The Hawaiian Poi (‘īlio in Hawaiian) is a breed of Pariah dog brought to Hawaii by Polynesian settlers over 1,000 years ago. These island dogs live among the tribes and sometimes play with Polynesian children.
At that time, the Hawaiian Poi was bred to eat and was considered a delicacy. To fatten them up, they are only fed poi, a paste made from taro roots. This vegetarian diet makes dogs fat and lazy with bloated bellies.
They are also given as gifts to children at birth and are considered protective. If the child died before the dog, the poi would be buried with the child. If the child outlives the dog, the dog’s teeth are extracted and made into a collar to protect the child.
Hawaiian Poi Dog’s Appearance and Psychology
The Hawaiian Poi is obese with a bloated belly and measures about 14 inches at the shoulder. Because of their barrel-shaped bodies with short legs, they waddling like the pigs they usually go with.
Due to their non-chewing vegetarian diet, their skulls became large and flat due to the absence of bone. Their diet also leaves them with low mentality.
The Hawaiian Poi are friendly, but clumsy and often act more like pigs they run with than dogs. They played with the children of the tribe but could not keep up as the children threw fruit at them.
Although considered the guardians of the children of the tribe, the dogs on the island are too slow and inactive to bark and protect children from strangers.
Why did the Hawaiian Poi become extinct?
Around the turn of the 19th century, the Hawaiian Poi was crossed with other breeds. Because they were no longer purebred, Hawaiians lost interest in the breed and the breed became extinct. Subsequent attempts to recreate the pure version were unsuccessful. Today, the term poi dog can be used to refer to any Hawaiian mixed breed dogalthough the Poi was originally its own separate breed.
