Coast Salish Woolly Dog — size comparison

The Coast Salish Woolly Dog was a small dog with a very dense, long coat. Its appearance is reconstructed from historical accounts, remains and a preserved pelt. This extinct type held particular importance for Indigenous communities on North America’s northwest coast, in present-day British Columbia and Washington State.

The dogs were bred for hair that was prepared as yarn for weaving. Maintaining suitable coats required deliberate selection and care. The tradition declined during the nineteenth century amid colonisation and disruption of Coast Salish communities’ ways of life.

The Smithsonian holds the pelt of Mutton, a dog that died in 1859. Studies of his genome were combined with documents and knowledge from Elders, weavers and other Coast Salish community members. This helped reconstruct the breeding history and its cultural importance. These sources reveal much about human–animal relationships but do not justify assigning one uniform temperament to the entire extinct population.

Measurement sources

• Zachowana skóra Muttona i historia — Smithsonian
• Badanie genomu i wiedza Coast Salish — Smithsonian
• Uwagi o niepewności rekonstrukcji — badanie osteometryczne