My dad recalls seeing these dogs when he visited his grandmother in northern Korean (now North Korea).   His grandmother had a female with puppies, and my dad remembers being surprised that they had no tail.  They called them Doong gae at the time (a North Korean pronounciation).

A few years ago, the Dong Gae (also known as Daeng Kyun) reappeared in the news.  There were a couple of dogs that were found and they were x-rayed.  The dogs completely lacked any tail bones.

In order to continue on with this trait, they were bred with Jindo-type dogs to widen their gene pool.  Subsequent generations developed a bob-tail instead of the completely absent tail.
 
 

  

It is difficult for me to gauge, but the word "Dong gae" or "Daeng kyun" might have evolved to mean any bob-tailed dog now.

   
 

last updated 9/20/06