Fear of dogs, or fear of white-footed dogs?

[quote]Interior characteristics
Taiwan Dogs possess superior intelligence, good manners and friendliness.They display an admirable ability for psychic communication and instinctssuch as loyalty, intelligence quotient, sense of direction and time,memory unparalleled by other canine species.

They also have great hunting skills and courage. They can carry heavy loads and have extraordinary sense of smell and hearing. Being extremely alert, they are highly territorial and guard their homes and masters with total devotion.

Due to environmental reasons, Taiwan Dogs are physically wild animals. Therefore they are highly adaptable to their surroundings, very independent and can nurse their young easily. They are simple to feed, healthy, do not pick their food and have no odor.

Because they are highly intelligent and matures early, puppies can be easily trained. With specialized training, they can be the best work dogs one can find. Their wild nature make them aggressive, but they are extremely loyal to one master and his family. Strangers can’t get near them easily which is the strongest proof of Taiwan Dog’s wild nature.[/quote]

Yes, yes yes! Agree totally with all of the above! The Tugou inner traits seem to be dominant too in my experience, so even when crossed with lesser :stuck_out_tongue: purebreds, the qualities of superior intelligence, excellent navigation skills,courage, devotion, lack of interest in strangers, loyalty, early maturation and ease of care, etc etc etc :slight_smile: , will usually shine through. None of my Tugou-ish dogs fight, and none of them ever get picked on either. They take care of other animals and guard the house, but never bark needlessly at night. They’ll hunt, but don’t chase my chickens. They don’t buddy up to strangers, but they never aggress needlessly either. They don’t get too hot in the summer and are hardy in the winter. They have big radar ears and super bright eyes and don’t miss a thing.They quickly pick up a surprisingly large lexicon of language that they understand.

Once I made the stupid mistake of saying to a six month old Tugou, when up in Yangminghan, “Go home” when he was trying to follow me into the restaurant, instead of saying “sit on the bike.” When I came back from lunch he was gone. Two days later, he arrived home, just as he’d been told. :blush: My purebred throwaways, I love dearly, but I have to take care of them like children. The Tugous are a breed apart - the kind of dog that pay back in kind and make themself useful in so many ways beyond warm fuzzies. They’re real partners in just about any pursuit.
I reckon they’re just THE best dog to have in this country… with or without white feet.
:smiley:

I got a mixed lab/ Tu Gou and I think a Doberman/Tu gou so I have perfect combination of recon (from the lab) and rear sentry (from the dober) when we walk in the hills. If you have a Tu Gou take him walking in heavily forested hills and you will see them shine! Never heard of the “Si Bai” stuff but I know people are afraid of my black dogs.

Would the white paw paranoia apply here for example?

I sure hope not… She’s so beautiful.

She is beautiful! She’s the same colouring as my Bernese Babies. They have the four white paws, but people of all shapes and sizes and breeds go gaga over them. Even dog-fearers lose their fear and want to pat, they’re just so cute. I guess the four white paws nonsense doesn’t extend to exotic breeds who’re supposed to have white paws. Just the unlucky locals when they are born Different.
She looks like she could be crossed with a B. How big is she?

She’s only 3 years old, She was rescued by Animals Taiwan a could of days ago. Her name is Bonnie. She’s a little shy and too thin, but she’s getting better.

If any one is interested in adopting her please call Animals Taiwan 02-28338820

[quote=“UKbikerchic”]She’s only 3 years old, She was rescued by Animals Taiwan a could of days ago. Her name is Bonnie. She’s a little shy and too thin, but she’s getting better.

If any one is interested in adopting her please call Animals Taiwan 02-28338820[/quote]
How often does Animals Taiwan update the “Our Animals” page? I’m looking to adopt a dog, but I want a medium sized male that’s under a year old. I already have a 3 year old Golden at home and want them to get along well.

If anyone wants confirmation of the superstition about white paws, just observe the packs of stray dogs in public parks and you will seen an inordinate number with white paws. That is the reason they were abandoned.

I have two stray dogs. One is a brown mutt with four white paws. The other is a black tugou mix that looks very similar to the OP’s dog. My tugou mix was jet black when younger but has acquired four white paws, a white chest, and white face with age. To the OP: do you keep your dog on a leash in places where it could come in contact with people? If not, I suspect the fear that people show around your dog is probably more from being confronted with an unleashed dog than from the white paws in particular. It also may be because they associate aggressiveness with tugous. Tugous are a fantastic type of dog, but they can be aggressive when they or their owners are threatened, or if they have not been trained or handled properly. People here know that and so may react fearfully to tugous just as some people may react fearfully to pitbulls, rotweilers, or dobermains (other breeds that can similarly be aggressive if trained to be or if not trained properly).

Naughtius,

The adopt page is updated pretty regularly, but i have 6 puppies here up for adoption. THey are 1 month old, can now eat soft food. They will grow to about 13-15 kg. Please take a look at our facebook page
facebook.com/pages/Animals-T … 0845399247

you can call me anytime 0932344687 if you are interested in seeing them.

Also another way if you are willing to try an older dog is to bring your dog to the centre and let him meet some of the dogs to see how they get along. We always do a try out period anyway, to make sure everyone’s ok.

Please let me know.

[quote=“kaipakati”]
Once I made the stupid mistake of saying to a six month old Tugou, when up in Yangminghan, “Go home” when he was trying to follow me into the restaurant, instead of saying “sit on the bike.” When I came back from lunch he was gone. Two days later, he arrived home, just as he’d been told. :blush: My purebred throwaways, I love dearly, but I have to take care of them like children. The Tugous are a breed apart - the kind of dog that pay back in kind and make themself useful in so many ways beyond warm fuzzies. They’re real partners in just about any pursuit.
I reckon they’re just THE best dog to have in this country… with or without white feet.
:smiley:[/quote]

Yes, tugou are super smart, and they naturally try to read their owners. I accidentally discovered that my tugou recognizes certain names. When I mentioned the name of a dog that previously stayed with us for a few days, she pricked up her ears and started looking around excitedly for the absent dog. (She then repeated this a few times for my amusement until she realized I was just screwing with her by repeating the name to watch her reaction.) I’ve also found that she understands certain “commands” that I didn’t specifcally teach her, but that she just picked up by association from my talking to her.

I love your story about your dog going home as he’d been told. That must have been a heart-wrenching two days.

Dogs with four socks are not called “si bai”. Si bai is from the saying which denotes the deliciousness of dogs by coat color: 一黑二黃三花四白 (first black, second yellow, third spotted, fourth white).

Dogs and cats with four white feet are generally referred to as 白腳底/白腳蹄 (a Taiwanese term, but bai2jiao3di3/bai2jiao3ti2 in Mandarin). The general consensus is that a dog or cat must have an entirely black coat (a minority of people think that having white areas on the body disqualify the animal) and four white feet. Depending on the person, they may believe that all dogs or cats with four white feet are unlucky regardless of coat color, or that only animals with four completely white footpads (not necessarily foot fur) count.

The reason that people think cats with four white feet are unlucky is because they will supposedly reanimate any death bodies they jump over. People think dogs with four white feet are unlucky because either A) They are the reincarnate of a human being/criminal or B)They are possessed by ghosts.

Do you go about town with her off leash? If you do, that is probably the reason.

Many people have a pathological fear of dogs, probably because from a very young age onwards, their mothers tell them that all dogs are bad and will bite them.

The size of the dog is not the issue, but the breed. If you owned a golden retriever, Labrador, Irish setter, old English sheepdog, brown poodle, Maltese, Yorkshire terrier, Pomeranian, Shiba, or even husky, you would see a lot less of this happening. These foreign breeds are “cute” and “clean”, while native Taiwanese dogs/dogs whose breeds they don’t immediately recognize are scary and possibly vicious. Tugos definitely have a reputation for being only loyal to their master, and very defensive/aggressive.

While your dog may have many traits of the Tugo, her markings suggest that she is not completely “pure” tugo. AFAIK, there are only three accepted coat colors for “pure” tugos: all black, all brindle, and tan/some sort of brown with black mask.

Hi everyone, sorry that I didn’t respond for a while.

Minke is always on a leash. A pretty short leash, I might add. She’s very much puppyish in her walking attitude, always finding interesting things and trying to zoom off.

I don’t think she looks terribly fierce, whenever someone makes eye contact with her she makes cartoon eyes and starts wagging her tail, sometimes even licking the air. Or if they make some kind of kissing noises at her she is three feet in the air kissing their face before they can blink. When she was younger she would stand up and greet everyone in the street Thankfully we have been able to stop that but kissing noises make her unstoppable. She might even be in a magazine because some model made kissing noises at her during a photoshoot!

I really love you guyseses stories about your dogs. Yeah Minke figures out way too quickly when I’m just trying to see how much she understands, and then she gets all “hmph, that’s for me to know.”
Your story about him arriving home is really amazing, Kaipakati. That dog sounds totally badass and loyal! They are almost creepily intelligent dogs. Minke won’t listen to my husband unless he uses correct grammar. If he says something incorrect in a command to her she just stands there and looks at him until he says it correctly. Hah! She’s an excellent assistant teacher.

Lupillus, your post is really helpful and informative but I have to disagree with you about the last part.

[quote=“lupillus”]
While your dog may have many traits of the Tugo, her markings suggest that she is not completely “pure” tugo. AFAIK, there are only three accepted coat colors for “pure” tugos: all black, all brindle, and tan/some sort of brown with black mask.[/quote]

I have heard that too, but as I mentioned earlier, we took Minke to the Tugou preservation society and spoke with Chen Ming Nan himself. When we said we had heard that, his response was something to the effect of “that’s BS”. He said it was really common for the original ones he brought down from the mountain to have white feet, he talked about one that had bigger gloves/socks than Minke. There was a pretty long conversation about it but I don’t want to publish his private views, but like I said, feel free to PM me if you would like to know more.