The New Guinea Singing Dog.

Have you ever heard of a New Guinea Singing Dog?

This breed is native to New Guinea and have been recorded by explores in the 1800’s as very popular throughout the lowland villages of New Guinea. Hybridization in the 1900’s with imported dogs made the New Guinea Dog almost extinct. Two pure bed dogs’ however were captured in the 1950’s in the isolated area of the Lavanni Calley and were eventually sent to Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney. Another pair was later captures in the 1970’s in Indonesia. All Singing Dog’s throughout Europe and North America descended from these two pairs.
The New Guinea Singing Dog is a close relative of ancient domesticated Asian wolves from over 10,000 years ago. Their name comes from their howl which is a serious of tones that blends into a swelling portamento. Their howl is unlike any other and is of music quality.

Today they are quite a rare breed but can be found in a number of zoos all around the world. They are similar in appearance to a Dingo and also have fox like features with prick ears and a bushy tail.
They are not your average domestic pet dog and are not recommended as a family pet as they are very closely related to a wild dog. With the right understanding, training and socialization they can be tame enough to tolerate being handled by humans.
They’ve most unique characteristic is their amazing ability to vary the pitch it their howls. They do not bark repetitively however use a variety of yelps, whines and single note howls to communicate. These amazing sounds blend one tone into the next and send goose bumps up the listener’s back.

The New Guinea Singing Dog has never been studied in the wild and there is almost nothing known about their behaviour or social habits. The captive population has been studied and as of 2004 there were less than 50 documented New Guinea dogs in the captive population, these are very highly inbred.

Hear their amazing howl below.