They are sometimes referred to as The American Dingo. They are the same species as far as I know. They are fine hunting (natural pointers) and watch dogs. They pretty much suck at retrievals, however. One of a litter I sold off went to Connecticut to become an agility competition dog. They train well, but are very independent and sometimes just plain strange. One thing for sure is they are WILD animals.
I have no doubt that they were influenced by the Carolinas.