The Carolina dog, also known as a yellow dog, yaller dog, American Dingo, or Dixie Dingo, is a

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of medium-sized

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

occasionally found

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

, especially in isolated stretches of

longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

s and

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s. Efforts to establish them as a standardized breed has gained the Carolina Dog

recognition in two smaller kennel clubs and full acceptance into the breed-establishment program of one major kennel club. Originally a

landrace A landrace is a domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism, and due to isolation ...

breed, the Carolina dog was rediscovered living as free-roaming population by I. Lehr Brisbin Jr., though originally documented in American dog-related publications in the 1920s. Carolina dogs show admixture with dog breeds from east Asia.

Discovery

One of the earliest publications to document the "Indian" dogs of North America was an article by

Glover Morrill Allen Glover Morrill Allen (February 8, 1879 – February 14, 1942) was an American zoology, zoologist. He was born at Walpole, New Hampshire, the son of Reverend Nathaniel Glover Allen and Harriet Ann (Schouler) Allen, and studied at Harvard University ...

in 1920. Allen postulated that these "Larger or Common Indian Dogs" were descended from Asian primitive dogs: Allen cites late nineteenth-century studies of skeletal remains of dogs that could be found from Alaska to Florida to the

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and ...

and westward to the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

, and were excavated from Indian mounds as well: These dogs were publicized by I. Lehr Brisbin Jr., a senior research

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reservation in the United States in the state of South Carolina, located on land in Aiken, Allendale, and Barnwell counties adjacent to the Savannah River, southeast of Augus ...

, who first came across a Carolina dog while working at the

Savannah River Site The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reservation in the United States in the state of South Carolina, located on land in Aiken, Allendale, and Barnwell counties adjacent to the Savannah River, southeast of August ...

, which was depopulated and secured of all trespass and traffic for decades beginning in 1950.

Establishment and recognition

Since 1996, Carolina dogs can be registered with the

United Kennel Club The United Kennel Club (UKC) is a kennel club founded in 1898 in the United States. In contrast with the American Kennel Club, which is non-profit and which only clubs can join, the United Kennel Club is a profit-making corporation, open to indivi ...

(UKC), which has published a detailed, formal Carolina Dog

breed standard In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athletic ...

. UKC focuses on

hunting dog A hunting dog is a canine that hunts with or for hunters. There are several different types of hunting dog developed for various tasks and purposes. The major categories of hunting dog include hounds, terriers, dachshunds, cur type dogs, and g ...

s and other

working dog A working dog is a dog used to perform practical tasks, as opposed to pet or companion dogs. Definitions vary on what a working dog is, they are sometimes described as any dog trained for and employed in meaningful work; other times as any dog w ...

s, and categorizes the Carolina in their "

Sighthound & Pariah Group Sighthounds, also called gazehounds, are a type of dog, hounds that hunt primarily by sight and speed, rather than by scent and endurance as scent hounds do. Appearance These dogs specialize in pursuing prey, keeping it in sight, and overpow ...

", along with other breeds such as the

Basenji The Basenji ( /bəˈsɛndʒi/) is a breed of hunting dog. It was bred from stock that originated in central Africa. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale places the breed in the Spitz and primitive types. The Basenji produces an unusual y ...

of Africa and the

Thai Ridgeback The Thai Ridgeback ( th, ไทยหลังอาน, ) is a dog from Thailand. The Thai Ridgeback is one of only three breeds that has a ridge of hair that runs along its back in the opposite direction to the rest of the coat. The other tw ...

. A breed standard has also been issued by the

American Rare Breed Association The American Rare Breed Association (ARBA) is a kennel club for owners and fanciers of dog breeds and types not recognised by the American Kennel Club The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States ...

(ARBA). ARBA includes the Carolina in their ''Group 5'' along with the

Canaan dog The Canaan Dog is the oldest breed of pariah dog still existing and abundant across the Middle East. It can be found in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and the Sinai Peninsula, and these, or dogs nearly identical, were also found in Iraq and ...

and the

New Guinea singing dog The New Guinea singing dog or New Guinea Highland dog is an ancient ( basal) lineage of dog found in the New Guinea Highlands, on the island of New Guinea. Once considered to be a separate species in its own right, under the name ''Canis hallstr ...

. In July 2017, the

American Kennel Club The American Kennel Club (AKC) is a registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States. In addition to maintaining its pedigree registry, this kennel club also promotes and sanctions events for purebred dogs, including the Westminster Kenn ...

(AKC, the largest dog breed registry in the United States) accepted the Carolina Dog breeding program into its Foundation Stock Service (FSS), the first step toward official AKC breed recognition. AKC has the dog listed under their "

Hound A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey. Description Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. T ...

" group.

Description

Carolina dogs are a medium-sized; height ranges from , and weight from . The ears are characteristic and are erect, very long, and moderately slender, tapering way up to elegantly pointed tips and they can be individually turned to the direction of any sound, providing extremely sensitive hearing. The dog ranges in build from muscular yet slender and graceful to somewhat stockier animals. The dogs' legs are also graceful but strong. The hind midsection is firm and narrow. The overall build in a healthy, properly fed Carolina dog is svelte to somewhat stockier, strong and athletic. Paws are relatively large. The snout and the notably elongated, fox-like ears are

spitz Spitz (derived from the German word ''spitz'' 'pointed') is a type of domestic dog characterized by long, thick, and often white fur, and pointed ears and muzzles. The tail often curls over the dog's back or droops. While all of the breeds rese ...

-like. The tail is usually upturned and often has a hooked kink in it. The coat is usually short and smooth, characteristic of a warm-climate dog. Colors vary, and may include reddish ginger, buff,

fawn Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

, black-and-tan, or

piebald A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backgro ...

with or without white areas on toes, chest, tail tip and muzzle. The eyes are at an

oblique angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle is the figure formed by two rays, called the '' sides'' of the angle, sharing a common endpoint, called the ''vertex'' of the angle. Angles formed by two rays lie in the plane that contains the rays. Angles are ...

and almond shaped. The eyes vary in color, but are usually dark brown or medium to dark orange. The area along the edges of the eyes is often (but not always) a distinctive black "eyeliner" coloration which becomes more pronounced by contrast in lighter-colored dogs. The lips are often black, even in light-colored dogs. Frequently, puppies have a

melanistic mask A melanistic mask (also referred to as a mask or masking) is a dog coat pattern that gives the appearance of a mask on the dog's face. The hairs on the muzzle, and sometimes entire face or ears, are colored by eumelanin instead of pheomelanin pi ...

that usually fades as the adult coat comes in.

Behavior

Breeding in the wild

Female Carolina dogs have three estrus cycles in quick succession, which settle into seasonal reproductive cycles when there is an abundance of puppies. This is thought to ensure quick breeding in the wild before diseases, like

heartworm ''Dirofilaria immitis'', also known as heartworm or dog heartworm, is a parasitic roundworm that is a type of filarial worm, a small thread-like worm, that causes dirofilariasis. It is spread from host to host through the bites of mosquitoes. ...

, take their toll.

DNA evidence

Brisbin (1997) conjectured that some of the Carolina dog's ancestors arrived with prehistoric Americans. In 2013, a study looked at the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sampled from Carolina dogs. The study showed that 58% of the dogs carried universal haplotypes that could be found around the world (haplotypes A16, A18, A19, and B1), 5% carried haplotypes associated with Korea and Japan (A39), and 37% carried a unique haplotype (A184) that had not been recorded before, and that is part of the a5 mtDNA sub-

haplogroup A haplotype is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent, and a haplogroup (haploid from the el, ἁπλοῦς, ''haploûs'', "onefold, simple" and en, group) is a group of similar haplotypes that share ...

that originated in East Asia. In contrast, the

Australian dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient ( basal) lineage of dog found in Australia. Its taxonomic classification is debated as indicated by the variety of scientif ...

and the

both belong to haplotype A29 which is in the a2 sub-haplogroup, hence there is no genetic relationship in the mtDNA. Also in 2013, another study of several dog breeds in the Americas – among them the Carolina dog, the

Peruvian Hairless Dog The Peruvian Hairless Dog, Peruvian viringo, naked dog, or Chimú dog is one of several breeds of hairless dog. It is native to Peru and it is usually raised as a pet. It has been officially recognized as part of Peru's cultural heritage. ...

, and the Chihuahua indicated an ancient migration from East Asia. In 2015, a study was conducted using mitochondrial (female lineage marker),

Y-chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...

(male lineage marker), and

autosomal An autosome is any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome. The members of an autosome pair in a diploid cell have the same morphology, unlike those in allosome, allosomal (sex chromosome) pairs, which may have different structures. The DNA in au ...

genetic markers in 4,676 purebred dogs from 161 breeds and 549 village dogs from 38 countries. The study tested for the degree of admixture with European breed dogs. The study found no yDNA haplotypes indigenous to North American dogs outside of the Arctic. However, the mtDNA of Carolina dogs contained between 10%–35% pre-Columbian ancestry (mtDNA haplotype A184) that clustered with East Asian dogs. In 2018, a study compared sequences of fossil North American dogs with fossil Siberian dogs and modern dogs. The study indicates that dogs entered North America from Siberia 4,500 years after humans first arrived, were isolated for 9,000 years, and became extinct after European contact when they were replaced by Eurasian dogs; the pre-contact dogs exhibit a unique genetic signature that is now gone, with their nearest genetic relatives being the Arctic dog breeds. Three Carolina dogs in the study exhibited up to 33% pre-contact / arctic lineage, however the study could not rule out this being the result of admixture with modern Arctic dog breeds.

Notes

References

External links

Official United Kennel Club site, Breed information on Carolina dog
{{American dogs Dog breeds originating from Indigenous Americans Dog breeds originating in the United States Dog landraces Feral dogs Rare dog breeds South Carolina culture