Formosan Mountain Dog

The Formosan Mountain Dog, officially called the Taiwan Dog, is a small to medium dog native to Taiwan. It was the hunting dog of the island’s indigenous peoples and is adapted to steep, thickly forested ground. Genetic work traces it back 10,000 to 20,000 years, making it one of the oldest and most primitive breeds. Today it serves as a hunting dog, guard dog, rescue dog and companion.

History

A joint study by Taiwanese and Japanese universities in 1980, which visited 29 indigenous communities, confirmed that the breed descends from South Asian hunting dogs of the pariah type.

Dr. Sung Yung-yi of National Taiwan University described four catastrophes for the breed. Dutch colonists, who arrived in 1624, brought hunting dogs that crossed with the native ones, and they forbade the indigenous people from keeping dogs and killed many. Under Japanese rule from 1895 the dogs were heavily crossed with Japanese breeds. Late in World War II, military German Shepherds accompanying highway construction crews reached the mountains and interbred with them, and the Japanese military killed large numbers of native dogs. After 1945, Sung argued, a dog-eating culture and abandoned foreign dogs did the most damage of all.

When Sung searched mountain villages between 1976 and 1980, only 46 of the 160 dogs he found were of top purity. Pure dogs remain extremely rare, and the small gene pool carries a risk of genetic disorders and unstable behavior. Breeders disagree over whether to preserve the old type or improve it by crossing. The FCI approved a standard in 2015. The breed is now popular across Taiwan as a watchdog and companion.

Appearance

The breed is described as having one medium type and two small ones, with the medium type now the most common. The FCI standard gives males 48–52 cm and 14–18 kg, and females 43–47 cm and 12–16 kg.

The body is sinewy, muscular and nearly square, with a deep chest and a well tucked-up belly. The face is triangular, with almond eyes, thin pricked ears and strong jaws. The tail is sickle-shaped and carried erect. A black coating on the tongue is one of the breed’s most distinctive marks. The coat is short and hard, 1.5 to 3 cm long. Standard colors are black, brindle, fawn, white, and white with black, fawn or brindle.

These dogs are very agile and known for hopping, especially when hunting small animals such as rats. They do not hold a bite. In traditional boar hunts five or six dogs circled the boar, each darting in to wound it and letting go, until it was exhausted.

Temperament

The Formosan is energetic, loyal, affectionate and quick to learn. In unfamiliar surroundings it is wary of strangers and noises and may become fear-aggressive, taking days to settle. It often bonds closely with one member of the family and can be stand-offish with the others. Its alertness makes it a good guard dog, though without training it can become overly protective.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.