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New Guinea Singing Dogs and the Ideologies of Wildness

PhD Dissertation - Canis Obscura: The Social Construction of New Guinea Singing Dogs at the Intersection of Wild and Domestic

My doctoral research examines how the New Guinea Singing Dog (NGSD)—a rare and often misunderstood canid—is socially constructed through science, conservation discourse, and owner experience. NGSDs inhabit a paradoxical identity: wild dogs of New Guinea, zoo specimens in North America and Europe, and companion animals in private homes.

While most existing literature focuses on wild or zoo-based populations, my work centers the lived experiences of owners caring for NGSDs as household companions. Through ethnographic interviews, video diaries, digital ethnography, and discourse analysis, I investigate how ideologies of wildness and domestication shape human care practices, expectations, and relationships.

This project draws on science and technology studies (STS), multispecies ethnography, and critical ideology critique, particularly where biological determinism, colonialism, biopolitics and conservation narratives intersect with lived animal agency.
Presentations on this work:

Sumridge, Molly (June 2025) Wild or Domestic? The Role of Ideological Frameworks in Shaping Owner Care Practices for New Guinea singing dogs (NGSDs) Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Anthrozoology, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Sumridge, Molly (November 2022) “Studying Liminal Identities” - Developing a multimodal approach to explore the lives of New Guinea singing dogs living as companion animals Anthrozoology as International Practice (AIP) conference, University of Exeter, England

Sumridge, Molly (July 2022) “Re-Viewing the Many Dimensions of Domestication”: A hermeneutic review of animal domestication. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Anthrozoology, Boise ID

Past work on the topic:

Thesis title: “Owner-reported attachment and behavior characteristics of New Guinea singing dogs living as companion animals “ (published in Anthrozoos 2021)

Poster Presentation:

Sumridge, Molly. (July 2019). Owner-reported attachment and behavior characteristics of New Guinea singing dogs living as companion animals. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Anthrozoology, Orlando, Florida.
Winner: “Best Student Poster”