The African wild dog, also called the painted dog due to its spotty pelt, is typically found in sub-Saharan Africa.

They only have four toes per foot (unlike regular dogs, which have five toes) and are easily identified by their large, rounded ears.

African wild dogs live in packs that are usually dominated by a monogamous breeding pair. Living in groups is key to their survival because they hunt as a pack, and they’re highly social animals.

Unfortunately, the wild dog has become endangered over the years. Farmers see them as a threat to their livestock, and urban expansion has destroyed much of their natural habitat.

When a pack doesn’t have enough female dogs, the males will sometimes branch off to find females elsewhere. Unfortunately, due to the scarcity of the dogs, this could mean that the pack thins even more and more dogs are lost.

That’s where Cole du Plessis and his unconventional dog pairing methods come in.

Per GearJunkie, his efforts to join two packs are crucial to keeping wild dog numbers up.

In the following short film, you can see du Plessis and fellow biologist Wes Larson bringing the dogs together in what Larson describes as the “most high-stakes blind dog date ever”:

If you can move past the terrible voiceover, it’s the perfect eight-minute hiatus from the workday.

If you need more procrastination fuel, you can read about the African wild dog here.

[source:gearjunkie]