As the world’s most ubiquitous carnivore and the first domesticated animal, dogs have spurred the emergence of a unique interdisciplinary field of research: Canine Science. Relatively few researchers, however, study dogs and their relationships to humans outside of the familiar contexts of industrialized societies. As an anthropologist, I work among indigenous Nicaraguans, whose dogs serve as hunting companions and watchdogs. These dogs receive virtually no veterinary care. They are undernourished, subsisting largely on rice and bananas. Mortality is relatively high at all ages, and few dogs live past six years old. Some dogs, though, provide substantial value as hunting companions, helping their owners acquire large quantities of hunted game. In this environment, the main advantage of dogs is that they boost encounter rates with several key prey species. Dogs are a hindrance when hunting other species, though, implying that dogs are not universally beneficial hunting accessories. From a conservationist perspective, dogs may be worthwhile alternatives in settings where projectile weapons can otherwise be used to target slow-breeding and vulnerable species, such as primates. Dogs may also be vectors of diseases to wildlife populations, however, and the Nicaraguan dogs show high rates of canine distemper virus and parvovirus that could be transmitted to vulnerable feline species. Ongoing work is assessing the survivorship of dog populations as a function of their utility as hunting companions. In general, this population provides a diverse empirical counterpoint to a canine science that has examined few dogs in subsistence-oriented contexts.