The Dingo by Janice Koler-Matznick

Janice Koler-Matznick grew up with a profound affinity for animals, particularly dogs. Animal and human behavior have always been her main interests. She returned to college in her forties after raising her son, getting a Bachelor of Science in biology and a Master of Science in environmental science. She resumed her education as a self-taught student. Janice is a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Canid Specialist Group, representing the interests of the New Guinea dingo, and is certified in applied animal behavior by the Board of Professional Certification of the Animal Behavior Society.

Janice's education and hands-on experience with dogs and captive wild canids led her to the conclusion that the dog is not a tamed gray wolf, as is popularly believed. Janice kept and researched one of the most primitive dogs, the New Guinea dingo (commonly known as the Singing Dog), as part of her studies. Their conduct was considerably different from that of the gray wolf. Because this dingo is so distinctive and rare, Janice established the New Guinea Singing Dog Conservation Organization in 1996, a small non-profit dedicated to Singer study and preservation.

Janice has worked with hundreds of dogs over the course of her 7 years as the owner of a dog grooming business, 30 years as a professional dog trainer, and another 10 years as an applied dog behaviorist. She also worked with wild canids in captivity. When the owners of a pack of 12 wolves at the Julian Center for Science and Education in Julian, California, had to travel in the 1990s, she stepped in as interim keeper. She also kept a 3/4 wolf hybrid, Cody, from 14 days to 11 months in her home in the early 1980s, until he died tragically, as do many pet wolves and high content hybrids.

Janice got Cody through a connection she made through John Sullivan, PhD, the wolf expert with whom she studied animal behavior at Southern Oregon University, as part of a project to compare Cody to domestic dogs as companion animals. While Dr. Sullivan traveled, she looked after his wolf hybrids, coyotes, and dogs. Janice's encounter with Cody was the first stone in her rejection of the gray wolf as the dog's progenitor. Cody was difficult to keep, and despite being hand-reared and intensively socialized, he was emotionally volatile and rebellious.

Janice has been showing and breeding Rhodesian Ridgebacks under the name Kandu since 1972. Kandu has produced champions in show, lure coursing, and sprint racing, but her major goal has always been to create companion Ridgebacks that are temperamentally sound and healthy.