The Dingo - the native dog of Australia - is becoming scarcer year by year. A dog of this breed without any admixture of Collie or other blood is far more difficult to obtain than was the case a few years ago. A pure Dingo, or Warragal, as it is called by the natives, is only now to be met with in the far interior of Australia, although there are a number of crossbred dogs that resemble the native dog so closely as to render it very difficult, in many cases, to tell the difference.

These dogs are a source of great loss and annoyance to sheep-farmers, not only on account of the number of sheep that they actually kill, but also on account of the number that they injure. A couple of these dogs will kill as many as a dozen sheep in a night, and seriously injure three or four times that number. It is not therefore surprising that strenuous efforts have been made to rid the country of them, large numbers having been poisoned by strychnine; also other means of destroying them have also been resorted to.

The Dingo stands about 22m. high, and has abroad, flat forehead, rather large pricked ears, pointed muzzle, and dark eye; the teeth are level and much larger than is the case in other dogs of greater size; the tail is bushy and carried low, or slightly elevated when the dog is running. The colour of full-grown dogs is red, sometimes slightly tinged with black, with white feet and tip to tail; but the puppies when whelped are black, or very nearly so. They are extremely active dogs, and far more resemble a wild animal than any other kind of dog.

The domestication of a Dingo brought direct from the bush would be a difficult matter, although it would be possible to a certain extent in the case of puppies bred and reared in this country; but even under these circumstances it would probably be some generations before their destructive nature could be bred out and they could be trusted about the place loose, more especially in the neighbourhood of poultry. The writer has never known a Dingo to attack any one, but great care should be exercised in handling them, even by those known to them, as they will turn round and snap in an instant, and a bite from one of these dogs is a serious matter and leaves a nasty wound. The writer has at various times owned several of these dogs and has never been bitten by one; but those who have been injudicious enough to ignore the notice exhibited at most shows cautioning visitors against touching any of the dogs, and have interfered with a Dingo, have not always been so fortunate, and have had good cause to regret their folly.

Of the Dingos that have been exhibited, Captain Burton (13,315) a frequent winner about sixteen years since, was unquestionably one of the best. Like many wild animals in confinement, this dog would continue to walk round in a circle for hours together; it was for this reason that he was exhibited loose in an iron cage, as if chained up the chain soon became twisted. In later years Myall (41,736) (Fig. 82) has successfully represented the breed on the show-bench. Previous to either of these dogs Lupus was a frequent winner under different judges. The high carriage of tail was a fault in this dog apparent to any one; in addition to this the writer, who owned Lupus for some years, always considered that there was something about the dog not altogether characteristic of the breed, although it would have been very difficult to define exactly what this was. He had no suspicion at the time that the dog, although bred in this country, was not a pure-bred Dingo, as was represented to be the case when he became possessed of it. It was not until some time after the dog had been given away and he was exhibited by his new owner that the writer noticed for the first time one or two small black spots at the root of the tongue. This clearly showed that there was Chinese or Chow-Chow blood in the dog, which readily accounted for the high carriage of tail, as well as for other faults not so easily discernible.

Fig. 82. - Mr. H. Brooke's Dingo Myall.

The Dingo does not bark, but is capable of making noise enough to be heard for some distance round. It will easily be gathered from what has been said that a dog of this breed can hardly be considered a desirable house-dog, however interesting one may prove to those having suitable accommodation for keeping such dogs