<< Temple guard dogs? >>
Seems to me that Gar sounds and lot like Guard; Guard Hound - Gar Hound. Just an observation. I think I prefer the long faced water hound approach.
Reminds me of the old Praxian chant used to propitiate the Leaping Bear spirits "You ain't nothin' but a bear-cat", sung famously by Herd Sister Thornton but made accesible to the non-nomad valley of cradles community by the hip-gyrating valley shaman Elvis the Pelvis who changed the object of this ritual to the water friendly garhounds, a breed ridiculed by the Praxians because of their poor survival instincts in chaparral (they like water too much) but valued in the valley for their keen sense of smell and fishing/swimming ability.
"You ain't nothing but a Garhound, splashing all the time You aint never caught a prax hare and you aint no friend of mine."
<<Amerindians did not have horses till the 1600's. Before that, dogs took the place of horses for many functions.>>
I read that the word for horse can be translated as god-dog, or super-dog, something like that, because they used them in similar ways - to pull their travois to carry their children and other gear. Horses are better than dogs at doing this.
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Well, cats certainly aren't much use for pastoral nomads. They might catch mice but this is not too useful for a wandering cattle herder. Following wandering bands of livestock and yapping to warn of approaching stangers OTOH is very useful to herders. Logically, I feel dogs are the nomadic animal of choice. I feel sure cats couldn't (or wouldn't want to) keep up with a long migraton.
Keith
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