Pungsan Dog
Encyclopedia
The Pungsan or Poongsan (Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
: 풍산개; Hanja
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
: ) is a breed of hunting dog from North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
. They receive their name from the mountainous northern county of P'ungsan, now Kimhyŏnggwŏn
Kimhyonggwon
Kimhyŏnggwŏn is a kun, or county, in southeastern Ryanggang province, North Korea. It borders South Hamgyong to the south. Previously known as Pungsan, it was renamed by Kim Il Sung in 1990. He named it after his uncle, Kim Hyong Kwon...
, where they were first bred. They are a very rare dog, and are hardly known outside of North Korea.
Appearance
The Pungsan is a mixed breed with wolf found in North Korea. Pungsan have a thick coat, usually white in color. They have a curled tail and pricked ears. The Pungsan's fur is very fine and thick to account for the cold winters in the northern Korean peninsula. Pungsan are a common breed in North Korea. Though this breed is extremely rare outside of North Korea, there are few breeders in South Korea and even in the United States.Pungsan dogs are very strong and agile because of their past in mountainous regions. They have traditionally been used for hunting large animals, including Amur Tiger
Amur Tiger
The Siberian tiger , also known as the Amur tiger, is a tiger subspecies inhabiting mainly the Sikhote Alin mountain region with a small subpopulation in southwest Primorye province in the Russian Far East. In 2005, there were 331–393 adult-subadult Amur tigers in this region, with a breeding adult...
s. They have a lot of stamina and therefore require extensive exercise.
Due to their hunting personality, Pungsan pups will have a tendency to chew on several things so it is recommendable to give the dog things to chew.
Pungsan tend to be loyal to their owners and whoever they are comfortable with. Everyone else will be ignored, unless they invade in what is to be perceived as their space or territory. They'll only bark at other people when it is necessary to do so. However, due to the breed still being closely linked to the wolf, aggression and a high prey drive are typical and to be expected.
History
Though the origins of the Pungsan dog is not known, it is believed they were bred as hunting dogs as early as the Yi dynasty. It is known that they originated in the mountainous north of Korea in P'ungsan county (now known as KimhyŏnggwŏnKimhyonggwon
Kimhyŏnggwŏn is a kun, or county, in southeastern Ryanggang province, North Korea. It borders South Hamgyong to the south. Previously known as Pungsan, it was renamed by Kim Il Sung in 1990. He named it after his uncle, Kim Hyong Kwon...
. Their thick coat is a protection against the freezing temperatures of northern Korea, and they were bred to be resistant to the cold. In old Korean tales, the dogs were famous for their cleverness and loyalty, as well as their hunting ability; there is even a famous story of a Pungsan defeating a Siberian tiger.
