Tahltan Bear Dog

The Tahltan Bear Dog was a small hunting dog kept by the Tahltan people in the mountains of northwestern British Columbia and the southern Yukon. It was raised to hunt bears and is believed to have died out in the 1970s or 1980s.

History

Tahltan oral history places the Bear Dog among the Tahltan people since time immemorial. The first written record of it was made by Samuel Black in 1824. The dogs descended from pariah-type dogs that came with prehistoric migrations.

On the morning of a hunt, two dogs were carried in a sack over the hunter’s shoulder until fresh bear tracks were found. Once released, the light dogs ran over the crust of the snow while the bear floundered in the drifts. Their sharp, fox-like yapping wore the bear down or confused it until the hunter could get close.

The dogs lived on small pieces of bird, meat and fish and thrived in bitter cold. As rifles and other hunting technology spread, their numbers fell. Attempts to turn the breed into a pet did not go well: moved to milder climates, the dogs died of distemper, heat and unfamiliar diseases, probably because of the change in diet and surroundings. The Canadian Kennel Club last registered the breed in 1953.

Appearance

Because the dogs were bred only for their worth in the hunt, their looks could vary a good deal. A typical Tahltan Bear Dog was mainly black and white, weighed 4.5 to 8 kg and stood 14 to 17 inches at the shoulder. It was foxy in appearance, with large, upright, pointed ears and a fine, pointed muzzle. The glossy coat was of average length, with guard hairs over a thicker undercoat. The paws were somewhat webbed and large for the dog’s size. Its most unusual feature was the tail: short, bushy and carried straight up, it was compared to a shaving brush or a whisk broom. The dogs also had a peculiar yodel.

Temperament

The Tahltan Bear Dog was friendly and gentle with people and with smaller animals. The dogs lived in the tent with the family, sharing bed and board.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.