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When we began planning the move to
full time farmers, I told John I wanted a catahoula leopard hound.
He wasn't too sure if I made that up, especially when I told him
they have webbed feet and cracked eyes! AKC does not recognize
the breed, but it really does exist! 'State Dog of Louisiana',
and excellent stock dogs for the South.
Most of the area cow dogs are cat
hounds. Actually, there are two distinct color patterns that may
occur withint the same litter, one is called Yellow Black Mouth
Cur and the other is the 'true' catahoula leopard. The leopard
refers to the merle spots or splotches of gray, black, and yellow.
The yellow cur is 'old Yeller' in appearance, blonde with black
skin and the black on the roof of their mouth. Both have a slight
webbing between the toes, and any eye color can appear on either
dog. Two 'glass' or clear blue eyes is unusual, and very striking,
but one, or a piece of one ('cracked eye) is normal.
They aren't overly large dogs, just
a bit smaller than a German Shepherd, but with an extremely short
hair coat and fairly large boned frame. Short muzzle with a broad
forehead, and small, folded ears. Cat hounds make excellent family
dogs for a large, boisterous family. They love activity and are
not suited to a sedate lifestyle at all. Bred to do most of the
jobs a farm dog needs to do, protect, hunt, herd, etc, this dog
needs to be outside.
We have owned two black mouth curs
and one cat hound in the past. Lamanai and Tikal (sisters from
the same litter, Tikal being the yellow color, Lamanai had the
glass eyes and merle coloring.) Lamanai means 'Water Bug' in ancient
Mayan and Tikal is a Mayan ruin.
They were a little rougher than need
be for goat handling, but never harmed a goat in any way. They
just kept the herd on it's toes! They started roaming when we
didn't have a lot of activity at the farmstead, and Lamanai was
killed by a hay baler in transport. Tikal spent several years
as our only family dog
Then came Rose! Rose was another yellow
cur, much smaller than our other Catahoulas, but as intelligent
and even more devoted. She actually belonged to our neighbor,
but decided to adopt our goats instead. When she abandoned her
litter of pups in favor of our farm, we gave up and 'adopted'
her. When visitors brought their Doberman and Rottweiler females,
Rose made certain no dog even looked hard at 'her' goat pens!
These dogs are gone now, accidents
often claim working stock. They have been replaced by more 'traditional'
guardian types, but I strongly suggest anyone with small children
and an active lifestyle to look into these great animals.
Text
and images copyright 1998 Martha
Wells
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