The Australian Dingo is Australia’s native dog. They are thought to have originally appeared in Asia over 10000 years ago as a descendant of one of man’s first attempts to tame the wolf. The arrival of the dingo in Australia is estimated at being approximately 5000 years ago. Cattle Farmers in Australia managed to mate Dingos with the weaker English dogs in the 1800s giving rise to the tougher Australian Cattle Dog breeds. The modern Australian Cattle Dog is typically a ‘Blue’ or ‘Red Heeler’ breed.
Dingoes have some unique characteristics that set them apart from domestic dogs – for starters they cannot bark – only howl. Hearing a pack of howling dingoes in the Australian bush can be a haunting sound.
Some other characteristics that set the Dingo apart from normal domesticated dogs includes their ability to turn its head through almost 180 degrees in each direction. The wrists on a dingo are also an interesting feature – they can actually rotate. This enables Dingoes to actually use their paws more like hands.
Usually a ginger or sandy color with white chests, pure Dingoes are slowly disappearing in the Australian bush due to cross breeding with Domestic dogs. The purest Dingoes can be found on Fraser Island in Queensland.