[6] In 2012, Australian wilderness-adventure guide Tom Hewett took a photo of a tawny, thick-coated dog in the Puncak Mandala region of West Papua, Indonesia.

[18]In 1954, collectors for the Australian Museum observed these dogs around villages situated at 8,000 ft (2,400 m) on Mount Giluwe in the Southern Highlands Province.

[1] The dogs were sent to Sir Edward Hallstrom, who had set up a native animal study center in Nondugi, and from there to the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia.

[20] In 1957, Ellis Troughton examined the two singing dog specimens from the Taronga Zoo and classified them as a distinct species Canis hallstromi in honour of Hallstrom.

– Male holotype, female allotype, in possession of Sir Edward Hallstrom at Taronga Zoological Park, Sydney, for eventual lodgment in the collection of the Australian Museum.General characters:Muzzle or rostral region short and narrow in contrast with the remarkable facial or bi-zygomatic width, imparting the strikingly vulpine or fox-like appearance.

This comparison is sustained in the narrow body and very short bushy tail which measures little more than one third of the combined head-and-body length, with the width of the brush a fraction under 4 in (10 cm).

The fleshy, softly furred, triangulate ears remain erect, though rounded and curved forward in conch-like fashion.Colour (Ridgway[b]) of the head a clear tawny brown; the back a darker russet-brown owing to the admixture of blackish-brown hairs, the darker hairs enclosing a yellowish "saddlemark" somewhat more conspicuous in the female.

Outer shoulders and hips clear ochraceous-tawny; tail about tawny-olive brindled above with blackish-brown, tip white; four paws whitish.

Most of these dogs in New Guinea are domesticated with large numbers being kept by widows and bachelors, with hunters keeping at least two for assisting them with hunting.

[16] The limbs and spine of the New Guinea singing dog are very flexible and they can spread their legs sideways to 90°, comparable to the Norwegian Lundehund.

[16] Tim Flannery's short 1989 report on dogs in the mountains of Papua New Guinea described them as "extraordinarily shy" and "almost preternaturally canny.

Bino conjectured that these dogs are highly mobile and forage alone and concluded that they therefore might use several hiding places in their home range.

The dogs observed did not show the typical canid play bow; however, Imke Voth found this behaviour during examinations in the 1980s.

[35] Several behaviours unique to New Guinea singing dogs have been noted:[16] Additionally, New Guinea singing dogs have an unusual form of auto-erotic stimulation, which includes a strong tendency to target the genitals for both playful and aggressive bites, a cheek-rub that may be a marking behaviour and a tooth-gnashing threat.

During estrus, when potential partners are present, same-sex New Guinea singing dogs often fight to the point of severe injury.

[36][page needed] New Guinea singing dogs are named for their distinctive and melodious howl, which is characterized by a sharp increase in pitch at the start and very high frequencies at the end.

It is a high-frequency pulsed signal whose spectral appearance suggests a continuous source that is periodically interrupted, and might last as long as 800 milliseconds.

[36][page needed] The New Guinea singing dog possesses an annual seasonality, and if not impregnated will have a second estrus within a few weeks after the end of the first.

Female New Guinea singing dogs are protective of their young and will aggressively attack their male counterpart if they suspect he poses a danger to the pups.

The 1956 dogs obtained by Papua New Guinea District Officer J.P. Sinclair and his medical assistant Albert Speer (see 'Taxonomic history' section above) were obtained from the Levani Valley, located in what is now North Koroba Rural LLG, Hela Province, Papua New Guinea, and were sent to Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia.

In his 1998 book Throwim Way Leg, Tim Flannery states that the dokfuma (which he describes as sub-alpine grassland with the ground being sodden moss, lichens and herbs growing atop a swamp) at 3,200 meters elevation had plenty of New Guinea singing dogs, which could usually be heard at the beginning and end of each day.

It needs to be made clear, however, that "wild-living" does not necessarily mean that canines observed by natives are New Guinea singing dogs.

In a valley flanked by waterfalls on both sides among approximately 4 km (13,000 ft) high limestone peaks, replete with such flora and fauna as cycads, grasses and blooms of the highlands, cuscuses, possums, tree kangaroos, unidentified ground-nesting birds in swamp grass, and a bird-of-paradise species heard but not seen, Hewitt relates that his veteran trek guide called out "dog" four times and pointed to fetch Hewitt and his trek client from their explorations behind large boulders and have them realize that ahead and above the guide and camp cook on a rocky outcrop was a dog, in Hewitt's words "not scared, but...genuinely curious...as we were of it, and it certainly felt like a rare meeting for both sides.

While the guide had at first approached "quite close", the dog retreated as the party came toward it, though it stayed on the hillside while being photographed for a mutual observation session of about 15 minutes.

Hewitt and Wendt observe that West Papuan locals report that sightings are rare, and that New Guinea singing dogs have not been domesticated by current human inhabitants of their area.

It was reported in the mid-1970s that the Kalam in the highlands of Papua caught young New Guinea singing dogs and raised them as hunting aids, but did not breed them.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the inhabitants of the highlands started to keep chickens, and New Guinea singing dogs had a penchant for poultry.

[39][16][31] A study published in 2021 surveyed owners of New Guinea singing dogs living in North America as companion animals.

However, due to its potential value as a resource for the determination of the process of domestication, particularly in relation to the dingo, as well as several of its unique genetic, behavioural, ecological, reproductive and morphological characteristics, limited research has been undertaken.

New Guinea singing dogs are handicapped, as are many canids such as the Australian dingo, by their susceptibility to being bred by canines other than those of their own kind.