonHee a good guard dog but a good watch dog.  She has good suspicion and refuses to be bribed, but she lacks confidence to hold her ground when the intruder  approaches and escalates the encounter.  That may change with increased age and experience, but for now, she's at the watch dog level.

With BokDol, he is a Poongsan and they are not people-guard dogs.  They are animal-guard dogs.  BokDol can't maintain the strong suspicion towards people and can be befriended by a complete stranger over time.

Surprisingly to me, BokDol held his ground in the case of today's workers.  He is normally a very shy and soft dog.  My best guess is that he has the experience of knowing that people can't reach beyond the fence that gives him that confidence.  I wouldn't rely on him keeping his ground if someone were to jump the fence and enter the yard though.  At best, he may try a bite from behind the person.  

Based on my old male "Jindo", HwangJae, my expectation of a good guard dog is one that is suspicous of unusual activity, can't be bribed, and is willing to "take it to the intruder."  This is the same HwangJae that was the first Jindo to earn both the American Temperament Testing Society certificate and the American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen certificate.  He was also a Pet Expo dog with a rock solid temperament.

Cute Korean Video of "Yong Par Yi"

I was looking for a youtube video of a Poongsan gae seeing a zoo tiger for the first time when I came across these videos.  The dog is a male Poongsan gae named "Yong Par Yi." 

He displays the typical people-friendliness of the breed.  From the back view, he kind of looks like PoongSoon with his long tail hairs, but from the front he's clearly a normal-haired.

PoongSoon's Persimmon

Apparently PoongSoon loves persimmons. She found one that had rolled onto the ground and started to gnaw on it with her front teeth. 

She ate every part of the fruit, including the leaves and center.  Hopefully she won't get too constipated tomorrow.  Supposedly eating the center of the persimmon does that.

Masculine or Not

Here is a recent picture of BokDol taken during the past weekend.  As mentioned before, BokDol was neutered before I received him.  He was presumed to be 1 yr old, but later on I suspected he was younger than that.

There are side-effects to neutering before a dog is mature. There are some debatable health issues, but one thing for certain is that the look of the male dog will never become fully masculine.

I think BokDol's development may have been affected by the early neuter.  He is very leggy compared to PoongSoon, and he's not much thicker than PoongSoon.  His head is also taking a very long time to widen.  It has widen since I adopted him, but next to PoongSoon, it's not by much.

He'll still be the same beloved dog no matter if he develops more masculine traits or not, but I'll be leaving him behind when I attend breed exhibitions.  One thing I don't want is for people to start misidentifying white German Shepherd mixes for Korean Poongsans.   

A Hug and a Smile

Fish Day

I was clearing out my freezer of old food when I discovered a bag of small fish.  I have no idea what kind of fish it was, only that it was left behind by my mom many, many months ago. 

The amount of work needed to clean and prep the fish, only to find out that it was freezer-burned made it easy for me to decide to just give it to the dogs.  I debated on whether to just give it to them frozen, but the idea of having raw fish juices on their paws, lips, and tongues grossed me out.  So I thawed the fish and cooked it on the outdoor grill so it wouldn't stink up the house.  Then I grabbed the camera and took pictures of the dogs eating their first whole fish.


The Poongsans both enjoyed their fishes.  At first, PoongSoon tried to pull off just the flesh from the bones with her front incisors, but then she ate the entire thing.

Nibbing off the flesh in this pic.

BokDol immediately grabbed it and started to eat it whole.

Scaring it down.

Even the chickens got a chance to partake in the fish feast.  This is a change from their usual lay mash and earthworms.

The only one who didn't enjoy the fish was my current foster dog, SeonHee.  She took the fish when I dropped it on the ground but then she left it on her bed.  I don't think she was a street dog for very long before ending up in the shelter.

Tiger-Patterned Jindos

I came across this vibrant pic of a brindled Jindo and started to cross-post it everywhere.  I strongly recommend clicking on the picture to see the details on the dog.

Photo by Ahn, Shin Dong. 

Here are some other older examples of "Hogu" Jindos.

Photo by Woo, Mu Jong

"Ho-Jin" - Photo by Woo, Mu Jong

"Ho Jin Yi" -  Photo by Woo, Joo Sung

"Po-Hnag"

from Jindok Gae by Yoon (p. 125)

More info about this color can be found on my jindos.com website.