New Guinea Singing Dogs

 

 Now this was a day I'd looked forward to for several days. I'd heard via Facebook that Tom, who owns and rescues New Guinea Singing Dogs, was coming to Denver, right past our kampground. I asked if he could stop here, and he agreed. He came with 2 pups and 2 adult dogs. In this photo we see Jeff, our KOA owner, holding a pup. For those who don't know, the Singer is a wild dog from New Guinea, a large island north of Australia. They are related to the wild dogs of Australia, the dingos, and look very much the same except they are smaller. The name "Singing Dogs" is appropriate because they howl like wolves, but the timbre and tone is much more musical, especially when a bunch of them are together. Their "songs" are quite beautiful.

 These girls are Audrey and Nikki, our pizza girls at the KOA. They were thrilled to see and hold the pups. We heard (and exclaimed) many oohs and aahs! and, "I want one!" When we were the animal caretakers at the Roo Ranch in Deadwood, South Dakota, in 2008 we worked with 6 adult dogs and 3 pups. I fell in love with them. Though wild, they are extremely sweet and affectionate when tamed.

 Here is Tom, holding a Singer. Though many are tamed, they are still wild dogs, and need to be confined carefully. Owners typically have large yards with high fences, as the dogs are escape artists. Their natural instinct as they roam the countryside is to catch and eat other critters, so they can't be let loose to do that. Many zoos around the U.S. have Singers on display. There is not a large number of these dogs in this country.

We all enjoyed our minutes with these beautiful creatures. I would love to have a Singer, but living full time in an RV definitely makes that impossible. I'll have to stick with my kitty cats!