Have a question for the Australians here. Can you actually have a dingo?

[Pika...]

A while back I saw a documentary on how the dingo is going extinct. It ended up hinting that perhaps the last place a pure one will still exist is in captivity.

In the documentary it said something on the lines of them still being domesticated/dogs enough for them to be kept as pet, and proceeded to show a woman putting a leech around hers in a suburb.


Now, I have seen images of Africans having hyenas on a leech, but is the above true? Could they be kept as pets?!

The recent dog identification thread got me wanting to finallya nswer this question.

[Spiryt]

I think you meant leash, not a leech. As written, it had given me a bit disturbing image of woman doing something with leech, before I realized what's up.

And to say something on topic, Wiki has this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Singing_dingo.jpg).

[vollmond]

My family (in the US) had a dingo for a while when I was a kid. I think my parents had to get rid of her because of energy levels or some such - gave her to a cousin who lived nearby.

[GallóglachMaxim]

It's not a great idea, because while they used to be domesticated the species has been feral for a very long time. Of course people keep all sorts of things as pets that they'd be safer without.

[Klose_the_Sith]

I know one of my cousins had a part dingo that was incredibly tame/friendly - I suppose it might actually still be alive, truth be told.

Sure it might seem like a shame, but the dingo just never really struck me as a very important symbol in the eyes of Australians, only in the eyes of foreigners convinced that it's hilarious to say that "a dingo's eating your baby". Yergh.

Frankly the dingo deserves better from all groups involved.

[Pocketa]

Loopy and Felixaar need to get in this thread!

[tribble]

Loopy and Felixaar need to get in this thread!

so message them...:smallconfused:

[Lioness]

Well, it's 7.30 on a sunday morning where they are...I'd say they aren't awake yet.

[Ninja Chocobo]

Loopy and Felixaar need to get in this thread!

Not that I disagree, but why exactly?

[Dispozition]

Because both of them are Australian, not that they'd probably know any more than most of the other Aussies on the forums.

I do believe many dingo/dog crossbreeds are kept as pets, especially in WA and the NT, but not as much in Vic or NSW. I'm unsure about pure dingos being kept as pets, but I find it somewhat unlikely due to their ferral nature.

Also, Lioness, what are you doing up and on the forums at 6:50? (if I have my time zones right >.> )

[Lioness]

Also, Lioness, what are you doing up and on the forums at 6:50? (if I have my time zones right >.> )

Woke up at 6 and didn't want to go back to sleep. It's in the depression thread.

[Serpentine]

I once met a woman in Sawtell walking a pedigree pure-bred dingo. So yes, though I'm not sure whether there's any extra licencing or anything you have to get.

There is at least one (semi?) wild population of dingoes on Fraser Island. This could just be hearsay, but I've heard that they have too many in too-small a space, hardly any food on the island and noone's allowed to give them any, and they've started stalking kids. In a predator-prey sort of way. Not a well-handled situation :smallmad:

And for the record, "dingo ate my baby", while and amusing line out of context, was a very low point in Australian media history.

[truemane]

My dog looks like a dingo. So much so that I've actually been asked by several people if she is one. Like, real grown ups and everything. And I want to respond: Yes, that's a dingo. I went to the other side of the planet and exported a wild dog and brought her back to Canada. Just for the lulz. NO SHE'S NOT A DINGO YOU IDIOT DO YOU EVEN THINK BEFORE YOU TALK?

But, of course, that's not how friends are made and people influenced, more's the pity. So I just say No. She's not a dingo.

Serp? A Pedigree pure-bred dingo? Can you get papers for a dingoe? Is there a kennel club in charge of overseeing the bloodline? That just seems like an odd thing to 'pedigree.' That's not a snarky or sarcastic comment. Just an observation.

[vollmond]

Just for the record, when we had a dingo, we lived in the American Midwest :-) no need to cross the planet for one

[truemane]

Just for the record, when we had a dingo, we lived in the American Midwest :-) no need to cross the planet for one

Quite frankly, I'll thank you to stop confusing the issue with facts.

EDIT: Just in case - :smalltongue:
(this is the internet after all)

[Dragonrider]

Nevertheless, it's a pretty epic band name. :smallamused:

[Coidzor]

There is at least one (semi?) wild population of dingoes on Fraser Island. This could just be hearsay, but I've heard that they have too many in too-small a space, hardly any food on the island and noone's allowed to give them any, and they've started stalking kids. In a predator-prey sort of way. Not a well-handled situation :smallmad:

Ahh, yes, the real reason we distrust wild dogs and dislike wolves.

Or at least the reason wild dogs are supposed to be more dangerous than wolves.

[Serpentine]

Serp? A Pedigree pure-bred dingo? Can you get papers for a dingoe? Is there a kennel club in charge of overseeing the bloodline? That just seems like an odd thing to 'pedigree.' That's not a snarky or sarcastic comment. Just an observation.Sure. For starters, she specifically told me she has the papers for it. For seconds, it is general knowledge (not necessarily entirely accurate) that the Fraser Island dingos are probably the last pure-bred population of dingos in Australia. In other words, we know that those dingos are pure-bred. I don't know how you'd go about acquiring one for breeding, but I don't think it's unlikely to be possible. And once you have a few of those, you have your breeding kennels, and pedigree.

Coidzor: This is very much an animal welfare and wildlife management issue. They just seem to have been left there, and when they start starving and responding naturally they're branded ferocious beasts and hunted down.
I don't think they're really feral, by the way... At least, I think they're as "native" as the aboriginals, seeing as they came with them. They just keep breeding with the actually feral dogs =/

[SilverSheriff]

I hate Fraser Island, those Dingoes scared me shirtless, of course I was only 11 at the time so you can see why a supposedly baby-eating dog would be that scary...

Furthermore I don't see how anyone could want them as a pet, but I can see them being kept in Zoos and other habitats so we don't end up with another Tasmanian Tiger scenario.

[Zovc]

Nevertheless, it's a pretty epic band name. :smallamused:

"Have a question for the Australians here. Can you actually have a dingo?"

[Felixaar]

You sure can, but its not easy, and my be illegal in some regions. Personally, I recommend a border collie instead, though dingoes are very cute.

[Anuan]

It's...not exactly legal in most areas, but a lot of people have done it, and a lot of dogs are part dingo.

Therein lies the problem, actually. The dingo is going extinct through breeding with feral dogs more than by being hunted or killed as a pest.

[Serpentine]

You sure can, but its not easy, and my be illegal in some regions. Personally, I recommend a border collie instead, though dingoes are very cute.The one I saw was pretty adorable. And yeah, I'd say at least that it'd probably be illegal to just pick one up out of the scrub, but if there are dingo breeders (and this lady's pet suggested so), that should be legal enough.

[skywalker]

My parents had a dog who was half-wolf, brought back from Alaska by a pipeline worker who owned her mother as well. Wicked cool dog.

I was going to make a joke about how you couldn't because of potential baby-eating, but then Serp went and made that part SRS BSNS, so I'm going to refrain. :smalltongue:

[Froogleyboy]

"Have a question for the Australians here. Can you actually have a dingo?"

I'm pretty sure she means "Pedigree Dingo"

[GallóglachMaxim]

I don't think they're really feral, by the way... At least, I think they're as "native" as the aboriginals, seeing as they came with them. They just keep breeding with the actually feral dogs =/

Well they're technically feral because they were domesticated but got out of control and got used to being wild. They've just been here long enough that everything else has adapted to them.

[Serpentine]

Well they're technically feral because they were domesticated but got out of control and got used to being wild. They've just been here long enough that everything else has adapted to them.I think it's pretty hazy at that point. Like I said, they're as native as the Australian Aboriginals.

Coidzor: Well it was a low point in Australia's media history! :smalltongue: It was funny 'til it turned out to be true...

[skywalker]

Coidzor: Well it was a low point in Australia's media history! :smalltongue: It was funny 'til it turned out to be true...

I think there's something intrinsically funny about the phrase. At least, to Americans. I know we find the word "dingo" funny, and the word "baby" said in an Australian accent as well. Divorced of the context, it really grabs you and says "I'm funny" for some reason, and I'm not sure why.

[Serpentine]

*ahem*
And for the record, "dingo ate my baby", while an amusing line out of context, was a very low point in Australian media history.:wink: