Posted on 12/27/2014 2:48:28 AM PST by blam
Story by Cy Brown
Photos by Kaylinn Gilstrap
Deember 27, 2014
He got Penny for Christmas. He didnt know he would get a trip into the deepest reaches of the 14,000-year history of dogs in North America.
Things we love in the South: Moon Pies, SEC football, Otis Redding, Flannery OConnor, Cheerwine and, probably more than anything else, our dogs.
What is it about Southerners and our dogs?
Maybe it's because in the South, we're a bit more country than our cousins to the north. Perhaps we are a generation or two fewer removed from the time when having a dog was essential to surviving and living off the land. Our four-legged brethren are a bridge between that wild past and a civilized present. We take them into the woods with us and let them sniff out our game and then retrieve it for us. We train them to protect our property. And they do this in exchange for a warm place to sleep, a full belly and the love of a human family.
We love dogs because they were shaped by us and their history runs concurrently with ours.
(snip)
But you may have never heard of the most Southern dog alive.
This dog's ancient bloodlines were never altered by humans. Its ancestors crossed the Bering Strait with the first humans ever to settle this land I'm talking about North America, not just the South.
(snip)
They're called Carolina Dogs some folks call them Dixie Dingoes and I have one.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at bittersoutherner.com ...
My husband said when he was in Vet school, they were already doing this. Most of these unqualified ones flunked out as they were just not good enough to get through the very grueling program. They took a spot that a qualified student could have had.
Your girls are just gorgeous.
Thanks! They were rescues. I picked them up off the highway when they were about 6-weeks old. I talked to the people that owned them (that were letting them play on the highway) and they told me to keep them because they had five more going to the shelter the next day. I don't regret it for a second!
Molly (Cane Corso Italian Mastiff) was a Rescue, 44 lbs when We got Her. Pushing about 90 lbs now and all Her wounds are healed up.
Bella (Boxer) was a WalMart parking lot purchase and turns out was born about 3/4 mile down the road from the house.
The only way to separate those two is with chains and a Backhoe.
Yep!
I really enjoyed this article and sent it on to my son who works at the Savannah River Installation (cooped up in one of those offices). He should get out on the grounds and look for a dog.
For later reference. Very interesting, thanks for posting.
Bookmark.
I've learned that floppy ears (all animals) comes with domestication.
Floppy Ears, White Patches Symptoms Of 'Domestication Syndrome'
I love the pricked ears. All three of our Feists have ears that stand up but a lot of Feist’s ears fold over like a Jack Russell. I have never had a Carolina dog but I have heard they are awesome dogs. Dog’s with a little bit of “feral” in them seem to have a lot of good sense. LOL
Beautiful!
Here are all three.
True dat....my niece had to enroll in a vet school in the Caribbean........
Your Feists are beautiful though.
Wow. I thought I had a mutt.
Two years ago I adopted a yellow dog with a curved tail from a vet in Gastonia, NC whose owner had passed and the family had abandoned it at the vet.
She escaped euthanasia twice before I ended up with her. She was adopted and returned twice before I got her.
I was told and believed she was a husky mix, maybe some shepherd. Did some googling after reading this article and she is definately one of these primative dogs. Explains a lot.
Wonderful pet. She loves the farm. Great with kids.
Remarkably obedient for a dog I did not train from a pup.
She puts forth extreme effort to communicate TO me, more than any other dog I have ever had. I don’t often know what she is trying to tell me but she earnestly tries.
Thanks for posting the article again. I’m certain I read it all those years ago but with age reading it now was like the first time.
Outside she reverts to genetics and is instantly on the hunt for anything that is small and moves. The photo below shows a good likeness.
Thanks! I realized my mistake after I posted. We had a discussion about Feists in another thread a few days ago and my mind was still on that until I looked up and saw the title of your thread.
It’s in a Feists DNA to chase and kill anything that moves. That’s why mine have a fenced yard that is 5’ high. They are house dogs but the fence is attached to the end of the house. I had to chop the English Ivy off of one of the big trees in their yard because Abby kept climbing it to get to the squirrels.
Thanks for adopting your girl. Her chances weren’t good for adoption due to her being feral. They do make darling house dogs and the best vermin killers that ever lived. Like Jack Russell’s, they aren’t for everybody due to their activity level so they sometimes end up in shelters or dumped. I won’t have anything else though. They are extremely loving and loyal.
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