Hidden Native Fierce Dogs in Taihang Mountains, Their Charm is Limitless Due to Their Spirit

In the deep mountains of China, there is a Chinese native dog breed called Taihang Dog, which has been largely forgotten by the world. According to historical records, Taihang dogs have been active in this mountain for 3000 years. The earliest Taihang dogs were wild dogs in the Taihang Mountains, belonging to native dog breeds. Now, purebred Taihang dogs are very rare and even on the verge of extinction.

Stretching for eight hundred miles along the Taihang Mountains, it resembles a turquoise dragon coiled across the vast lands of three provinces. Under such complex conditions, it is impossible for Taihang dogs to be consistent across different regions, so the current 'Taihang Dog' is just a broad term. Taihang dogs were widely used in the Taihang Mountains for herding, hunting, and guarding. Living in the mountains, Taihang dogs had to be skilled at hunting, so Taihang dogs' fierceness is worth noticing.

Currently, Taihang dogs still roam freely in the deep mountains, eating what they find in the mountains and drinking water from rivers, living a completely self-sufficient life as native dogs. To survive, Taihang dogs had to hunt to obtain food, so they had to face some challenges from large wild animals. In the early days, there were many fierce birds and beasts in the mountains, so the ancestors of Taihang dogs honed their hunting skills. They could kill small prey and also fight against large wild beasts in groups.

'Mountain King' is the name given to Taihang dogs by the people of the Taihang Mountains, and this is true. Taihang dogs have lived in the deep mountains for generations, protecting the Taihang people from attacks by other wild beasts. However, today's Taihang dogs are still in a semi-wild state, without any protection measures, leading to being hunted by unscrupulous hunters and resulting in a worrying number of deaths.

Taihang dogs inherited the fierce and combative nature of their ancestors. Although they don't have the intimidation of large fierce dogs, their eyes, full of wildness, can directly strike at people's hearts, making people feel scared. This wild and cold light can only be seen in the eyes of wild beasts that have grown up in the mountains for 3000 years, and in 3000 years, many things have changed dramatically, but Taihang dogs have never left this mountain, and they still maintain their wild nature as native dogs.

Adult Taihang dogs stand 50-75 cm tall, but now there are very few over 70 cm. Taihang dogs have a variety of coat colors, including yellow, white, black, four-eyed, gray, blue, black and white, yellow and white, pink and white, and black and white with yellow markings, but the quality of the coat is best in yellow-haired black-mouthed, black-haired chest-white, four-eyed yellow-legged black-backed, and all-white black-mouthed.

Taihang dogs have a large head, a flat forehead, large eyes, and drooping medium-sized ears. When their attention is focused, their ears move forward, resembling the curved hands of a person. Taihang dogs have a short and thick mouth with a slight downward slope of the upper lip and corner of the mouth. Their necks are thick and strong, their backs are straight and flat, their hips are slightly higher, and their tails are curled tightly on their backs, with tail hair measuring 10-20 cm.

Taihang dogs have round paw pads and good bounce. Purebred Taihang dogs generally have two or small paws on the top of their hind legs, commonly known as 'double paws'. The torso ratio of Taihang dogs is generally 1:1.2, which is slightly square. This body proportion allows Taihang dogs to move quickly when climbing hills and mountains, and to be flexible when fighting. Now, this kind of dog is very rare.

People living in the mountains feed and tame the captured young Taihang dogs, using them for humans. Tamed Taihang dogs can not only guard and protect the homestead, but also hunt. Taihang dogs are good at jumping and running in the jungle, which is a very excellent mountain dog. Although Taihang dogs are medium-sized dogs, they will not be afraid of large wild beasts in the mountains, because Taihang dogs are good at(jiǎo) large wild boars.

The function of the breed can be trained after it is cultivated, but its spirit cannot. The spirit is an objective existence that is mysterious and difficult for ordinary people to understand. People with spirits can't understand the Taihang dogs that don't pay attention to them. Taihang dogs with spirits are charming. Currently, Taihang dogs are one of the rare and excellent native dogs in China. Taihang dogs retain the spirit of the wild environment, although they have been interfered with by humans, they still possess wild survival skills. Taihang dogs have spirits, which is undeniable, but the spirit also needs continuous stimulation and inheritance. If humans and dogs do not interact effectively, do not communicate, lack correct guidance and training, it will lose this spirit.