Wild caught Dingo, working on title of our worst dog ever...

[hunter]

...competing with coyote hybrid my sister once brought home when I was a kid, or our late beloved Catahoula, the most intelligent dog I have ever met, smarter than some people.

We can have three dogs in our city without a special permit, and my wife brings home the "unadoptable" dogs from the shelter.



This dog is a feral thing and they caught her a little too late. Her ancestors were probably imported to California with the eucalyptus trees and not exterminated by ranchers because she wasn't a wolf or coyote and you don't shoot a neighbor's dog unless it's eating your chickens or eggs.

Our dingo is fine with people, even kids, she's not going to eat any babies, but this must be what the first domesticated dogs were like. If Ogg the caveman wasn't sharing food today, then Dingo would steal it when nobody was looking.

Gophers, ground squirrels, birds, insects, or anything interesting dug out of the compost heap, it's all food her. If it's rotten food she'll throw it up on the bed in case it might be better later.

[meti57b]

1. "If it's rotten food she'll throw it up on the bed in case it might be better later"

That...... is funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm still laughing!!!

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Why is this the worst dog ever,

or competing for that title? She is fine with people, good with kids....so what is horrible? Just the stealing food? Lots of domestic dogs that have lived wild for a while will do that.

And I am not even sure I know how you know it is a dingo----looks like a lot of dogs I have seen. What makes it a dingo?

[MADem]

3. I think you're missing the wry, ironic amusement in the essay. nt

[hunter]

4. She's most google searches pictures and video...

She never barks, but she does sing to police sirens, coyotes, and sometimes music. She talks too. Her vocalizations are exactly dingo or pariah dog.

We haven't sprung for a genetic test, but I'm pretty sure her kind goes way, way back. It's possible she's a remix, but that seems less likely.

She's most attached to my wife, who brought her home. To everyone else she can sometimes be indifferent.

She was a chicken thief and it took a few months for animal control officers to catch her. She's lucky nobody shot her. If she wants to be invisible she is.

I've known many dogs and she's unusual.

Our current boss dog sometimes looks at her like, "What the hell is wrong with you? Why can't you be a normal dog?"

[Granny M]

5. She sure is pretty. How old is she? nt

[hunter]

7. Best guess approaching two years.

Maybe she'll calm down in a year or two like our Catahoula did.

As for now she has zero tolerance for boredom. If she can't find someone to play with she'll invent games to entertain herself -- destroying shoes, pillows, books, etc., spreading trash around, finding unprotected food, ripping open packages.

If she gets bored in the middle of the night and the other dogs won't play with her, she'll appear stealthily on the bed with her nose in my face. If I don't wake up she'll start tapping me with her paw. If I still don't get up she'll pounce on me. She's very strong.

She was quickly house trained, mostly learned from the other dogs, I think.

Our dogs roam freely in our house and yard in the day and there's usually some human around to supervise them. That's the only way it's possible to have an animal like this. Anything else wouldn't be fair to her. She feels secure in her kennel, and likes to sleep there, but if she doesn't want to be confined she'll makes noises terrible enough to summon demons.

Most dogs are content to sleep all day and stay out of trouble when their people are not home. This dog is not one of them.

[LisaLynne]

6. This is very possibly the most awesome post ...

I've ever read.

Go, Dingo Dog, go!!