Carolina Dog

The Carolina Dog is a primitive dog from America. It is thought to be an immediate forefather of the Native American Dogs that escorted the first human explorers in Western part of the world. This breed was rediscovered only 40 years ago and turned out to be highly intelligent and unique companion for a human.

References to the Carolina Dog have appeared in the written sources within the last 40 years when the scientists stumbled upon this breed. A certain amount of evidence has already piled up to conclude that the dog in a feral form inhabited the American Deep South for hundreds of years. Nowadays it is considered to be a truly ancient breed, which has descended directly from the ancient pariah dog brought along with Asians across the Bering Strait land bridge 8000 years ago.

In the late 1990s Dr. I. Lehr Brisbin, a biology professor at the University of Georgia (USA), has found a stray puppy near county dump of New Ellenton. As the puppy grew the doctor has noticed its peculiar behavioural patterns and appearance, which strongly resembled one of the Dingo. The dog has also very little in common with modern breeds as South Carolina retained in some remote territories where feral canine lived for hundreds of years with few opportunities to cross with domestic dogs. It’s been observed, that the dog’s bone structure looks very alike the remainders of the Neolithic dogs’ bones from Native American burial sites thousands of years old. Eventually it was universally accepted that Dr. Brisbin discovered new breed, which was he named the Carolina Dog.

In recent years the Carolina Dog became more and more popular. It is kept by many families as a companion dog. Some enthusiasts of the breed have also started to use it as a sport dog for agility and competitive obedience. It proved to be a gifted participant of various canine competitions and is rapidly gaining more fanciers.

In 1996, the United Kennel Club (UKC) gave official recognition to the Carolina Dog as a part of the Sighthound & Pariah Group. Later on it was acknowledged with the American Rare breed Association (ARBA). The fanciers are currently working on getting the authorization for the breed into American Kennel Club Foundation Stock Service (AKC-FSS) which is the first step towards complete AKC recognition.

The Carolina Dog has very special temperament. Being a primitive dog it has much milder temper than the breed with similar origin. It tends to be very shy and usually develops tender affection to its master to whom it displays devotion and trust. Majority of the breed members is not really expressive so they prefer to keep distance and act in a restrained manner. Most dogs are going to tolerate children though it’s not a big fan of rough play.

The Carolina Dog tends to be aloof and suspicious around strange people though it is not predisposed to aggressiveness towards them. Appropriate socialisation will surely help in bringing up civil and polite dog but certainly won’t make amicably and easy-going creature out of it. The dog is suitable for warning the owner about possible intruder, as it’s prone to be vigilant and alert. The level of aggression varies from member to member but typically the Carolina Dog won’t show enough of it to become a good guard dog.

The Carolina Dog worked in packs to kill the prey so it can establish a tight companionship with other canine animal. It’s also worth to consider that dog is really exigent when things concern installing the hierarchy in the pack. Therefore initial fights between strange dogs are almost inevitable. This dog can put up with a home cat in case that it got properly acquainted and trained with it. The same goes with other home pets though it’s important to take into account that nothing can entirely eradicate strong prey drive in the Carolina dog.

The most common problems for the breed include:

• canine hip dysplasia;
• elbow dysplasia;
• patellar luxation;
• eye problems;
• cancer;
• demodex mange.

The coat of the Carolina Dog requires minimum care. It’s going to benefit from brushing on a regular basis but won’t ever need a professional attendance. The dog should be bathed only occasionally.

The Carolina Dog offers a great training challenge. It’s not the dog with natural willingness to please so it demands a fair amount of dedication and time from the trainer to get some noticeable results. Having said that, the dog is believed to be more talented in learning than other primitive breeds.

The owners of the breed praise its intelligence, which can be manifested to the fullest with the assistance of committed handler. The Carolina Dog’s intelligence allows the dog to excel in different canine sports, especially in competitive obedience and agility.

In the wild environment the Carolina Dog must keep itself perfectly fit just to survive. There it gets plenty opportunities for physical activity which can’t be provided by the owner of its domesticated variety.

At a bare minimum, an hour of vigorous daily walk is required to keep your dog reasonably fit and satisfied. It can be readily engaged in all sorts of physical trials and will make up outstanding camping, hiking, and jogging companion. The Carolina Dog isn’t recommended for life in an apartment though it can get used to the suburban area.