KENAI
Carolina Dog

The breeds · primitive

AKC Foundation Stock Service · UKC Sighthound & Pariah

Carolina Dog.

UKC: a medium-sized dog with the general appearance of a small jackal or a medium-sized sighthound (the free-ranging dogs Brisbin trapped looked like most Middle Eastern pariah dogs); the appearance suggests 'a medium-sized versatile, and resourceful predator of small game'; the strongly crested neck is for 'rapid and effective downward stabbing movements with the head when hunting in tall grass'. History: I. Lehr Brisbin trapped and noted free-ranging dogs in the 1970s in the southeastern US; UKC recognized the breed January 1, 1995. AKC: a sighthound of medium build with the appearance of a jackal or wolf; accepted into the Foundation Stock Service. Wikipedia: rediscovered as a free-roaming population by Brisbin at the Savannah River Site; UKC registration since 1996; ARBA standard; AKC FSS July 2017. Smithsonian: Brisbin says they share traits and behaviours with other primitive dogs (dingoes, New Guinea singing dogs, Old World pariah dogs)..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightall null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
30–55LBWeight, all linesbreed 30 to 55 lb.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

17.8 to 24 in

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2023

Neither source splits by sex (UKC: the sexes overlap broadly). The AKC figure is the Foundation Stock Service page header; the UKC range is wider. Both stand.

Weight

30 to 55 lb

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2023

UKC prints 'approximately'; no ideal. The AKC range is wider and counted.

Coat

UKC: close-lying coat that varies with season (heavier in winter and in colder climates); short and smooth on head, ears and front legs; coarse, longer guard hairs over neck, withers and back that stand erect when aroused. Most common colour is ginger (reddish to straw to buff) with pale buff 'angel wing' markings and lighter underparts; solid black, black and tan and piebald also allowed. Disqualifying: solid white, albinism, blue eyes, white collar, merle, roan, mottled, dilute colours. Wikipedia: usually short and smooth, characteristic of a warm-climate dog.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2023

UKC standard; Wikipedia agrees.

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · UKC: close-lying coat, short and smooth on the extremities with coarse guard hairs and a heavier winter coat; the breed's traits are described as survival advantages in free-ranging conditions in southern grasslands, swamps, deserts and forests. Wikipedia: a short, smooth coat characteristic of a warm-climate dog.

DerivedUnited Kennel Club, 2023

Derived from the UKC coat description (short dense seasonal coat = 4 on the ruled scale). No measured data.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Energy

AKC breed page: energy level 3 of 5; mental stimulation needs 3 of 5; trainability 3 of 5; barking level 3 of 5; adaptability 3 of 5; openness to strangers 3 of 5; affectionate with family 3 of 5. UKC: a generally shy and suspicious nature; no individual should be expected to be friendly and outgoing or to enjoy contact with strangers; outward aggression toward humans is a very serious fault. AKC text: generally shy and suspicious, but once a dog accepts a human into its pack the behaviour disappears toward that human.

Breed clubAKC

AKC trait bands, not a study.

Grooming load

1 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming

AKC breed page: coat grooming frequency band 1 of 5; shedding level band 3 of 5; drooling band 2 of 5. UKC: shown in a natural condition, little or no grooming or scissoring; whiskers not removed.

Breed clubAKC

AKC trait bands are the AKC page's scale, not a study. No Royal Kennel Club page exists, so grooming_load is left blank.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

UKC: a medium-sized dog with the general appearance of a small jackal or a medium-sized sighthound (the free-ranging dogs Brisbin trapped looked like most Middle Eastern pariah dogs); the appearance suggests 'a medium-sized versatile, and resourceful predator of small game'; the strongly crested neck is for 'rapid and effective downward stabbing movements with the head when hunting in tall grass'. History: I. Lehr Brisbin trapped and noted free-ranging dogs in the 1970s in the southeastern US; UKC recognized the breed January 1, 1995. AKC: a sighthound of medium build with the appearance of a jackal or wolf; accepted into the Foundation Stock Service. Wikipedia: rediscovered as a free-roaming population by Brisbin at the Savannah River Site; UKC registration since 1996; ARBA standard; AKC FSS July 2017. Smithsonian: Brisbin says they share traits and behaviours with other primitive dogs (dingoes, New Guinea singing dogs, Old World pariah dogs).

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2023

No source describes the Carolina Dog as a gun dog or a trained hunting breed; the UKC wording is about the dog's survival ecology. UKC states recognition in 1995, Wikipedia says 1996; the UKC standard is kept as the registry date.

Primary game

UKC: small game ('a medium-sized versatile, and resourceful predator of small game'); no species named. WUNC (Brisbin's field observations of free-ranging dogs): hunted in packs; no quarry species named in the article.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2023

No standard or source read names a quarry species.

Search pattern

UKC: moves like a medium-sized sighthound capable of a double-suspension gallop; the neck is built for stabbing downward movements when hunting in tall grass; the tail is hoisted and waved vigorously in tall weedy cover when foraging or alert. WUNC (Brisbin's reports on free-ranging dogs, editorial): they hunted in packs and signalled to each other by flashing the white undersides of their tails; they dug small pits with their snouts and moved as a pack, like wolves.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2023

Pack behaviour is from one journalistic report of Brisbin's observations, not a trial or standard. The voice (bark or silence) on the line is not stated by any source read.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 3; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 3; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 1; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 3; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 3.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 2 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Dixie Dingo, American Dingo, Yaller Dog, Yellow Dog

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

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