Tehya
Catahoula Leopard Dog mix
Her name comes from the native American words meaning “precious” and “red fox running at dawn”. Precious she is! She loves all children and senior citizens. Her favorite words are “polo fields”! The day I adopted her I stopped by the Atlanta polo fields on the way home. Almost every day since then she has gone with me to exercise the horses. While she can’t run as many miles as she used to, she still enjoys trail rides and protecting me from other dogs when they get away from their owners.
Superpowers: She has helped all the neighbor’s puppies on our street. When they get too rowdy or push normal dog boundaries she corrects them with various small gestures or restraining them with a paw or her weight, teaching bite inhibition and dog manners. A few years ago, one of the neighbors got a new puppy and asked if Tehya could come over and teach the young'un. The look on her face communicated “Seriously, another puppy?!” But, she was just as patient and motherly as she had been with their last pup.
About the breed: Catahoulas are the official state dog of Louisiana. They have a very cool history that goes back to Spanish explorer, De Soto, with his “war dogs” (Mastiffs & Greyhounds) and the French explorer, La Salle, and his Beaucerons. When the settlers pulled out, they left their dogs behind. The dogs bred with the red wolves, resulting in the unique coloring seen today. They’re incredibly smart and have webbed feet that not only make for good swimming; but, also, allows them to climb trees. This also helps them good hunters raccoons.