Welcome again to Pure Dingo: Why the name? because they ARE. But before I give you a run down on this site and the three main characters Eggie, Sandy and Didi, I would like to stress that I am not a dingo expert. A dingo lover but not an expert....yet!! What you read or see on this site is, in most part, opinion and personal experience and is offered for enjoyment and the appreciation of Australia's very own "dog" the dingo.
So having said that, let me start by saying that owning raising and caring for these 3 delightful desert dingoes has been an experience of a lifetime, at least for animal lovers like Lyn and myself. We first met and took responsibility of the "three dingoes" when they were about 3 weeks old, you could hold three in one hand! With the pleasure has come an incredibly steep learning curve.
If you remember one thing from this site it should be this - dingoes ARE NOT DOGS.
It is this fact that drives home the reality, dingoes do not need humans, for company or survival. The reason I make this statement so strongly is this - dingoes know it as well!! Therefore you begin to realize if your dingo gets out of your yard you may not see him/her for quite some time! its almost guaranteed they will get into some sort of trouble. A dog loose on the street can invariably be called to you, however the dingo will most likely not take any notice of you at all.
Regardless of all the "come on boy" utterances there is little chance he will even notice you unless his personal space is being reduced. Unless of course you try to close the gap then it will be "time to move on" mode. Food can be a definite inducer but only if they are hungry and you are nowhere near it. So put it on the ground and back off! I make light of this feature of the dingo but it holds pretty true, and is a key point in understanding them. In the wild dingoes are very much the same UNLESS they have been in close contact with humans.
They are opportunistic and if given a perceived opportunity to get a meal they may well risk close contact with humans. Wild dingoes should NEVER be fed by anyone especially children. If they are indeed "wild dingoes" you most likely will only get a quick glimpse of them before they are on their way and they are of little if any threat. If they hang around care should be taken, they have met humans before. My belief is, they will never approach an adult human unless food is present and even then with extreme caution. And the target of any confrontation will be the food.
I firmly believe this, IF, the animal is a "pure wild dingo". I have had and witnessed many encounters with wild dingoes and feel justified in making these comments. No comment on wild crossbreeds. Enough of wild dingoes and on with our dingoes. Essentially don't let them get out, big call when its a, dingo or three. So part of our learning curve was containment, then there was feeding, then there was vet needs (oh such fun ) then housing 3 active "pups", interaction (oh boy), exercising, medications (a few of them)......
An experience of a life time.?.. yes for sure and a very pleasant one as well.
And just so I don't forget right in the middle of all this learning, the worst storm in 50 years with flooding up to your knees.
We had just completed our electric fence (yes 5,000 volts) and secure chain mesh, when crikey was that thunder ? No, it was no less than three eucalypts in excess of 20m going bang crash across our fences. Not even our trees. Two fence lines and their large elevated kennel smashed including a five year old Wollomi pine. This now left us with no containment and three pumped up 6 month old dingo adolescents. Just starting to explore their sexual differences....you know, boy girl stuff. Lovely.
So all this must come at some expense ? yes $$$ and can we see the end ? not really. Animals need care and that is never cheap. Feeding vet bills and continual maintenance of their compound does not stop. Anyway, this is our choice and hopefully your enjoyment. For a bit more detail on our pups please have a look at Dingo Personalities.
