Dog Days of August: Dogs at Work

This is the first of a four-part series celebrating dogs, as found in the American Folklife Center’s archival collections. The inspiration for this series came from my colleague, Archivist Marcia Segal. Marcia gets to see a lot of the Center’s collections as they come in and was aware of a number of fieldwork photographs that feature dogs. Since part of her job involves creating resources that help make collections more accessible, she was able to jump start my search for dog-related collections materials, for which I am most grateful.

For this round of the series, we’re looking at “Dogs at Work.” In this case, this might refer to dogs photographed while working, dogs photographed at specific places of business, and dogs who fall into particular “working breeds.” The American Kennel Club lists 35 distinct dog breeds in their Working Breeds category – everything from Akita to Tibetan Mastiff. However, these breeds are not the only ones known for having specific “jobs.” For instance, border collies are known both for their intelligence and for their dedication to the job of sheepherding, which should place them in the “Working Breed” category, but in competitions this breed and many others are judged under the “Herding Group” category. Similarly, many dogs whose primary job is hunting are judged under the “Hound” category. Since this is not a competition, the dogs highlighted here include all sorts of breeds that are found in a variety of workplaces.

The primary job of most of the dogs I came across in AFC’s collection is “hunting.” Examples of these breeds included Pointers, Setters, Springer Spaniels, Beagles, Foxhounds, and Coonhounds, amongst others.

Some of these dogs were photographed out in the field – either out on a hunt, coming back from one, or in some down time between hunts.

Others were photographed at an official competition.

During the course of my research, I learned about a new-to-me breed that isn’t listed in the records of the American Kennel Club, but is listed by both the United Kennel Club and the Continental Kennel Club: the Mountain Feist.

This is Chipper, a Mountain Feist who makes an appearance in the Coal River Folklife Project collection (AFC 1999/008). According to the accompanying photo log, “the Mountain Feist is a breed of hunting dog, bred to run by sight and by mind, rather than by trailing. This makes them especially suited for hunting squirrel, though, as Ben points out, they are also good for raccoons and groundhogs.” The Center’s dog subject file includes two articles about the Mountain Feist, written by outdoor editor Morgan Simmons and published in the July 14, 1991 edition of the Knoxville News-Sentinel. In the first article, Simmons outlines the definition of the breed, as per the guidelines set out by the American Treeing Feist Association:

“Feist dogs, as defined by the American Treeing Feist Association, should have smooth coats and not weigh over 30 pounds. Their ears should be short and slightly hung down. Their bodies should be keen to slightly stocky, but their legs can be straight or benched.

Males should be between 10 and 18 inches tall; females between 10 and 17 inches. The American Treeing Feist Association likes them to be virtually silent on track, and of course, they must tree game.”

The second article includes references to a scholarly article written by sociology graduate students Don Davis and Jeffrey Stotik, titled “Feist or Fiction?: The Squirrel Dog of the Southern Mountains,” which explores the history of the breed and its significance to Appalachia’s cultural heritage. In Simmons’ piece, Davis refers to the Feist, which is believed to be a mix of terrier stock from the British Isles and the small dogs domesticated by tribes in North America, as “the one last true vernacular folk breed dog.”

Of course, not every working dog is a hunting dog. Some are ranch hands…

some make the rounds at weaving mills…

and others serve as a mechanic’s assistant.

In Colorado, Vera McKee’s dog, Killer, helps her dig irrigation channels for the farm;

Albert Trujillo’s dog, Spot, makes a sweep of the floor in Pat’s City Bar in Mosquero, New Mexico;

and in the shared New Jersey workspace of the American Folklife Center’s Pinelands field survey team, Bonnie Blair’s dog, Patchouli, poses with fellow fieldworker Nora Rubenstein.

Further Reading

More photographs and information about the Twin Counties Fox Hunting Club, featured in the Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project, can be found here.

More information about coonhounds working in Southern West Virginia can be found in the digital presentation, Tending the Commons: Folklife and Landscape in Southern West Virginia (AFC 1999/008).

For more information on the Mountain Feist breed:

• Visit the American Treeing Feist Association’s website
• Library patrons accessing the Library’s subscription services onsite can read Donald Davis and Jeffrey Stotik’s article, “Feist or Fiction?: The Squirrel Dog of the Southern Mountains,” from the Journal of Popular Culture through ProQuest