Carolina Dogs

[Dee Jay]

We adopted Dino The Demon Dog from the Anti Cruelty Society in Chicago almost 2 years ago. They told us he was a German Sheppard/Yellow Lab mix, but we really do think he's a Carolina Dog.

He exhibits all the odd behavorial traits of the breed (e.g., sitting up on his back legs like a bunny to "see over the tall grass," observing things by turning his back on them and looking over his shoulder [I think he does this so he's poised for flight if the need should arrise], perking one ear if he's kinda interested and doig the "double ear full perk" if there's something he's really checking out). All of his physical traits are dead on too; coloring (the buff color with the lighter shoulders and ruff and the darker coarser hair down his back on on his tail), weight (anywhere between 45 and 50 lbs, dependign on how much bad stuff we're sneaking him!), the distinctive eyes with the dark line all around.

But yes, he does have his quirks, which stem from him being badly abused before we got him. If you tried to pet him on top of the head he would hunker down to the ground and start whimpering like he was expecting to get hit, and if you touched his rump he froze up and his eyes would roll back in fear. These are just a few examples. We had several trainers tell us the the various ways that his behavior indicated he had been hit/kicked/and who knows what else. Genuinely heartbreaking!!!
And baseball caps, fast moving things on wheels (not cars, but bikes, roller bladers, skate boarders) -- they all freaked him out to the max. He's made a ton of progress, and we've gotten VERY good at reading his signs so now we can pretty much tell when something is upsetting him enough that he might snap out. (He's actually nipped at 3 people in the early months when we got him.) Now we are OVER cautious with him so as not to put him in any situation like that if we can help it.

I'll post photos this weekend because you can't really tell much from the avitar.

Gail, this is so exciting! I never even met anyone who knew what a Carolina Dog WAS before! Tell me all about your dogs -- and photos please!!!

 

[miyabi_na]

From you avatar, it seems like your dog might be the same kind of breed/mix(?) my shelter dog was!!!! I can't wait to see more pictures so I can really see what your dog looks like, but I had a shelter dog that looked EXACTLY like that, and they told us they didn't know what she was, but she seemed to be a germanshepard or husky mix. We didn't really think so cuz she wan't large like those dogs...her fur was really soft and she had a curly tail too. Maybe she was this a mix of this Carolina dog you're talking about...

She was the BEST dog I've ever had- so sweet, gentle, loyal and obedient....but she got up in years and started having serious health problems and we unfortunately had to put her down.

I'd take another dog like her in a heartbeat though.

Anyway...PLEASE post more pictures!!

 

[Dee Jay]

miyabi_na, check out http://www.carolinadogs.com and http://www.carolinadogs.org

I'll post pictures this weekend -- god knows we have enough of them!!! (Aside from property photos for my real estate clients, I think we've only ever used our digital camera to snap Dino pics ... ) Wait 'till you see the pictures of him with his ears all perked up -- he looks like a totally different dog!

Do you have any photos that you could post of your dog?

 

[miyabi_na]

awww I don''t have any pics on the computer

maybe I can find some and scan them....I know I have some at home....

 

[gailrmv]

hi Dee Jay!
How cool to have met another Carolina Dog owner!! So, Angie turned 3 this month. We got her when she was 1 from the animal shelter here in North Carolina. They said she was a Shepherd mix but it puzzled us because she was much smaller than any Shepherd I''d seen. I stumbled across the carolina dog website and I think she may be one. She has almost all the breed characteristics, except that her ears are floppy instead of stand-up. She is a great dog, but she does have her little quirks. It is hard to control her when we encounter other dogs on walks - she really is pretty friendly once she gets to know other dogs, but she can come across as barky and snippy! Let me post a few pics.
Gail

 

[gailrmv]

She''s been to basic obedience school and while she wasn''t the smartest dog in the class, she is quite good when we practice at home. She''s gotten better and better over time! Her very favorite thing is going on walks. She sleeps in bed with us like a person too, with her head up on the pillows. She''s a lot of fun. She''s sweet and mellow a lot of the time but she can be bossy too. She tends to be dominant over other dogs. For not having words at her disposal, she does an amazing job of communicating. Can you tell I am crazy about her?

 

[gailrmv]

Now, how come when I post pics of my ring, they come out miniscule, but of my dog, they come out normal sized? Hmm. Same camera, same resizing program.
Forgot to mention that Angie''s about 40 pounds, right in range for the Carolinas. She''s funny b/c no matter how much exercise she gets, no matter how much we cut her food back, she has a hard time losing weight (much like me!). Oh, sort of unlike me, she''d eat anything we gave her - she''d probably eat paper if we put it in her bowl.

Her "sister", on the other hand, is also a 40 pound tan dog from the shelter (no real relation as far as we know). I don''t think Claire is a Carolina, she really does seem to have shepherd in her with her fur type and skinny build. Now, she could eat anything and stay skinny. Just like people, I guess, they have different builds. Although Claire is now over a year, she still gets into puppy trouble with chewing things she shouldn''t and the occasional house accident. Angie can stay out in the house indefinitely, but Claire has to stay crated or my house would be destroyed (it was UGLY the couple times she managed to let herself out of the crate!)

Here are the two of them together, Claire on the right.

 

[gailrmv]

Another good one of my two.... I can't wait to see Dino's pics!!!
Forgot to mention I used to live in Chicago at corner of Chicago and Dearborn - love the city! Awesome that Dino was a cubs fan!! All kidding aside I think it is wonderful that you adopted him and are patient with his quirks that he has based on his rough past. He is lucky to have found you!

 

[Dee Jay]

Here are some photos of the Demon Dog:

Dino with his ears perked up!

 

[Dee Jay]

Dino after his bath

 

[Dee Jay]

Dino have a Dog-to-Man talk with my husband Bill

 

[Dee Jay]

Dino with his snake

 

[Dee Jay]

Dino with his mallard

 

[Dee Jay]

Oops - that didn''t work the first time!

 

[Dee Jay]

Some of these aren''t the greatest photos from an artistic standpoint (LOL!) but they show his coloring and his shape and stance.

If you go on the Carolina Dog websites it''s like looking at photos of Dino''s brothers and sisters! Check out the resembelance and let me know what you think. Do we REALLY have a Carolina Dog or is the Demon the product of a night of passion between a German Shepperd and a Yellow Lab?!?

 

[gailrmv]

He''s adorable!!!! He DOES remind me of my Angie although his ears are different. It''s the same thing as I think about Angie - looks SOOO much like a Carolina Dog, how can it not be? But how the heck did they end up in the shelter (and especially Dino in Chicago?) I guess we''ll never know! They told us Angie was shepherd, lab, and corgi mix.... yeah, right!

 

[gailrmv]

Hey Dee Jay,
I showed my husband your Dino pics for a second opinion. He thinks Dino definitely looks like the Carolinas on the website!! Don''t you wish they could tell us where they came from and what their lives have been like?
Angie was pregnant with 8 pups when she was at the shelter. They didn''t realize it, so she lost the pups when they did the spay. Very sad! i think about those pups a lot, Im sure they would have been adorable, but I''m also glad there are not 8 more pups out there that need a home.
So any guesses as to the lineage of my girls? Do you think Ange looks like a Carolina?
Gail

 

[MrsFrk]

Dino looks JUST like a Carolina Dog!!! He''s darling.
Regarding his ears; my MIL has a pedigreed up the yingyang German Shepherd, and her ears have never become prick. They are floppy and folded, which is terribly puzzling/distressing to her breeder and my MIL, I think it is darling.

Gailrmv, Angie and Claire are just precious. So cute together.

I had a Rottie that we adopted from the Humane Society, she had ''quirks'' too, due to being left in a garage all day long with no socialization and training from birth to when we got her. She was dumb as a post, but sweet and friendly and a joy to be with.

 

[XChick03]

Being from South Carolina, you''d think I''d see more Carolina Dogs, but there are only a few I''ve seen in the area, but I absolutely love them! Dino does look a lot like one, and I could see how people at a shelter would mislable him. I''ve even seen an Aussie at a shelter they claimed was a husky/border collie mix.

I would call around to different vets and see if any of them are knowledgable on the breed or see if there is a rescue group in the area. Since you live in a large city, you might get lucky and find someone who could help you determine if he is a Carolina Dog.

As far as the ears being different, a lot of dogs can have ears that do or don''t decide to stand up. I''ve seen Champion line GSDs have floppy ears and a bloodhound mix that had ears standing straight up. I have to say though, I''ve seen a Lab/GSD mix that looked almost identical to both Angie and Dino and we know it was Lab/GSD because my friend owned both parents. And trust me, GSDs have a lot of little "quirks" too. So, I''d definitely try to seek a professionl opinion.

 

[XChick03]

Just to give some of you a better idea of what Carolinas look like

 

[Dee Jay]

The picture at the bottom could be OF Dino it's so right-on, and the ones in the top photo all look like his brothers and sisters.

We have considered getting him "tested" -- I think they can take blood and run a test for the genetic structure or some such thing, but I feel bad subjecting him to a trip to the vet and a blood draw for a reason that would not benefit HIM at all. (But next time he's in for something, well, if there just might be a little extra blood taken!)

And I do wonder a lot about his life before we got him (if he is a Carolina Dog, how did he get here? Regardless of what his breed is, how did he end up a half-starved stray by Wrigley Field? And so many more questions... ) I also have this irrational fear that we'll be walking him down the street one day and someone will scream out "Buddy!" (or whatever his original name could have been) and it would be his previous owner. Would they try to take him back? Would he WANT to go back with them more than continue living with us? (These are the things I worry about for no good reason whatsoever... No other aspect of my life resembles a Dickens novel, why should the part that contains my dog???)

Anyway, I have other photos of him that are just like poses of Carolina Dogs on those websites. They are on our extra memory stick and I'll post them if I can locate it (not likely, though, given the mess my office in in right now... )

 

[gailrmv]

hi Dee Jay (and anyone else following this thread!)
I have the same fears about my dogs, so I don''t think it''s irrational at all. Especially after we got Angie, because she was a stray, I was so concerned that we''d be out with her and someone would call out a different name and they''d be her original people. What would we do? SHe is very much of an escape artist, and she does not seem to have been abused so she may have just gotten bored and wandered off from her original family through no fault of their own. We think her original family may have been Hispanic, because she responds to "bueno perro," "comidas," etc, and she LOVES it when I am cooking anything spicy and drop a hot pepper etc. Just a theory, you never know, but our city has a large Hispanic population so it wouldn''t be unusual. Still, that doesn''t explain how a Carolina dog got to be a household pet, but I guess we;ll never know. Now that we''ve had her 2 years I don''t worry too much about anyone trying to claim her out on the street.

I''m frustrated with Claire right now. It was raining here today and she decided it would be more convenient to take a big old poop upstairs than to go out in the rain. BLECH. It''s been a while, but DH got the last cleanup duty, so tonight was my turn.

I don''t worry about anyone recognizing Claire, b/c she was a surrender. I do think she had a rough past though, b/c she cowers so easily and was afraid of my husband when we first brought her home. I know she was adopted once before us, but returned b/c their cat wouldn''t tolerate her. She went into foster care before we adopted her. So she has had at least 4 homes in her short life.

It''s fun swapping dog notes with you!
Gail

 

[XChick03]

Well, its very likely nobody knew they were Carolina Dogs. Or it could be that the owners moved or the dog ran away, or even sadder, they just got tired of him. I've seen a ton of gorgeous purebreds in shelters just because the owners got a puppy for their child and when the kid got tired of the poor dog, they just dumped him in a shelter. Its a very sad world out there for dogs. Just be happy your dogs found a wonderful home with people that care about them and be proud of yourselves for adopting a dog who really needed a good home and constant meal.

Dee Jay, if you really want to know if he's a Carolina Dog, have him tested. Having a little blood drawn is pretty much a painless procedure for dogs, since they are a lot more tolerant to pain than humans and I think it would benefit him because you would know more about him and might understand his temperment or some of the quirky things he does better.

 

[Dee Jay]

The Demon Dog might benefit more from a personality test than a blood test (LOL!) but we are considering it!

My theories on how he became a stray change from day to day. He does not seem like a dog that that would bolt from home permanently, so I think he must have been let off somewhere. My guess is that he turned out to be a nipper as a defensive measure (and wouldn''t you bite too if someone was hitting you on the head and kicking your behind?) so they put him out.

The whole thing does make you wonder though. I wish I knew, but as talented as Dino is, he does not talk...

 

[gailrmv]

I''d love to see some more pics of the Demon Dog!!
Saw something on the news last night that they are thinking of adding a new sport to the olympics. I wish I could remember what it is called, but basically, a person is on snowskis, and two dogs pull him/her. I started LOL in the gym when it came on because it reminded me of how I look walking Angie and Claire. I thought of it again as I walked them this afternoon. If only I knew how to ski... we could be champions. Honestly if I weighed any less I don''t think I''d be able to walk the two of them at once. They seriously PULL when we first get going! Angie especially is a dog on a mission, doesn''t matter where we''re going, she''s determined to get there as fast as possible!