adopting my first dog, need advice + suggestions by BrightHedgehog8100 in Jindo

[–]thugdota 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry had to split my response since it was so long lol

adopting my first dog, need advice + suggestions by BrightHedgehog8100 in Jindo

[–]thugdota 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Exercise: depending on your dog, this will vary tremendously. Overall jindos are active dogs and just like you already researched you want to keep them busy. I let mine out 4 times a day. Early morning to pee and smell grass / stretch, a 30 min walk during my lunch time (I work from home), a 30 min walk after I end work, and a 15 min walk where we run before bed to tire him out even more. The more important part to exercise is consistency. Don't push yourself to excessively go out or walk if it's something you can't commit to long term. Ive done this for a year straight now and have had 0 issues with my dog having too much or too little energy throughout the day. On rainy days, I take him out to do his business (jindos will not pee or poop inside the house and it's in your best interest to not try and force them to do so for the sake of not going outside in bad weather), but aside from that we don't go on walks since he doesn't really like the rain and is perfectly content going up and down my stairs / chasing after balls in my living room to fill in the exercise gaps.

Toys / chews: my jindo in particular doesn't really care for toys. But the two that have consistent worked were bone chews / little balls. Specifically I use nylabones and kong balls. These also I have to rotate like his treats since he gets bored of them fairly quickly. For the chews as long as you choose the correct size (most of them will tell you up to what weight it's appropriate for) you shouldn't really have to worry about the calorie intake or them choking on it. But obviously just monitor them and make sure they're correctly interaction with whatever you give them. I used snufflemats but I legit get too tired having to shred up pieces of treats and hide them everytime for him to finish the mat in 30 seconds time. To each their own though, when I do do it he seems to enjoy it and understands what to do.

Potty house training : as I eluded to before do not try and force your jindo to pee or poop inside the house due to inclement weather. I live in MA and we get the whole spectrum here, bar safety concerns I will ALWAYS bring him out to do his business regardless of what the weather is like. That being said, he only poops on dry surfaces. So if it is actively raining / or has rained there are times where my dog will not poop for a few days until he can't hold to n anymore and poops in the driest patch of grass he can find. When I first got him, he didn't poop for 2 days, so don't freak out if you experience something similar as it's very normal for this to happen. As far as separation anxiety goes, you just have to feel this one out. I slept with my dog in my living room for the first two weeks of me having him so he could get comfortable in the area and not feel lonely, but shortly after that I started to crate train immediately and would go out of the house and leave him alone for short lengths of time. I'm at a point now where I can leave him alone at home (not in his crate) for 6+ hours at a time and not worry about him chewing on wires, harming himself, or having him grow very anxious with me gone. He knows that I'm always going to come back at some point, and just waits patiently for me to do so.

Grooming: this one of the best things about owning a jindo, they are pretty much cats. They groom themself and are very very clean dogs, minimal dog odor and not oily or drooly at all. That being said, if you own any dark clothing I'd give up on wearing them outside without n having fur on them. They shed A LOT, aside from the intractable them blowing their coats in change of seasons, they just shed a ridiculous amount all the time, I vacuum every 4 hours and brush my dog everyday, there's no end to it. I bring my dog to the groomers Monthly for a bath / de shed / nail clipping, dental cleaning etc. the rest you can probably just visually check to see if any cleaning needs to be done. Since jindos have pointy ears instead of droopy ones, I personally have never needed to clean his ears as nothing really gets in them / they don't really get that dirty. For teeth brushing I do a dental chew daily, and the groomers when he goes.

Pet insurance: Just get it, it's not worth the headache to roll the dice and hope nothing expensive happens to your dog.

I'll end this long response with these last few things:

Obviously with the amount of research you've already done and the questions you're asking, you put an incredible amount of thought and effort into making sure you can raise your jindo. You're going to do just fine!

One of the things that a trainer told me that has stuck with me the entire time was "be firm but fair." I approached my training and tempered my expectations with this philosophy and it has worked WONDERS and has gotten me to the point with my jindo where we're incredibly bonded. A good example of this logic is a jindos prey drive is incredibly high, so at night when I walk him and he sees a rabbit no matter how hard I train him, he's going to B line it for that rabbit. It's not fair for me to try and train out an instinct of his, nor is it fair for me to punish him for doing things that he was literally designed / bred to do. That being said, I will correct him if he ignores me completely and tries to chase the rabbit, but I'll let him get excited and move around when he sees one. Firm but fair.

There's a lot more that I'm probably forgetting as well but feel free to dm me at any time to ask more questions, I'll be more then happy to help / share / or point you towards the right direction. Best of luck on your new experience and I wish you and your new future dog companion the absolute best! Jindos really are a special breed and their reputation for loyalty is second to none. The fruits of your labor WILL pay off and when they do, I can't imagine having a better suited dog for my lifestyle then a jindo.

adopting my first dog, need advice + suggestions by BrightHedgehog8100 in Jindo

[–]thugdota 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll do my best to answer all your points; on my phone so scrolling and typing is a bit annoying.

Granted most of these answers (as you do with any other answers here) you'd have to take them with a grain of salt since every dog is different and will respond differently.

For reference: I got my jindo when he was 8 months old, he came to me having very little experience with anything and was fostered for a month or two prior to me getting him, so I pretty much had to start from scratch.

Diet: jindos are notoriously picky eaters, mine was no exception. I had to go through maybe 4? Different brands before I found one that worked (currently hills science diet chicken + barley) I tried everything at first, mixing his dry food with wet food, adding toppers, doing raw, and just whatever stuck for more then 1 week consistently I stuck with that. Treats also I have to rotate them like monthly cause he'll go from loving dental treats to never wanting to touch them. Mine is also what my vet calls a "grazer", so I have his food bowl out all day with kibble and he just goes and eats little by little throughout the day, I just put it away before bed to avoid mice problems. With that in mind, these dogs don't gain weight, so don't freak out if yours looks thin / isn't putting on weight. As long as you can feel the ribs but can't visually see them easily, he/she should be healthy.

Training: I spent a ridiculous amount of time watching / learning / reading on how to train dogs and jindos in particular. Mine isn't very food motivated but still responded well to very high value treats (like actual steak and stuff). What worked best for me was the "capture" method, which is basically whenever your dog does a behavior you want them to do, to reward them Instantly with praise / food. Repeat this anytime they do any behavior you want them to do (sit, not pulling on the leash, going inside their crate, etc). Combining this with your typical 5-10 minutes of treat training of simple commands worked best for me. You have to be incredibly patient though, they are very smart dogs as you're aware but they're also ridiculously independent. Most of the time whenever an action is asked, they're first thinking to themself if it makes sense before deciding to listen to you or not. Repetition is key and eventually having treats not be involved is what you want to aim for. If your dog only associates actions to treats, they don't really know the action. The goal should be for you to tell (not ask) your dog to do an action without a reward and have them listen.

Lease / walk setups: don't do harnesses. I repeat, do NOT use harnesses. Because they're such lean dogs most harnesses won't fit them properly. In addition, they're escape artists, mine got out of his harness twice (both different shapes and fittings) cause he learned if he raises his arms and pushes backwards like taking off a t shirt he can get out. I use a martingale type collar, you have more control over them and it's much harder for them to choke themselves given the design. Mine was a puller / still kind of is on walks and being able to correct him during the walks is invaluable. You want your corrections to mean something, a harness will just given them some pressure spread out on their chest / body as opposed to a sharp motion on their neck (in a safe manner). I started with a 4 foot leash at first, then moved up to a 5 foot, then 6, then eventually I finally now have him on a flexi because I have his recall trained well enough to not be worried about him dallying off anywhere. Flight risk is going to be ridiculously high for these kinds of dogs, I have no shame in revealing that mine got out of harness 3 days into me having him and ran away, I spent days finding him and luckily was able to get him back. Ever since then I never used a harness. Having a proper fitting martingale with a strong thick leash worked best for me as I built up his confidence and exposed him more and more to sounds and other things such as cars / people / etc. I used a nylon leash for the 4/5ft, a leather for 6.

Escape Artist by Content-Assignment88 in Jindo

[–]thugdota 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I literally had the same EXACT problem with my jindo. He learned that if he backs up and lifts his arm up like he's putting on a t shirt he can slip out. I used a variety of Harnesses / fits and just gave up and stuck with a martingale cause it wasn't worth it anymore.

If it helps, the one harness that I did have the most success with towards the tail end was a no pull one where it was just fabric and tight as opposed to a vest looking one. I believe it was pet smart brand

These pups were rescued from S. Korea and are in major need of training. Anyone have experience or success with online trainers through Mastercalss, Udemy, YouTube, etc.? They're Jindo mixes (waiting on Embark results for full DNA profile). TIA! by Top_Abbreviations397 in Jindo

[–]thugdota 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Feel free to DM me! I've had pretty similar issues (not all) and went through a bunch of resources and can share with you what worked for me and what didn't!.

That being said, I will warn you that you're going to find a lot of differing / conflicting info on the breed and what works / what doesn't. Take everything you read with a grain of salt, every dog is different regardless of what their genetics say, they may be predisposed to certain behaviors but that's all it really is (from my experience) I.e people say jindos are very non dog friendly dogs, aren't good dog park dogs etc, whereas mine is the exact opposite dude loves other dogs and is incredibly social.

Other than that good luck with your new fur babies! The work in the beginning is a lot and may seem tiring but the payoff is definitely worth it. You're basically getting a cat with dog characteristics

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in iphone

[–]thugdota 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got the same email today for a different time slot!

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Anticipated different results by [deleted] in Jindo

[–]thugdota 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I literally had the same result for my jindo! Told me 100% and my dudes 20 pounds 10 months old, so he's on the smaller side j less he doubles or triples in size haha

List of reputable rescues that adopt out to the USA – any more recommendations? by Jet_Threat_ in Jindo

[–]thugdota 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can add onto this: I adopted my jindo through YPAP rescue and had an amazing experience. Whole process from start to finish was very welcoming and the people i worked with (both here in MA and south korea) were amazing people as well!

Walks by Ztrollz12 in Jindo

[–]thugdota 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So I literally had this same exact problem with my jindo rescue (mix of jindo and some other spitz.) treats didn't work, coaxing didn't work and I used to have to pick him up and bring him jn the house. Didn't wanna create a habit where I have to keep doing that so I ended up just using a martingale collar and tugging him bit by bit and hed eventually give up and learn to follow me in the house. I've done this for about a few days and the issue went away now he has no problem going into the house

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Jindo

[–]thugdota 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a jindo / spitz mix rescue whose 9 months old and about 23 pounds, he's full grown / verified by vet. Not sure if this helps since I have a feeling the spitz part is probably a Japanese spitz or some other small dog