Jindos and urban life
This is the third in a series of articles written by some of our volunteers, adopters, and fosters, in response to the idea that Jindos can only be truly happy living in the country/wide open spaces, where they can run free, chasing critters to their hearts content, never mind the fact that they might be annoying farm livestock into the bargain! ?
If you have your own stories to share, please send them to us at info@twodogfarms.com, as we’d love to share them here and on our website, to help educate people that are new to the breed.
Thank you!
(by volunteer, Susan)
“Toby, our Jindo mix (whose rescue was initiated by Two Dog Farms and carried out by A Passion for Paws) had failed his temperament test and was on the fast track for euthanasia. Transplanting him anywhere seemed like a good choice. When we brought him home, it was to a crowded beach community. I wondered if we could make this work.
Our townhouse does not have a private yard. It does have lots of stairs, which he learned to navigate. He had been chained in the high desert, now he had to learn to walk on a leash. Outside, he was bombarded with people on bicycles, skateboards and roller blades. He was ambushed by runners and mentally ill homeless people. He encountered dogs, some of them friendly, some not so. To get to an off-leash dog park, he had to cross streets teeming with speeding cars, huge buses and roaring motorcycles.
At first, our walks were a colossal struggle, a series of lunges at real and imagined danger. But Jindos are smart, adaptive dogs. Even older dogs like Toby can grow and change. Now he bounces up when I jingle his leash. Now he waits for the cue that a traffic light has changed, and seems unfazed by whizzing vehicles. Skateboards that sent him into paroxysms no longer interest him.
Full disclosure: Toby will never be the perfect urban beach dude. He still lunges sometimes on the leash. Often, he is reacting to a squirrel, a flock of seagulls, or an unneutered dog, and sometimes we’re both surprised by someone coming up too fast and too close behind us. Would I rather have woods, streams and wildlife for Toby? Of course. Would I ever give up a Jindo because I live where I do? Never. Toby is happy here. He loves hanging out with us, the closer the better. For him and for us, family comes first.”
