Here's a picture of our Korean Jindo dog "Kang", pictured at 18 months of age. A "proper" Jindo's ears should stand perfectly erect. Well, I guess they're kind of "uppish", anyway. Photo by Me, 1996. Click on the picture to read more about the Jindo Dog. When you've read that, here's another Jindo page I suggest you take a look at.

To be honest, Kang was not an easy or an enjoyable dog to live with. He bonded to me like "crazy glue", which was very flattering, but he would sit by the window and howl when I was not home and that drove my family nuts! If I went away for a few days the dog refused to eat! But all of this affection he had for me did not stop him from growling at me and even biting me if he felt the situation called for such behavior. He also despised rides in the car and would drool like no dog I have ever seen when I brought him into the car, which made bringing him anywhere impossible. Then, if I did manage to get him into the woods for a hike, he was VERY likely to run away, totally disobeying all commands to "STAY" if he decided it was time to wander.

Kang loved to fight and once, when he got away from a professional boarding kennel I left him with (imagine that!), I found him eight days later badly cut up from having fought with other dogs. (I wonder what happened to the other dogs?)

This is definitely NOT a breed I want to interest anyone in. It's not the right breed for suburban living. Instinct overrides domestication in the Jindo breed and one's pet Jindo, especially a male, could easily become a liability.

This is a year and a half old Korean import, red coated, Jindo bitch with her owner in New York City. The owner had been a professional trainer for some 30 years when this picture was taken and had developed very effective training methods that worked fine with dogs that were appropriate for training, but he found this dog to be about as trainable as a coyote. It ultimately bit him just as my Jindo bit me. This owner loathed this bitch and couldn't wait to get rid of it, which he ultimately did. He doesn't even remember who he was finally able too give it to.

Personally, I think the Jindo is fine for the semi-feral conditions under which it is normally kept in Korea but will make for a disappointing pet when kept under the conditions that most dogs are kept in the Western world. I know a Korean fellow who has three beautiful Jindos and he loves them. However, he keeps them on the property he uses for his business, keeps them caged by day and releases them on the property by night when no one is there. That's just not the way I keep my dogs. The breeds I prefer would be very unhappy under these conditions.