Kunming Dog

Breed Rating

Breed Details

General

The Kunming Dog is a wolf dog that originated in China in early 1950s. The purpose for its development was to create a military dog for the Chinese army. Several breeds of dogs as well as several cross breeds were involved in this dogs' gene pole but most of the breeds used are unknown. Shortage of military dogs in Yunnan province of China led to the development of this dog. A breeding program with the purpose to develop a breed of dog suitable for military purposes, was initiated in 1950s. Due to shortage of dogs in the province, several dogs of different breeds were gathered. Ten wolf dogs were taken from a K9 military training program in Beijing, 50 household dogs were acquired from Kunming and 40 others of similar type were procured from Guiyang, a city in Guizhon province. These dogs were trained in Kunming, Yunnan's capital. After the training, 20 dogs were selected from the 90 'civil' dogs. These 20 along with the 10 wolf dogs from Beijing and the 10 shepherd dogs imported from Germany became the foundation stock from where the Kunming Wolf-dog was developed. The result is an exceptionally effective working dog that is now being used widely by Chines military and police.

The Kunming Dog is a large dog that stands between 25-27 inches and weighs about 66-84 lbs. Not surprisingly, the dog resembles the German Shepherd dog in appearance given that GSD is one of its forebears but the Kunming dog is taller and has shorter coat. It has a round head and long narrow muzzle. It comes with large eyes and high set, large triangular shaped ears. It has a thick neck with loose skin that leads to the muscular body. The bushy tail curls up high when the dog is excited. The short to medium length coat comes in light to dark tan colour with black saddle.

This breed is NOT recognized by AKC or any other major kennel club.

Color

The dog comes in only one colour combination which is a black saddle with light to dark tan covering the entire body.

Coat

This breed sports a short to medium length coat that is always shorter than German Shepherd's coat.

Personality

The Kunming Dog makes outstanding Police and Military dogs due to their focused and powerful nature. They are highly intelligent, self-assured and eager to learn but their unpredictable behavior makes them unsuitable for first time or weak owners. This breed may be more demanding than an average dog and needs an experienced handler. It has exceptional and proven working capabilities and the dog is gaining popularity among common people as a family companion. This rare dog needs early age socialization and obedience training. A well trained and socialized Kunming Dog will make very good family pet; one that gets along well with children and treat them as its masters. This breed generally gets along well with other dogs and pets in the family. With proper training and socialization, this rare breed of dogs can be an exciting addition to a family.

Care

This is a healthy breed and does not have genetic problems. Due to somewhat unpredictable nature of the dog, it should be monitored and supervised when around children. Short to medium length coat is easy to take care with only occasional brushing needed to keep the coat clean.

Training

Training is not difficult with this very intelligent and eager to learn breed. The dog can learn to perform different task due to its working ancestry. It will need a firm yet gentle and consistent trainer to train these very intelligent and focused dogs. Aim of the training should be to achieve pack leader status and to remind the dog that ALL humans are above him in the pack order and that the dog must follow the humans and not vice versa.

Activity

Bred specifically to be a working dog, the Kunming Dog has high exercise demands. The dog thrives on opportunities that demand mental and physical activities. Daily long walks are a must plus the dog should be given time in a safe and secure playing area to romp around and keep itself occupied. This breed is definitely NOT for apartment dwellers.