Kiona the Australian Kelpie x Dingo mix as a pup at 8 weeks old —"Kiona is a very playful puppy who makes small howls to get your attention. Her coat turned much more orange. The all black stripe down her spine and tail have disappeared. Her white socks on her feet have become more prominent. Kiona grew into a big dog who loves chicken carcass from the butchers. She also is very good at jumping. Kiona plays a game with the local birds. She lays her lamb cuts and chicken carcass out on the grass waiting and hiding in the bushes until a bird comes to inspect the food. She then slowly waits and charges out. So far no bird yet but she has been close. Kiona will take random things from the house whether it be a dropped crumb or my shoes to a hidden spot, which took me weeks to find! She is a digger and loves burying things for later! She is a very affectionate and loyal puppy. She has jumped up onto my bed when she hears my partner come home late. She woke me up by scratching the pillow. We have a spare room and there is a bed in it which Kiona believes is her room. We leave the back door open for her and while we were both busy cooking and cleaning I went to look for her. She had drug a fern tree onto the bed and chewed it up everywhere. As my partner cleaned it up Kiona pulled on his shorts as if to say NO that’s mine. Kiona goes for an hour walk every day. She goes running and socializing with other dogs in the park. Training a dog with half Dingo in her is difficult. You have to show power and that you are the leader and you have to make them listen. We use pieces of meat to train her to come, sit and to fetch. She knows her name as I have sat there as you would with a child and said her name in the same tone repeatedly to her making eye contact. This is the same for the other commands. Eye contact with Dingos is important. It lets them know you are the boss. We are currently training her with schedules. When one of us gets up we will open the back door and she goes outside. We have had dinner at the same time everynight for the past 3 weeks and she now knows when something goes in the microwave the be defrosted she gets food. Toilet training her was the hardest as she pooped in my shoe once. It was upsetting."
The Dingo Kelpie is not a purebred dog. It is a cross between the Australian Kelpie and the Dingo. The best way to determine the temperament of a mixed breed is to look up all breeds in the cross and know you can get any combination of any of the characteristics found in either breed. Not all of these designer hybrid dogs being bred are 50% purebred to 50% purebred. It is very common for breeders to breed multi-generation crosses.
