Singer & Shyla

Canis familiaris halstromi - Singing Dog

Singer, born in April 1996, and Shyla, born in January 1998, are New Guinea Singing Dogs.
That’s right .... dogs that sings. They look like a miniature version of the Australian Dingo.

While there have been many attempts at raising this breed in the private sector,

the results are seldom positive. Because of the extreme predatory nature of these wild dogs,

they escape the “home type” environment and usually become “casualties of the highway”.

They are extremely adept at digging and can easily scale a six foot fence.

It is generally accepted that the New Guinea Singing Dog is

the most primitive “domestic” dog, brought to the island of New Guinea at least 6,000 years ago,

and kept pure due to isolation from other types of dogs until the 1950’s.

They are like a living fossil. The New Guinea Singing Dog was

discovered by the outside world in 1957 when the first pair was

brought down from the New Guinea Highlands to the Taronga Zoo located in Sydney, Australia.

Their average size is around 17 inches at the shoulder and 25 pounds.

Their short double coat has a crisp feel. They has several unique vocalizations.

The howl they are named for is similar to a wolf howl with overtones of whale song.

When in a group, one animal starts and then others join on different pitches,

each with its own unique voice. Some of the vocalizations resemble birdcalls.

If you could translate their singing you would probably find they are saying:

“Hi there. “We are really cool dogs.... look at us, not the Lions and Tigers. After all, they are CATS!”.

RETURN TO ADOPTION PAGE