Potcake Dogs...

LOL, What the heck is a potcake dog? Don't mean to belittle it, I jusr never heard of it & am curious.....

Sounds like that to me too.

Or they could be dogs that never were any particular "breed". Most "village dog" or "pariah dog" typed dogs around the world tend to kind of look the same. In cultures where dogs are kept around but not for any really specialized purposes beyond waste disposal (heh) and occaisional generic hunting, there's no need to have breeds so they were never created. Some people think these types of dogs are not "mixed breeds" but rather the original form of the domestic dog, which has since been broken out in to breeds.

I had a Guatamalan village dog for a couple of sessions in my obedience class.  very social with dogs, not trusting of people,  he made some really good progress.  Haven't seen him in over two years.

I think some shelters actually import these and the Sato type of dog to adopt them out. Never quite grasped that but...okay.

[linkhttp://www.bahamashumanesociety.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album02&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php]http://www.bahamashumanesociety.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album02&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php[/link]
 
I see plenty of western breed influence in the dogs at this shelter. I think they are mix breed dogs...at least now that western breed presence is well...present. lol...

Yep, I've met many "potcake" dogs in the Bahamas.  All really nice dogs but many were just strays and not really any breed but a mixed dogs who where so mixed up it would be hard to even take a guess at the original breed.

They just kinda roam the town and interact with the people of the island.  Most are light brown with very short fur and have adapted well to island living.  I never saw a potcake I didn't like when I was in the Bahamas.

The name comes from the fact that these dogs where fed whatever was left over at the bottem of a pot, the potcake, so since they eat potcakes they were called potcake dog.  It's not really a breed but a name used to describe stray dogs that live off scraps from people. 

They all look very much alike because they are isolated to the island and over time with natural selection they all have that "look"  Humans didn't really have a hand in picking and choosing what dogs to breed so this all happened on it's own quite naturaly.  The stonger ones who could handel island living and scavaging survied and breed and produces more like them.  I find it kinda interesting.

If we aren't careful, with all this attention, we might give the impression that this is another designer breed LOL...It is a new term to me, but just the name alone is kind of like what my Grandpa used to refer to a Curbstone Setters and Heinz 57's-both terms for mixed breeds where you couldn't be certain who all was there at the conception

I actually became interested in them after meeting one at the dog park.  She was a sweet little thing.  When I saw her in the car she had a Rhodesian Ridgeback face--that's what I though she was until she got out.  After I saw her body I figured she was a shepard mix of some sort--but smaller.  Then the owner told me she was a Potcake dog.  Apparently a vet in our area does a program where he imports them and adopts them out as young pups.  Many of the pups are from litters where mom has been hit by a car and the locals call rescue groups about the pups she has left behind.  There really is no shelter system in the Bahamas to speak of, so volenteers foster as much as they can.  The woman said that the only issue the dog had was that it was a bit scared of kids from about age 4-8, but younger kids and older ones she was fine with.

I googled it and showed DH the pages I found--we are considering adopting if/when we get another dog (we're talking years from now-I want Jack to be at least 3 or 4) and DH was really interested in them.

The only "Island dogs" I've ever been in contact with are my barn owners two dogs from the Dominican Republic, and both those dogs have major temperment issues.  I was wondering if anyone had worked with "Potcakes" or any other island dogs and if temperment issues are common......

I found two shelters in the Bahamas myself.
 
I do not personally think importing dogs when so very many, puppies and litters of uppies, here die already...is anything I'd support. 
 
But, while I do not agree withe the concept, I am sure they are nice dogs.

The dogs in the Caribbean are amazing.  All the islands I've been to have huge stray dog problems.  The dogs generally look about the same and survive off of scraps locals give them.  They hang around on the beach and the grills outside.  IT's sad to see when you're there, but they seem to do alright.  Many are semi-owned as in they have set people that feed them and they know where to go for leftovers.  There was a gorgeous nursing bitch in St Maarten when we were there every night at the lolos, begging for pork ribs.  What they really need is a spay/neuter program.  They're very neat dogs though and I'd love to help them if I could.

Since it's an island...you'd think that SNR like with cats might work just fine to stabilize the population? And eventually solve the problem outright? I suppose it's a money issue? Shoot even just neutering the boys (cheaper surgery)?