{"data":{"slug":"tahitian-dog","name":"Tahitian Dog","url":"https://techtools.cz/tools/dog-atlas/tahitian-dog","api_url":"https://techtools.cz/dog-atlas-api/v1/breeds/tahitian-dog","also_known_as":["ʻŪrī Mā'ohi","Society Islands Dog"],"kind":"breed","extinct":true,"group":{"key":"spitz","label":"Spitz \u0026 Primitive","fci_group":5,"fci_group_name":"Spitz and Primitive Types"},"size":"Small","origin":"French Polynesia","countries":[],"height_cm":null,"weight_kg":null,"life_expectancy_years":null,"temperament":["Shy","Quiet","Aloof","Wary"],"exercise_level":"Low","wikipedia_views_60d":2141,"summary":"The Tahitian Dog was a small native dog of the Society Islands, brought by Polynesian settlers and kept for food and tools. It vanished as a distinct breed after European dogs arrived.","photo":{"url":"https://techtools.cz/tools/dog-atlas/photos/tahitian-dog-9afbddada8-1280.webp","small_url":"https://techtools.cz/tools/dog-atlas/photos/tahitian-dog-9afbddada8-640.webp","width":784,"height":575,"author":"A. Buchan, S. Parkinson or J. F. Miller","license":"Public domain","license_url":null,"source_url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Double_canoes._Tipaerua%2C_1769-71_%28crop_of_dog%29.jpg"},"updated_at":"2026-10-15T14:50:36Z","ratings":{"energy":2,"exercise":2,"grooming":1,"shedding":2,"trainability":2,"barking":1,"kids":2,"other_dogs":3},"coat":"Short, smooth to rather long and lank, hard hair","colors":["Brown","White","Rust-yellow"],"fun_fact":"Eighteenth-century naturalists sometimes treated Polynesian dogs as a separate species and gave them Latin names such as Canis otahitensis.","sections":{"overview":"The Tahitian Dog, called ʻŪrī Mā'ohi, was the native dog of Tahiti and the Society Islands. It arrived with the ancestors of the Tahitian people during their ocean migrations, alongside pigs and chickens.\n\nIt was small to medium in build and held an important place in island life. The breed no longer exists as a distinct type.","history":"The dogs were brought by Polynesian settlers and were closely related to the Hawaiian Poi Dog and the New Zealand Kurī. Genetic work suggests Polynesian dogs trace back to Indonesian dogs.\n\nThey were kept in households, fed on plant foods and eaten at feasts. Their teeth became fishhooks, their bones tools and their hair decorated ceremonial breast ornaments. Early explorers such as Wallis and Cook met them in the late 1700s. By 1834 the native dog was said to be extinct or lost among mixed dogs introduced from Europe.","appearance":"Accounts describe a small to medium dog about the size of a lap dog up to a large spaniel, with short legs and a long back. The head was broad, the muzzle pointed, the eyes small and the ears upright.\n\nThe smooth coat was usually brown, white or rusty yellow. The diet of soft plant foods is thought to have given the dogs round skulls and small stature.","personality":"Early visitors described these dogs as lazy, shy and not fierce, though some found their temper poor. They rarely barked but sometimes howled, and were very wary of strangers.","care":"As the breed is extinct, there is no modern care to describe. In their own time the dogs were kept at home, often tied up, and fed on breadfruit, coconut, yams and taro."},"recognition":{"fci_number":null,"fci_standard_url":null,"akc_url":null},"sources":{"wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahitian_Dog","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29033666","wikipedia_revision":1361768078},"profile":{"written_by":"AI model (Claude Sonnet) from the sources above","written_at":"2026-10-15T13:59:38Z"}}}