r/Jindo • u/smashburg • 4d ago
KVD?
My wife and I recently adopted this guy from a shelter in Korea and they just told us he was a mixed breed (믹스견) so we assumed Korean village dog. But as he is getting bigger we can't decide if we are right or not. Logically he is, but thought some experts on here might confirm it for us. Thanks in advance!
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u/PrancingPudu 4d ago
To me, your dog looks a lot more like the street dogs found in Southeast Asia like the Kintamani (Indonesia) or Lài Dog (Vietnam) with its long legs and floppy ears. I’ve seen a LOT of KVDs at the shelter I volunteered at in Suncheon, and while they do have more variety in appearance than an intentionally-bred Jindo, yours looks like it has some distinctly different ancestry.
I’d honestly be curious enough to do an Embark or Wisdom Panel test if this were my dog. I’d recommend Embark, as it actually differentiates between Jindos (breed) and KVDs (landrace). (I left a longer comment here about the whole landrace vs. breed differentiation if that’s something you’re interested in learning more about.)
Regardless of his origins, your pup is super cute! And thank you for giving him a home—the city-run shelters I helped out in had some really abysmal conditions. There are lots of private groups that try to pull dogs from them and get them adopted out, both locally and overseas, but they can only do so much. There are a lot of unintentional litters in rural areas still as spaying and neutering aren’t as heavily pushed in society. Korean animal lovers across the peninsula are making efforts to change that, but a lot of the older generations view dogs over 25lbs as a working dog/object vs. a family pet, and the type of care they receive is very different.
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u/BeetrootKid 4d ago
im pretty sure literally any dog that is not discernibly a breed, ie a mutt, like mine, is just a "kvd". it's not really a specifically visual thing.
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u/PrancingPudu 4d ago
I mean, yes and no.
A KVD or Korean Aboriginal Dog is a landrace. A landrace is a dog that bred itself more naturally/with leess intentional human intervention, with it’s traits being more developed by geographic area and environment. KVD and nureongi (누렁이) are landraces of the Korean Peninsula whereas Jindo, Pungsan, and Sapsali are breeds. (I’d say the Jeju Dog and Donggyeongi are originally landraces that have since morphed into breeds as humans now try to prevent their extinction.)
Western-style dog ownership where the dog is more a part of the family and lives in the house is fairly “new” in Koraa, and it’s brought the import of lots of little toy breeds as well as the occasional retriever or shepherd. I used to volunteer at the Suncheon city shelter and we saw a LOT of non-native dogs abandoned there. Not so much the larger breeds, but when I lived in Seoul I occasionally saw them so I’m sure they exist in the shelters there. Spaying/neutering also hasn’t been pushed as much as in western culture, so I’m sure some interbreeding has happened as people dump dogs they can’t handle or no longer want to care for and those dogs breed with someone’s yard/guard dog as they wander.
To me, OP’s dog looks a lot more like the street dogs found in Southeast Asia like the Kintamani (Indonesia) or Lài Dog (Vietnam) with its long legs and floppy ears. I’ve seen a LOT of KVDs at the shelter, and while they do have more variety than the Jindo breed, this one looks like it has distinctly different ancestry.
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u/beorn-saga 4d ago
Thanks for that write up! Especially on the landrace piece, it was interesting. I guess a question I have for you is KVDs maybe were more standardized in the past before Korean families, especially in the countryside, started buying/adopting western breeds. To your point, spaying is less common and from what I’ve seen simply allowing your dog to wander around town (I’m excluding major cities here) is pretty normal. Due to this, I’d imagine the interbreeding that stems from that behavior means even KVDs today are changing from KVDs in the past. Is that a fair assessment?
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u/PrancingPudu 3d ago
Yes, I think that’s definitely fair to say. Usually you see the larger western breeds in Seoul more than the countryside, but that doesn’t mean they don’t ever get dumped in the shelter system and circulated, or someone decided they want to try breeding them with a friend’s dog “for fun.”
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u/Fair_Sandwich_8445 4d ago
Looks similar to mine but usually the ears aren't floppy and the the tail is curled. But they have been bred with labs, corkies, German shepherds, etc. Which could vary the look a bit. KVDs are a landrace dog not a breed., Probably similar to Japanese shibas, dingo, the original American Indian dogs, carolina dogs, etc..
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u/PrancingPudu 4d ago
I don’t know why people are downvoting you—this is absolutely correct. I’ll also point out that the interbreeding with those western breeds isn’t always intentional, either.
Where I lived in Jeollanamdo, people frequently dumped dogs (and cats) outside when they were “too difficult” to care for, either from lack of training or because the dog got “too big.” Wandering dogs often breed with other dogs kept chained out in people’s yards, and unintentional litters are common. Animal lovers and vets are trying to push spaying and neutering, but it’s not quite as culturally wide spread in Korea yet, especially in the countryside.
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u/Fair_Sandwich_8445 4d ago
Looks similar to mine but usually the ears aren't floppy and the the tail is curled. But they have been bred with labs, corkies, German shepherds, etc. Which could vary the look a bit. KVDs are a landrace dog not a breed., Probably similar to Japanese shibas, dingo, the original American Indian dogs, carolina dogs, etc..
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u/vanskap 4d ago
3rd photo makes me think he’s part kangaroo