Carolina Dog

The Carolina Dog (also Yellow Dog or Yaller Dog) is a wild dog recently discovered living in isolated stretches of longleaf pines and cypress swamps in the American Southeast. Although controversial, physical and behavioral characteristics of this dog suggest that it may not be closely related to the domestic dog. In fact, preliminary DNA testing indicate that the Carolina Dog segregates at the base of the canine family tree where one would expect to find the primitive dogs. Some hypothesize that this dog may have migrated with humans across the Bering Strait land bridge. Paintings of Native Americans made by early European explorers show them accompanied by dogs which are strikingly similar to the Carolina Dog.

It is possible that this dog was inspiration for the subject of the book Old Yeller by Fred Gipson.

Books about Carolina Dog Dogs

Posted by Scott at July 16, 2005 10:55 PM