Well here we go, how do you assign a personality to a dingo? Quite easily if you watch them carefully. And do the "three dingoes" have personality? in bucket loads.
Are they different to each other? most decidedly.
Are they intelligent? IQ over a hundred! slight exaggeration but high. They are simply gorgeous to deal with. Incredibly affectionate. A pat and a social encounter before starting on dinner....most times.
Firstly a little back ground on their early lives. Badly infected with hard to treat Sarcoptic mites and suffering from exposure required vet care immediately, So right from an early age these little fellas were in for a rough trot. Nasal sprays up the nose, needles for this and that and of course micro chipping. Our vet and family (wife and daughters all in the practice) are the best on the planet, at least in our eyes.
As you can see in our photos they have grown into the most delightful desert dingoes on the plant, same planet as above! They needed lots of care medications and special food for their tender age. There was not a lot to say about differences, I guess in many ways they were like ordinary puppies for the first few months.. ...always romping around eating or sleeping. As the mange mite did its damage (results take time when so young) they went through a real patchy phase, check the Gallery.
But eventually they started to get a nice even coat and things started to get better for them, putting on weight and size as the months progressed. We needed to learn more about dingoes and even tho' much is written I could not really find much to help except that they are in short, aloof! and very independent. We started to train them to wear a harness and be lead on a lead. Daily walks were the norm to use up that youthful energy 8km and all three at once. In the first few months their yard was a 3m x 3m mesh compound for sleep and rest but play time was our whole back yard, about 3/4 of an acre.
To keep them in we experimented with radio collars. These collars can be set independently for each dog and give a short very controlled "correction" (shock to the neck). It starts off very subtle however if the animal continues to approach the fence where the aerial lead is laid the correction increases in strength. Well this worked fine until Eggie decides he can handle the best this thing can put out and makes a couple of escapes.
Out and onto the road finally being trapped in a front yard by a very good friend. Council rangers front up and very cordially wait for the arrival of my wife Lyn. Eggie meanwhile resists all attempts of arrest and maintains his distance from every one. Lyn arrives, enters the yard and spots Eggie, in a stern voice she says Eggie come here, to wit our wonderful dingo allows her to pick him up and walk back to her car!!! much to the amazement of all present. This behavior can only come from deep attachment, we are their parents and we can exert some control. Still we were very lucky he could have been hit by a car or lost forever. Well back to personalities, these collars highlighted some strong differences to corrections, Eggie could and did dismiss them, Sandy was much more cautious but soon found she could overcome the discomfort and accompany her brother, however Didi hated them and never tested the fence or made any effort to get too close.
Differences were emerging and for the sake of space I will tell you how we see these three dingoes - Eggie is now, at 2yo, without doubt the top dog and he is able to, and will, dominate both of his sisters easily IF he feels the need. He is however a "gentleman ", laid back and confident, he rarely challenges his sisters to food as long as he has his bowl and they have not stolen his buried bone or biscuits. That can be a different matter. All three are thieves and pick pockets in such a loveable way.
Eggie needs to be "coaxed" into a game by his sisters but has no trouble engaging once up and running. He has good stamina. His soul mate is Didi, his first love was Sandy! Now for Sandy, what a treasure, an alpha female? very fast and very agile at least in this little gang she is. She has the punch, the speed and absolutely decks her sister Didi if a fight starts, no contest and Didi is at least a couple of Kgs heavier Unfortunately they do fight, but they know we don't approve and they are rare. However for Didis safety we built an adjacent compound for her so when we were not present she could be separated. Sandy is in love with her brother and during that severe storm managed to give herself to him! and lost her innocents. We did not allow the consummation and a trip to the vet was essential. But Eggie is in her eyes, her man and does not like the affections her bigger sister gives to him.
She has learned to tolerate Didis presence and we have tried very hard to keep them as friends. They play every day and are for many hours a day kept together. Check the videos and you will see what I mean. So often Eggie and Didi are romping around while little Sandy keeps a suspicious eye on the behaviour. Always ready to jump in if Didi gets rough or is spending to much time with her man. We spend much time with Sandy trying to make her feel she is hanging out with the bosses! Finally we get to Didi...good time girl ! Didi is always up to mischief, always looking for something some one has buried. Trying to work out what it might be I am trying to grow behind that wire and how she might be able to get to it. Always ambushing Eggie and looking for a game.
Strange thing is she is of similar size to him and can easily mix it with him in a tussle yet totally unable to handle nitro Sandy. If Eggie is not in the mood Didi will engage Sandy and often they play together really well, with Sandy "allowing" Didi to rough her up. She does not have an issue with her sister as long as Eggie is not to close. This is a dingo three way tryst, there are some good videos that show this three way relationship perfectly. I will hopefully have more opportunity to tell you about these "pups "and their progress. At present they have two compounds totaling about 800 sqm, rest platforms, two kennels with balconies, two sun decks and lots of places to dig. They love to dig. Thats all for now but please check the Gallery and Shop. We hope you like.
