The ancient dog (tcuku, C) of the Miwok was brindled, medium-sized, prick-eared, short-haired, had a curled tail, and a muzzle like a coyote. Dogs were rare and were usually bought as pups from the westerners (Alowituk), probably the Yokuts. Sometimes, however, they were bred by the Miwok. Pups were bought with baskets, bows, and arrows. The dogs sometimes caught squirrels. Hunters sometimes used the dogs for pursuing deer, which the dogs could run down easily in the fall when the deer were fat. Also wounded deer were run down by dogs.

Dogs were sometimes eaten. They were commonly named after their owner’s homeland The father of one aged informant possessed a bitch (tcuku osa, C) which he named Sokonowa after a place near his native hamlet of Akanga. Sokonowa was an esteemed member of the household who slept next the fire. Her master never hunted with her, but kept her as a valuable piece of property. Sokonowa was never mated by her owner, although there were several other dogs in the village. He had obtained her while living at the upcountry village of Pota (near Springfield, Tuolumne county), his brothers dwelling at Akanga having got her from the Yokuts for him. Sokonowa died of old age, having escaped the end of so many Miwok dogs who were shot on the occasion of the pota or pole ceremony.

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