Mountain Cur Dog History

[Buzzcook]

armedandsafe: The article you link to points out the importance of running new dogs with experienced ones. The pups learn from the old dog as much as they do from the hunter/trainer.

I saw that with the second lab my in-law owned. It picked up its cues from the first lab and learned in one season what it took two for the older dog to learn.
Which brings us to the hunting pig. The in-law was driving home one night and found a piglet on the side of the road. To make a long story short the pig got raised with the dogs and would flush pheasants when he hunted on the home acreage. Eventually the pig was turned into bacon, but it was fun while it lasted.

[orchidhunter]

mtnm, I hunt the Kemmer strain of Mt. Cur. They hunt hard and fast, but not too far away. They check in about every 30 minutes if not on track. They make cold tracks appear hot. They circle and drift until they find the hot end of tracks and run to catch and catch to kill. They do not open on a track that cannot be moved. When working bear and boar they have the speed to bite and circle game in one motion and keep the animal turning. They will catch every groundhog on a farm even if it takes all summer. Will crawl on there stomachs to stalk a groundhog trying to get between groundhog and den. They have a clear chop mouth. Easy to tell when treed. They can heel a cow like a stock dog and get rough with a mean cow if need be. These dogs are people-oriented and have a very, very strong need to please you. Hope this is some help to you. orchidhunter

[mtnm]

Whats the difference between a hound and a cur?

Someone told me its that curs check back in. Is that true?
...or curs are mixed with the dogs of DeSoto and greyhound, bulldog and more.
or maybe hounds are keen on game, and curs are keen on people but work too.
or curs work hogs, cattle and find game.

Let me see if I understand your launguage?

They make cold tracks appear hot.

They have an exceptional nose.

They do not open ( bark or hollar ? ) on a track that cannot be moved.

Game that does not run?

They will catch every groundhog on a farm even if it takes all summer.

Jeb killed a skunk on his chain without getting sprayed.

They can heel a cow like a stock dog and get rough with a mean cow if need be.

Do they also circle and head cows?

Thank you.

They have a clear chop mouth.

Not sure what that means?

Are your dogs so hard headed that you use a shock collars to teach come?

People tell me I own hounds. I have never met a cur owner before...
and all I know about my dogs is what they have taught me.

They can only be replaced with another cur.

[hogdogs]

Officially a curr is a lesser dog or a mixed breed. For us a bulldog that "currs out" is one that released grip on a hog or never caught but instead went to baying...

For us hoggers an open dog is one that barks before they see the quarry... usually results in no bayed hog as they will run ahead and rest and run as the yapper closes in... ie: "haulin the mail" to the next county.

Clear chop is a more traditional bark opposed to athe bawl of a hound...
IMHO anyway...
Brent

[orchidhunter]

mtnm, check out our website at www.omcba.com and the Kemmer Cur folks website http://z11.invisionfree.com/Kemmers_Hybrids/index.php orchidhunter

[roy reali]

I am surprised by how much some of you love dogs!

[hogdogs]

Roy, For those like mtnm, the dog is a trail boss guarding the loved ones... For me, they are my one and only means to an end... And knowing the risk we all face on a hog hunt I must put my trust in the dogs, more the bulldog but all play a role. They in turn put their life in my hands to hustle up and get the hog tipped and tied as quick and clean as possible to reduce the risk of injury to the dogs... I don't care if it is a deep beaver pond with snakes and gators I must swim... it ain't time to get my nerve... Like Mr.Nike says... JUST DO IT!
I can't speak for the bird and coon hunters as I haven't done that too much and haven't owned such dogs, unless you consider my bulldog trashin out on a coon or beaver...
Brent

[roy reali]

You missed my meaning.

[hogdogs]

I think I caught it but didn't expound on it the way I could have... If you mean the incessant desire to learn about the various breeds and traits of the breeds... it generally comes as part of the territory... I couldn't tell a mt.curr from a partin curr from a bluetick hound until I got started huntin' hogs. I also thought all bulldogs were one and the same with just different regional names with the exception of english and boston bulldogs... I may still be offbase of your intended meaning and if so please elaborate for me cuz you may have slipped a frisbee brand pie tin passed my head...

Brent

[kisatchiecaller]

hardwoods ida belle

she is an original mt. cur

treeing a squirrel

[MLeake]

... but had a Catahoula Cur / Siberian Husky mix who was the best dog I've ever owned.

Don't tell my current three dogs (Jack Russell; Pit/Pointer; and American Bulldog/German Shepherd/Samoyed/Terrier mix). They are all good dogs, and don't need to know I had a favorite. (Had to put him down in 2008 when he just couldn't get up one morning; 13 years old, lower spine had fused on him.)

We've thought about a black-mouthed cur as our next one, down the road.

[P97]

The Mountain Cur on the left, and Australian Cattle Dog on the right, in the Background are excellent all around dogs, and work good together. The black dog in the front became Wolf food. He wasn't near the dog the other two are.

[Willie Lowman]

My mtn. cur, Titus.

[Hunter Customs]

I really enjoyed this thread.
A friend of mine had a catahoula cur, it was an excellent dog.

mtnm,
Thanks for the great pictures, beautiful country.
I spend as much time as possible horseback. If I was in that country I don't know if anyone would ever see me again.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com

[sc outdoorsman]

Back when my dad had a pack of deer hounds he had a few Plotts over the years. They were not as fast as walkers or have the nose of a bluetick, but they were solid dogs. A big male named Joe was toughest dog we ever had. He was gentle to handle but wanted to fight other dogs. We had a time settling that. He also loved to fight hogs as well. We had to get him sewn up a few times, but he never would back down from a hog. I also saw him scrap with a big male coon under a blown down tree. He was cut up pretty good from that as well.
The curs I've seen around here were medium sized dogs that were excellent at treeing squirrels. They also were good companions.

[PawPaw]

I live within 10 miles of Catahoula lake in central Louisiana and have lived here most of my life. The hog dogs that took the lakes name were originally bred around here for hunting free-range hogs. They're normally blue-brindle dogs, but the defining feature in these woods is blue eyes. If a dog doesn't have blue eyes (around here) he's not considered a Catahoula Cur. Another defining trait of the Catahoula Cur is pronounced webbing between the toes. That trait makes it easier for the dogs to work in swampy areas.

There are some who are trying to rename this breed the Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog. The Catahoula Cur is the official dog of the state of Louisiana.

The best one I ever had was a dog named Cuz. I got Cuz during his later years after he'd retired from the hog business. His owner was moving and Cuz couldn't go on the road with him, so he asked if I'd take the dog. We lived together for about eight years on my mini-farm. Dependable, loyal, strong, smart, Cuz was a wonderful dog and I shed my tears when I found him under his favorite cedar tree, asleep but grown cold.

[langenc]

In the mid 60s I had the good fortune of hunting w/ a gentleman and his catahoula. The hunting was for javelina in the Hondo, TX area. That dog was a real hunter..stamina and an excellent nose.

I got to handle the dogs after the bay. We would leash the dogs and then the hunter shot. Hog was usually backed into or against some hollow log or stump or some pear. Once I let the dogs go when the hog bolted out of the log, after the shot. That is a dangerous time for the dog. They only went 50 yds and the wounded hog went back to the log. From then on I understood and never made that mistake again.

[texashoney]

I have a german sheperd // cur mix pup about three months old. He has more of the cur look and temperment than the german sheperd. Living out on the Texas gulf coast where the temps have reached over 104 degrees, he is always actively seeking some type of water to play in. I do not know much about cur dogs, as my experience is with german sheperds. I would like to get some good useful training tips as well as any behavior issues to look out for. Max has been going to the burn pile and has been caught chewing on burnt tin cans, so I am a little scared of vet bills in the future if this keeps up. Any advice is greatly welcomed.

[P97]

I've found that they all have different personalities, even of the same breed, just like people. My Half Mountain Cur, is a very sensitive dog, and has to be handled easily. She will do anything to please me, and get me to praise her. She has been easy to train, because all I have to do is make her understand what I want her to do. She is the most obedient dog, I've ever had. My Australian Cattle dog, will do what I ask, but at times, you can tell its not because he wants, but knows he has to. I never have to whip the Mountain Cur, but can just scold her, and it has the same affect as a whipping. The Cattle dog, has to be trashed occasionally, so he'll remember to do what he knows to do. My Mountain Cur liked to chew bones when she was young, and still likes to. She will also eat anything she finds dead, and smelling, in the woods, even though she's fed well. Before my Mountain Cur gets too old, I'm planning to get a Full Blood Pup, and let her help me train it. The Mountain Cur is the best behaved, all around dog I've ever owned. Since I have two different breeds, for two different purposes, my Mountain Cur will work cattle with the cattle dog, and the Cattle dog will tree, and help the Mountain Cur kill Varmints.

[TX Hunter]

I figured out a long time ago that If you can get A Mountain Cur, and a Hound to hunt together, you will be very successfull, to this day, I now hunt a Bluetick with a mountain Cur, and tree coons when other cant.