Mountain Cur......have you heard of them??

My husbands uncle who raises coon hounds and has several of our Beagles just bought a Mountain Cur puppy oh man is she cute

I have never heard of one until now she looks like a small scale mastiff (muscle wise) but she is actually really tall she is 12 weeks and already past my knees and I am 5'9" she is a big brute and she is really pretty she is a fawn color with black legs, black mask, black ears, and a black stripe down her back all the way to the end of her tail she has a mastiff type head but has a longer muzzle not as long as a Dobie floppy ears and a long tail she is extremly smart and very inquisitive he has had her for two weeks and he already has her trailing coons and squirrel he got her as a house dog though he said she is registered prbably UKC because I don't think that AKC recognizes the breed although they might they are always adding new breeds

Anyways I was just wondering if any of you chaz hounders have ever seen one really neat dog!!!!!

yes I have. they are pretty cool dogs, I dont know if it happened yet but I heard from an akc rep that they are going to accept the mountain cur as a rare breed. the mountain cur is extremely similar to the black mouth cur, if you havnt heard of them...you have and just dont know it. the dog who stars in old yeller is a black mouth cur, and the true life dog who inspired (loosely) the story of old yeller was a black mouth cur. they are tenacious hunting dogs used for everything from raccoons and squirrels, to springing game birds, herding semi wild cattle and hunting/herding domestic, semi wild, wild pigs; guard dogs, loving companions, Ive even seen one mountain cur who competes in flyball and agility, and on weekends is a therapy dog at hostpitals and nursing homes. from what I understand they need a firm owner, a securely fenced yard, and a lot of excercise. cool dogs though

They aren't all that unknown around here, although most of ours are the Tennessee Brindle type.

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/mountaincur.htm

I just looked at the info about these dogs, and they are very very good protection and gaurd dogs. They would be great for a really outdoorsy person or a hunter. They sound like really cool dogs.

the stephens stock is typically the largest, they can reach up too 85-90 pounds. the funny thing is that there are really several dozen types of curs. the mountain cur is the only one with a real standard and is the one being accepted by akc. the stephens stock is the typical black mouth cur with a tan (buckskin color) coat and a black muzzle. they somewhat resemble the rhodesian ridgeback, but without the ridge. some black mouth curs are from squirrel hunting stock and are usually around 30-40 pounds, the larger dogs are from coon, cat, and pig hunting stock. I think the smaller one is usually called the alabama cur? but many have different names in different regions but are the same breed.

I've noticed that the people around here who have the Mountain Curs and hunt with them usually also have a Feist as well. http://www.sqdog.com/

in northern louisiana the feist goes along a lot too. either that or a jack russel, and Ive seen several jadg terriers...maybe 5 or 6? theres a guy who lives next to my ifes aunt and uncle who hunts wild pigs with the black mouth (stephens) curs, also uses 2 dogs called catahoula bull dogs. no not catahoula leopard dogs, catahoula bulldogs. http://www.bulldoginformation.com/catahoula-bulldog.html
says the curs are best at tracking it down and then they dart in and out holding the pig in one place. then the catahoula bulldogs tackle the pig.

Catahoula Bull Dogs? That's weird... Catahoula Leopard Dogs are used for hunting, no?

yeah, hunting all kinds of game, as well as herding semi wild cattle and pigs. and as guard dogs and family companions of course.

My husbands uncle has some of the black mouth curs and they have a docked tail and they use them for hunting squirrel they are a red color and a smaller dog 30-40 pounds this one is really tall does look like a Rhodesian Ridgeback now that you mention it but only a really light tan with the black mask I think I was most impressed because she is so smart I mean just really intelligent he is going to use her to hunt squirrel as well as the other curs he has

Here in MI we don't see many and he said that they were really popular in TN Renee he heads down there to pick up alot of coon hounds I don't think that this is where he got this pup (but what do I know?) I believe she was bred here in MI anyways she just really impressed me and that takes alot

thats true, they are extremely intelligent dogs. no matter which type or size (breed?)of cur they are, they are all around dogs used for all types of game hunting, some for springing birds, retrieving, herding, guardians, companions etc etc. the larger ones are in a way more all around dogs because they hunt ALL types of game. the smaller ones will typically have the drive and tenacity to take on boars and wild cattle, but the bigger ones are more often used for that due to their larger size, as well as hunting smaller game.
I talked to my wifes uncle last night and said one of his neighbours dogs competes in agility, flyball, and herding trials with sheep. another went to a hearing ear dog training school in washington (dont know if its state or dc) and is now a service dog for a 12 year old girl. rare for a hound/hunting dog to be able to do that.

Yes it is rare

I was a bit interested because in a couple of years I am going to be looking into getting a dog for Agility one that can compete nationally I was thinking small dog Min. Pin, Shelty, or Papillion or a Border Collie, ACD,or Aussie because I already have a large dog (Doberman) but in no way is he up to the task of competeing nationally so I am going to need a dog I can start out as a pup

The Mountain Cur just may be the ticket they are quite the breed and if AKC accepts their registries than that would be a definate breed to check out

thats what I heard from an akc rep in the breed acceptance part of akc...that was about 4? months ago? not really sure, a lot has happened in the last few months and it could have been 6 months ago, or 2 months ago. but anyway...she said they were going to endocrtinate them into the rare breed group (she thought, also said they were considering it for working group or hound group, since it is also a herder, agility, etc, and it is also very much a hound.) but most likely rare breed due to the fact that there are not very many. but they have a good standard set up, and have been breeding true to it for... I think she said more than 5 generations? since the standard was set up. maybe more, maybe less. of course the breed has been around for 200 + years, but the standard hasnt been around that long and for most of those 200 years they bred with other similar cur types/breeds and occasionally with other hound/hunting breeds. she said mid-late 2006 if I remember correctly??? but knowing akc it could be late 2008 before all the paper work is signed, stamped and delivered, and all the red tape has been cut. I've been thinking about a black mouth cur for several years. when I orignally considered them I was told they were very high drive, excessive barkers, extremely hard to train, etc etc from a couple of people who had and/or bred them. at the time I was NOT any where close to ready for a dog with such a temperament, I was 13-14 and had only had a golden retriever and a jack russel (who was my brothers falconry dog) and was inexperienced in dogs in general. but Ive since researched them more and spoken to more owners and breeders who make the point (which now seems blatantly obvious, since I know a heck of a lot mroe about dogs than I did 12 years ago) that the cur breeds are like every other breed...some are couch potatoes who you have to cattle prod (joke/exageration) to get them to walk around a bit, and others are so high drive that they never (exageration again) even sit down let alone sleep. I felt a cur would be too much for my wife who has very little experience with dogs, only with strider who I did nearly all the training with, so didnt consider a cur for her. but perhaps the next dog will be a cur. especially when we move in a year or two, IF we get several acres like we want so we can have a few goats or sheep for herding with strider and rory (gsd and acd), and a couple of horses again (I was practically born on horse back, havnt had them for about 6 years).
for the experienced owner, especially one with a job in mind for the dog, I think (from what I know, a lot more than when I was 14 but certainly not everything) a cur would be a great choice. especially if you dont mind all the squirrels that come to the back yard feeders being chased up trees

I am going to do some more research on them I am a person who likes a dog who is not as common but won't go the streatch of going out of the breed standard like I said I was considering a Border Collie but everybody and his brother has one of those for agility and a Shelty, JRT, and even the Aussies that is why the Min. Pin came to mind I am really interested in learning more about them and would love to spend more tme with my husbands uncles dog not only does she seem really smart she is pretty sensible too

here are some pics of that kind of breed

http://www.gotpetsonline.com/pictures/gallery/dogs/alphabetically/mountain-curs/