My daughter returned from Moorea yesterday and mentioned a phenomenon I’d seen in Wake Island some years ago. On Wake, the story went like this: civilian personnel brought their pet dogs with them to the military base they supported or to civilian airline bases. Over the years the dogs bred and what emerged is what can be referred to as a ‘yeller dog,’ one that stood about 2-1/2 feet high, weighed maybe thirty pounds, short-haired, and a yellow-brown color (not golden by any means), upright medium ears. The dogs were friendly, remained as pets, and were treated extremely well by all personnel on the island (island life very isolated; man’s best friend proved such).
My daughter referred to the dogs she saw as ‘island dogs,’ but their characteristics were slightly different. Weight, ears and height were the same, but coloring was darker brown.
A google.com search provided information about dogs that reverted to type as wild dogs (also sites for monster dogs, cyborg dogs and even Bolsheviks). These dogs were obviously none of these!
So, what are these dogs called? Mixed breed seems too easy considering that all subsequent generations have the same characteristics. Would these dogs be more or less healthy than pure breeds? How close to the ‘original’ dogs would they be?
I’ve always called these “third world dogs.” I would imagine they would be whatever type that is most common to the area & adaptable to the climate. Short haired, smaller, long nosed in hotter climates, furrier & shorter snouted in colder ones. Smaller would be better for feral dogs since they require less food, perhaps?
Mix breeds are definitely healthier. Without human & vetinary intervention, dogs with diseases & congenital ailments are more likely to die as puppies & natural selection ensures only the more robust dogs breed.
Oh, I forgot to say that there is no “original” dog per se. Sighthounds generally evolved in the middle east, Wolf type dogs in Northern climes, Mollossoid/Mastiff dogs in Northen Europe.
I will add that two-and-a-half feet tall is awfully tall for a 30 pound dog. My dog weighs 30 pounds and is barely 16 inches tall. Or did you mean standing on its back legs?
It is my understanding that this remains the subject of debate. They could still have evolved from a common ancestor which dispersed at an earlier time.
It is also questionable whether one could call this a regression to a more primative undifferentiated type of dog given the varieties found in various locations. Different Islands have their own versions. I don’t think anyone bothers to call them a breed though they may meet the test of breeding true. Carolina dogs are an interesting exception as they are suspected to actually be an early form rather than being mongrels.
Apparently Dingos are not indigenous to Australia but rather came to the ‘island’ about 4,000 years ago (what they were like then I do not know). There is some debate on whether Dingos should be considered a feral species in Australia (although to my thinking I’d say after 4,000 years the dog has done whatever damage it was going to do and is now part of the natural balance in Australia…that’s just me though).
Whatever the case they seem to meet the short-haired, medium-size, yellow (or yellowish) dog described in the OP. It seems mother nature likes that type of dog.
