The South Korea's native dog of Jindo Island, located in the southwestern region of the Korean peninsula, is called Jindo-gae which is internationally protected as a natural treasure. In 1938, Jindo-gae was designated as a Korea Natural Treasure No. 53. Jindo-gae is watchful of other dogs and may react aggressively to intruding dogs on its own territory. It is highly intelligent and responds best to positive reinforcement training preferably from its owner.
The appearance of Jindo-gae gives the impression of intelligence, strength, and agility. It is a medium-sized Spitz-type hunting dog with an exceptionally strong spirit. It is a fiercely loyal and single master dog so it won't do well in its second home. It is sturdily built dog with a harsh, straight coat of medium length, an octagonal-shaped head, prick ears, and a thick tail. The body is either square or slightly longer than tall. Typically, males are larger with heavier heads while females have more fox-like heads.
Jindo-gae is renowned for its royalty and attachment to family members and home: it has been well known to travel long distances to return to its original owner. Jindo-gae is devoted to its master but it is aloof and suspicious toward strangers. There have been numerous anecdotes related to Jindo-gae in Korea telling its loyalty to the first master, its attachment to the master's home, its intelligence, or its working abilities. The following is a true story about a Jindo-gae named "Baekgu" in 1995.
Baekgu's master sold Baekgu because the master had been in difficulties for money: because of its hunting skills and loyalty to a master, young pure bred Jindo-gae can be sold for good money in Korea. The person who bought Baekgu was living in a city where was about 160 miles away from Baekgu's first home. When Baekgu left home following its new master, the former master's daughter wept over because Baekgu was her best friend. A few days after, Baekgu's former master heard a news that Baekgu was missing or probably ran away from its new home. As time went by, Baekgu's former master and his family felt deep sorrow for Baekgu, assuming that it was lost forever. However, after about three months later, the daughter spotted Baekgu barely standing with its three feet in front of house. She ran to it and hugged it, crying out loud his name. Baekgu was extremely skinny and half of the body was pretty much damaged. Moreover, it couldn't use one of its legs with flesh exposing. This story of Baekgu returning home from 160 miles far made news some weeks later and people who heard the news send some money to the family, so the family could keep Baekgu forever to be a happy ending of a real story.