Visual History of Korea
Stiff competition in Korea to be man‘s best friend

Choosing a best friend among Korean native dogs could be a happy dilemma for dog lovers.

Korea has designated three native dog breeds as Natural Monuments, so far with two more breeds preparing for future designations for protection.

Jindo (Jindo Dog, the Korea's Natural Monument No. 53), Sapsaree (Gyeongsan Sapsaree Dog, the Korea's Natural Monument No. 368) and Donggyeongyi (Gyeongju Donggyeong Dog, the Korea's Natural Monument No. 540) are protected under the law and respective local governments provide support for the preservation of the Korean native breeds of dogs.

One of the earliest evidence of dogs in Korea is a prehistoric rock carving showing a dog, along with wild animals, at the Bangudae (울주반구대 암각화) Petroglyphs (rock carvings), in Uljoo, near Ulsan, in North Gyeongsang province where evidence of one of the earliest whale hunting practice is well documented.

The Stone Age image of a dog at the Bangudae Petroglyphs from the Neolithic era from about 10,000 years ago to 4500 BCE, on a vertical cliff face, shows an oval shape-chested, arched back dog, with tail pointing up, a typical image of the Korean native breed of dogs.

Dogs, one of the first domesticated animals to humans, have almost always been with people as they migrated in search of food and secure places to live. The man’s best friend has always been helping friends, helping humans in their hunting, providing security, and keeping us company. Because dogs have always been with us, domestic dogs are a walking history book when we look into their DNAs.

Remains of dogs are found in ancient archeological digs and modern science has been able to decipher the genome to define which of the modern breeds are related to ancient dogs.

Preliminary research into the DNAs of Korean dogs gives us encyclopedic information about their history and consequently their ancient family tree.

A team of researchers in Seoul are awaiting a peer review of a research paper which preliminarily shows heterogeneous genetic makeup of the Sapsaree breed. "It means that the other Asian dogs' genome data exist in the Sapsaree breed, but not the other way around," said one of the researchers.

|Sapsaree dogs are found to be at the top of the genetic hierarchy of dogs in East Asia, including Jindo, Donggyeoungyi, Pekingese, Pug, Shih Tzu, Tibetan Mastiff and Tibetan Terrier breeds.

Sapsaree dogs in Korean culture are defined as all dogs with long hair. The heterogeneous genetic pool of Sapsaree led to re-discovery of the Spotted Sapsaree, better known in Korean history as Badukee (바둑이) being born along with long haired Sapsarees, which show up in Joseon period paintings from centuries ago.

This is probably a result of a long history of dogs not being tied down or fenced in rural villages until modern leash laws forcing all dogs to be on a leash when they are outside.

During my research visit to Jindo Island in the 1990's, the native home of the Jindo dogs, loose Jindo dogs were guarding their master’s home sitting in the middle of the roads in front of the house, getting up to yield to oncoming Vehicle traffic. And returning to the middle of the road once cars pass by. The loose dogs in the village got along with each other without any territorial conflicts. There definitely was order and hierarchy among the dogs.

One of the local families I interviewed did not know which dog sired their puppies. There was a natural selection taking place at night, with dominant male Jindos going around the island competing for mating opportunities. “I never know who sired my puppies,” said the owner of a Jindo bitch with a litter. “The male Jindo dogs only visit under the cover of darkness.” said the Jindo litter owner.

The natural selection on the island meant that there was a healthy genetic diversity within the Jindo dogs.

This ancient and native breed of Jindo dogs are known for its great intelligence, exceptional hunting skills, intense loyalty, incredible ability to find its way home, sometimes from hundreds of miles away, and overall absence of known genetic defects. Natural selection was responsible for the strength and health of the breed, which lived in isolation from the mainland on the island for centuries, until a 484-meter long bridge connected the island to the mainland in 1984. Another bridge of equal length and width was added next to the original in 2005 to double its traffic load capacity.

During the painful and tragic colonial occupation period of the 1930s, except for the Jindo dog breed, all other dog breeds faced extinction when they were slaughtered to make winter coats for the Japanese military. Korea lost most of its indigenous and native dog breeds.

But there are places so remote in Korea, mostly mountainous, that some Sapsarees survived the slaughter, barely.

Ha Seong-Jin (하성진 河成珍 1920-2001), a professor of Veterinary Medicine at Kyungpook National University, rounded up a couple dozen Sapsaree dogs, which were the last known set of Sapsaree dogs, in the 1960s.

When Professor Ha's son, Dr. Ha Ji-hong, who had just returned with his PhD in microbial genetics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, saw his father’s Sapsaree dogs, the breed was in danger of extinction.

The young researcher eventually switched his area of research to animal genetics and proceeded to restore the Sapsaree breed. That was more than 35 years ago. (You can read my 2010 report about bringing back the Sapsaree breed:
https://www.reuters.com/ article/instant-article/ idUSTRE6AG0R920101117

The fact that the Sapsaree breed’s future was not determined by commercial dog breeders but rather by a nonprofit organization enabled the best possible outcome for the breed.

The Sapsaree population has no known defects or genetic problems, which are prevalent in purebred dogs.

Donggyeongyi, the Gyeongju Donggyeong Dog, the Korea's Natural Monument No. 540, was the latest to join the ranks of the protected native breed.

On the outside, Donggyeongyi looks identical to Jindo dogs except it has naturally docked tail. Just as other Korean native breeds, Donggyeongyi is gentle with children and people but fiercely dominant among dogs.

Korea's growing pet industry lacks government mandated rules for spaying and neutering pets at an early age which large cities such as Los Angeles has. The benefits of pets living healthier life and reduction in aggressive behaviors of some animals, not to mention preventing accidental breeding are key to responsible pet ownership. In Los Angeles, the home to the largest population of Koreans outside of Asia, one can see Korean dogs such as Sapsarees and Jindos.

All pets except owned by licensed breeders must be neutered or spayed between four to six months of age, in the city of Angels.

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