Native American Indian Dog

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Native American Indian Dog

Other names

Plains Village Dog
NAID

Country of origin

All across North America

Traits

Classification & standards
Not recognized by any major kennel club

The Native American Indian Dog is a style of dog sold in North America. It is a mix of husky, malamute, chinook, German shepherd.^[1], and dogs from indian reservations.^[2] The dog is not the same as the American Indian Dog.

1 Appearance
2 Temperament
3 References
4 External Links

[edit] Appearance

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[edit] Coat and Color

The hair of the NAID comes in two distinct color combinations. They can range in color from silver to black; from the tortoise-shell color to the broken-pattern coloring, the sacred color of the Native Americans. Other colors do occur, but these are the most common.

The Native American Indian Dog can be long-coated or short-coated, and always double-coated. The former dogs will have a long overcoat and a dense undercoat, for protection from the snow when pulling loads. The latter dogs will have short, dense coats—two layers thick—of which the undercoat is waterproof.

[edit] Head and Face

Ears are upright, head medium-wide with an angular shaped head tapering down to a muzzle holding strong jaws. The eye ranges in color from brown to green to dark amber-brown and almond shaped with a sparkle of intelligence looking out on the world. Blue, bright amber, or yellow eyes, or a muzzle that is too slender, or head too wide are not preferred, and are a sign of a mixed breed dog or wolf-dog hybrid.

[edit] Feet and Tail

Webbed feet helped these dogs from sinking in the snow. Their webbed feet also enabled them to pull large, heavy loads and they are excellent swimmers as well. The tails of the dogs of the Hare Indians did not curl tightly as did the dogs of the Eskimos and the whole village would share their dogs and the work the dogs were required to perform.

The tail can be tightly curled as in the Alaskan Malamute but preferable characteristics tend towards a long tail held down with sometimes a slight bend in the end.

[edit] Size

Males:

Height: 25-30.5 inches
Weight: 70-95 pounds

Females:

Height: 22-26 inches
Weight: 60-80 pounds

[edit] Temperament

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The Native American Indian Dog's intelligence level is said to be extremely high, making them trainable and eager to please their human companions. They are loyal and protective of their families and some may be shy with strangers; the NAID should never be overly aggressive or overly submissive towards humans.

Native American Indian Dogs are sensitive animals and they should not be trained using corporal punishment. They are very good with children and other animals, including other dogs, household pets as well as livestock.

This breed does not do well in a crate for crate training or housebreaking. They do much better and are happier if you enclose them in a room with a tile floor and put newspapers down and every day move the papers closer to the door way of the room you have them locked in. Most people find that if they put their pup outside (even in the winter) in a small pen with a dog house, in a month of so the pups are automatically house broke if they bring them in to visit the family.

The Native Americans used to raise dogs for food for work and for religious ceremonies. The broken pattern dog or the "Spirit Dog" was highly revered by the Native American nations and selectively breeding went into producing a dog that was strong, good tempered, as most villages shared their dogs and all dogs were required to work for all human individuals and very versatile in the tasks they performed.