BALI DOGS GOT YOUR BACK! - By Agra Utari

Dogs are amazing. If we deserve one, we should get one.  With their common label as ‘Man’s best friend’, dogs give you loyalty, devotion, love and protection.  They are always a favorite, whether they become a working dog, a guard, or simply a family companion.
A sweet loving Golden Retriever, the gentle giant Pitbull, or fearless Daschund.  Everyone have their favorites.  My favorite?
It is the versatile, all-in package; the Bali Dog.
Live in Bali, with only Bali dogs to see laying everywhere, and then other breed of dogs came fitting in with the pack.  The difference is too obvious to ignore.

Bali Dogs are Working Dogs
They can be said as indestructible.  Their endurance is unbelievable.  I have met a lot of Bali Dogs who accompany their masters to work and being very helpful about it.
First and the most ancient work they do with Balinese are hunting.  They are natural born hunters.  In some villages near the mountain, Balinese are very dependent to them.  Bali Dogs work as hunters for deer, porcupine, and boars.  No special training from the human, the apprentice dogs simply learn quickly from their seniors.  Their build is small, slim, with pointy ears.  Their legs are strong with their long tail to steer.  Their masters feed them with raw eggs and honey, even boost them more energy.  Their slim body is very aerodynamic, going along the edge of cliffs and jumping in between cliffs.  Their noses are hungry seeking for frightened blood of prey.  No special commands needed, Bali dogs read their humans like an open book. Once they see the hunting preparation; clothes, boots and net, they suddenly changed from family dog to soldiers.  The pack, usually consists of 3-5 dogs, know their position.  Leading at front, side and back.  Penetrating the bushes and forest, carefully listening for any clumsy noise or nervous breath from the prey.  While their humans are extending and putting the net to trap the preys, the dogs are out looking for them.  Once they spot a potential prey, they bark, they spread, they threat, surrounding the prey and take them towards the net.  They do not bite or hurt the prey.  They know their job is to trap the prey and let the humans do the rest.  Again, no training.   All the nervous animals can think of, is to escape from the pack.  Once they got into the net, the humans trap them; the hunter Dogs work is done.  Happy and tired, mission accomplished.  They come home with no reward of being a ‘good boy’, they just love their work to death.

Second famous work that all Bali Dogs have in their curriculum vitae is guarding the field.  Bali farmers are not only working in the rice field, but they also have acres of cocoa, coffee, vanilla, and other herbs and plants.  Bali Dogs which are well known with their loyalty and awareness of their surrounding is put to guard the field 24/7.  They live there, as a host.  They usually stay in the small hut in the middle of the field or on the highest land in their territory, looking around and can always tell if there is stranger coming.  Their fast and flexible body flies to the source of noise and deal with it right away.  Whether it is human, or other animals.  They hunt for their foods if they are hungry which can be used as pest control and also a good source of protein beside the food that their humans bring for them every day.  Still, no training.  No reward.  There are many dogs taking care of their own field, somehow they know their boundaries and not trespassing to the next field that is being guarded by other Bali Dogs.  If somehow they meet and have puppies, they will dig the soil to make a cave, and happy humans are happy to see the next generation of guard dogs.

Bali Dogs are Family Dog
Behind their badass work, they can be a cuddly and loving family dog too.  They are great companion while their humans doing their work.  Going with the father to the field, walking the kids to school, accompanying grandmother to the market, waiting patiently for the mother to finish their cooking.  Bali Dogs are welcoming all the family members coming home with their wagging tail and small howl.  They wake up early, sunbathe and sleep during the day, playing with the pack in their village in the afternoons, and guarding the house at night.  They are always there when the kids playing too rough and soothe them when they are sad.  They are always at front guarding the house when strangers coming in to the house.
They sleep comfortably on the cold floor, or on the warm ground, depending on the day.  They do not require special diet food, just scraps is okay and always look grateful.  They will look for other scraps or looking for small animals if they feel like it.  They get rid of rats and clean themselves when they need to.  They bathe themselves in the rice field mud and wash it away with their tongue later or have a dip in the river nearby.  They can take care of themselves and love the family no matter what.

Sometimes they get so stubborn for being smart they cannot handle to overpower their humans. But the bond is so deep that they understand their position and after a few smacks and yells, they get back to where they were.  They couldn’t be confined or chained.  They are free soul with so much love to give.  They are hippies of the dog world.
Thousands of years of living and staying in this beautiful island, day by day, generation by generation, is enough to make a Bali Dog expert on what they are doing, on reading their humans.  Our gestures never change, as we are just as primitive.  They know exactly what we want, and what they want.  We just have more powers because we have thumbs.  And technology.

With their general and specific use, it is not strange to find the belief of character types based on their length.  These 5 characters are Guna or useful (suitable as hunting dogs, the smartest of all), Jaya or lucky (suitable as family dog, dominant), Paksa or alert (suitable to guard the house or field and not friendly to strangers), Ketek or greedy (very handful, no fuss eater), and Kiul or lazy (suitable as family dog, as not very active).  These 5 characters can help Balinese to find suitable types of dogs that they want.  And funny, it is almost 90% accurate.

So it doesn’t matter if you want an active dog, a low energy dogs, a hunting dogs, a dominant dog, or a dog that will eat all your lunch scraps.  And above all of those, Bali Dog is a very low maintenance dog.  You can cuddle them as much as you want them to get rid of mouse and snakes in your neighborhood.  You can take them for a crazy run in the beach or sit with you enjoying sunset.

​Bali Dogs got your back, and they know it.