A dog that did not come from the wolf

The hare dog, a possible domesticated coyote.

  When we talk about dogs alongside humans, we usually think of German shepherds, Labradors, pit bulls, and even chihuahuas, dogs descended from wolves, of all possible shapes and sizes, being intelligent animals that have accompanied man since the beginning.

But, in America there were several mysterious dogs, some that possibly did not come from wolves, like the one we will see below, which was a possible progeny of canine descended from nimas no less than the coyote.

Generalities of the hare dog 

  It is a possible domestic canid, which inhabited the north of British Canada, along with the Hara tribe, which were a group of several other tribes that inhabited Canada and the United States, this was a tiny animal, of slender build, with a small head and a narrow snout, pointed and elongated, its pointed ears were erect and wide at the base, and closer together than those of the husky and its legs were thin and quite long, the tail was thick and bushy.

Its fur was long and straight, the base color being white with large irregular grayish-black spots interspersed with various shades of brown, and came to contrast depending on the area of ​​the body, and its size was intermediate to the coyote and the American red fox.

The controversy of its origin.

  Already with its description, the controversy of this animal lies in its origin, since it pointed more to being a progeny of a domesticated coyote, rather than a wolf.

This had the speed and some characteristics of the coyote, in fact this theory has been going on for centuries, since when European biologists examined it for the first time, These were found to be almost identical to the coyote in structure (save for the former's smaller skull) and fur length, and in fact the illustrious naturalist Mr J. Richardson of Edinburgh, in 1820, in his study of these could not detect a clear difference in form between this breed and a coyote, and surmised that it was a domesticated version of the wild animal, he wrote in his book, (the PDF of which I will leave in the library if I find it):

 The Indian Hare Dog is very playful, has an affectionate disposition and is quickly won over by kindness, however, it is not very docile and dislikes confinement of any kind, He really likes to be petted, he rubs his back against your hand like a cat and soon he meets A stranger, like a wild animal, is very attentive to a wound, nor like a spaniel, does he crouch under the whip; but if he is aware of having deserved the punishment, he will hang around his master's tent all day, without reaching him, even if he calls him. 

His howl, when he is wounded or frightened, is that of the wolf; but when he sees some unusual object he makes a singular attempt at barking, beginning with a kind of growl, however not unpleasant, and ending in a prolonged howl, its voice is very similar to that of the prairie wolf [coyote], (although it was noted that puppies born in Europe could learn to bark).

A little puppy, which I bought from the Hare Indians, became very fond of me, and, when he was about seven months old, ran on the snow beside my sled for nine hundred miles, without suffering fatigue, During this march he often of his own free will carried a small twig or one of my mittens for a mile or two; but although very kind in his manners, He showed little aptitude for learning any of the arts that he used to chase the Indian hare dogs for the purpose of devouring them; but the latter far surpassed them in speed and easily escaped.

This dog was killed and eaten by an Indian, in Saskatchewan, who pretended that he mistook it for a fox, the most extraordinary circumstance in this relationship is the great resistance of the puppy, which undoubtedly deserves special mention. Even the oldest and strongest Dogs are generally incapable of making a trip as long as nine hundred miles (probably with little food), without suffering fatigue.

--Sir John Richardson, Fauna Boreali-Americana, 1829, pág. 79

As a curious fact, the claim that this animal was a descendant of the coyote was supported by some tribes and some said that on the contrary, these were a progeny of the Arctic fox.

Fate of the race

   The breed appeared to be maintained exclusively by the Hare Indians and other neighboring tribes, such as the Bear tribes, Mountain, Dogrib, Cree, Slavey and Chippewa who lived in the northwest territories of Canada, and the United States around Great Bear Lake, southwest of Lake Winnipeg and Lake Superior and west of the Mackenzie River and were almost entirely used for medium-sized hunting, as they were not sized to go against moose or bears.

Sadly this breed became extinct around the 19th century, the breed fell into decline after the introduction of firearms, which made their hunting skills unnecessary in favor of modern tactics, it also gradually intermixed with other breeds such as the Newfoundland dog, the Canadian Eskimo dog and mixed breeds.

Verdict.

  Well, it is very likely that this was a race descended from coyotes, since this animal is a crucial part of Native American myths, This, added to the lack of docile wolves that could exist in that area, could have caused the aborigines to adopt coyotes as their companions.

Let's hope one day the reality will be discovered, although there are no known remains stored, the only thing left to do is find a way to verify this fact, that could change several paradigms regarding American prehistory.

[Reading links]

http://www.indiandogs.com/hare.htm

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_Indian_Dog#:~:text=The%20Hare%20Indian%20dog%20is,the%20Hare%20Indians%20for%20coursing.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Richardson_(naturalist)

https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitolog%C3%ADas_de_los_ind%C3%ADgenas_de_Norteam%C3%A9rica

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahtu