Rez dog (or reservation dog) is an informal term for outdoor, stray, and feral dogs living on Indian reservations in the United States and Canada.[1][2] The term has taken on many connotations, and has to some extent become an emblem of and metaphor for reservations, reservation life, and Native Americans in general. For example, a "rez dog" may refer to a Native American resident of a reservation.[3]
The distinction between a reservation dog and American dogs in general is often seen as emblematic as the difference between Native American and majority culture way of life.[4] Untended dogs roaming Indian reservations and other rural Indian communities cause problems that the communities must deal with.[5][6] They are generally thought of as mixed-breed and unsupervised.[7]
A clothing company, "rez dog clothing", has adopted the persona of reservation dogs.[8][9]
The narrator of two chapters of Antelope Wife, by novelist Louise Erdrich, is described as being part Ojibwe reservation dog, part Lakota dog, and part Coyote.[10]