Catahoula Cur
Blue leopard Catahoula Cur
Other names	Catahoula Leopard Dog Catahoula Hog Dog Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog Catahoula Hound
Country of origin	United States
Traits

The Catahoula Cur or Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog, is named after Catahoula Parish in the state of Louisiana in the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Catahoula Parish (Paroisse de Catahoula is a Parish located in the U The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Of remaining dog breeds, the Catahoula is believed to have occupied North America the longest, aside from the dogs descended from Native American-created breeds. Dog breeds are groups of closely related and visibly similar domestic Dogs with characteristic traits that are selected and maintained by humans bred from a known foundation

Quick facts

Description

Appearance

As a working dog, Catahoulas have been bred more for temperament and ability than for appearance. The pound or pound-mass (abbreviation lb, lbm, or sometimes in the United States #) is a unit of Mass A centimetre ( American spelling: centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one hundredth Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. A guard dog, watch dog, or sentry dog is a Dog employed to guard against or watch for unwanted or unexpected animals or people As a result, the physical characteristics of the Catahoula are somewhat varied.

Coat

Catahoulas have a single, short, dense coat in a variety of colors. A Dog 's coat is its Fur. A dog can be double coated &mdashthat is having both a soft undercoat and a coarser topcoat. According to Don Abney, an authority on the breed, the term "Leopard" refers to merles which may be blue, gray, black, white, liver, red, and patched. Patched dogs are predominantly white with any color patches. Solid colors are black, red, chocolate, yellow, and brindle.

• Blue - This refers to the mostly grey to mostly black merle color pattern and sometimes the terms "grey leopard" or "black leopard" are used.
  

  "Patchwork" Catahoula displaying harlequin face
• Red - This refers to the red merle color pattern with varying shades of light reddish-brown with darker red or brown patches. These dogs are sometimes called "brown leopard" or "chocolate leopard".
• White - This refers to a primarily white coat with some areas of leopard color. White Catahoulas carry two copies of the merle gene creating a double merle. History See also History of genetics The existence of genes was first suggested by Gregor Mendel (1822-1884 who in the 1860s studied inheritance A double merle dog is usually born deaf or blind, or both. Some double merle puppies are born without eyes, or with microphthalmia (shrunken eyes). Microphthalmia (or microphthalmos) means small Eyes. Presentation In Mammals the failure of expression of a transcription factor MITF (
• Solid - This refers to black, red, chocolate, yellow, and brindle. This article concerns animal color For the village in England see Brindle Lancashire. Trim colors may be black, white, tan, red, or buff.

• Patchwork - This refers to Catahoulas with patches of several different shades in their coats which are white or very light and appear as large patches giving a more blotchy look than a typical Catahoula. A pattern can be similar to the harlequin pattern seen in Great Danes. The Great Dane, Danish Hound, or German Mastiff, is a breed of Domestic dog ( ^[1]

"Leopard Hound" Catahoula Leopard Hound with coloring

Eyes

Typical of the breed are "cracked glass" or "marbled glass" eyes (heterochromia) and occurs when both colored and glass portions are present in the same eye. In anatomy heterochromia refers to a difference in Coloration usually of the iris but also of Hair or Skin. Cracked or marbled eyes are blue or blue-white in color. Catahoulas with two cracked or marble glass eyes are often referred to as having double glass eyes. In some cases a glass eye will have darker colored sections in it and vice versa. Cracked eyes may be half of one color and half of another. They may just have a streak or spot of another color. Gray eyes are usually cracked eyes, made of blue and green, giving them their greyish appearance. The eyes may be of the same color or each of a different color. Eye color can also be brown, green, gray, or amber. No particular eye color is typical of Catahoulas.

Red "solid" leopard with litter of merle Catahoulas showing wide variety of coat colors

Tail

The tail of the Catahoula may be long and whiplike reaching past the hocks of the back legs or bobtail which is a tail that is one vertebra shorter than full lenngth to only one vertabra in total length. The bobtail is a rare but 'Natural' part of the Catahoula Heritage

Feet

Though most dogs have webbing between the toes, Catahoula feet are webbed very similar to that of a duck with more prominent webbing which extends almost to the ends of the toes. Toes are the digits of the Foot of an animal Many animal species such as Cats walk on their toes and are described as being Digitigrade For duck as a food see Duck (food; for other meanings see Duck (disambiguation. This foot gives the Catahoula the ability to work marshy areas and gives them great swimming ability. In Geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of Wetland which is subject

Temperament

Catahoulas are highly intelligent, energetic, have a high pain tolerance and are very quick, yet they are also very loving and gentle with children they know or have adopted, and their family (pack). One gains a much better insight into their social structure by first understanding the social structure of the wolves. They are inquisitive and have a strong independent streak. The Catahoula temperament is not well suited for everyone; these dogs are very protective of their territory and family, especially the males, but are kind and gentle toward other dogs when on neutral ground. These traits, combined with their independent nature, their high energy levels, and physical strength, can make a Catahoula "too much dog" for inexperienced or meek owners, and can make having such a dog a problem in apartments and small spaces without a lot of exercise. Ideally, a Catahoula should have obedience training, and an outlet for its energy. The ideal place for this breed would be in a rural area where they can have plenty of space to expend their energy. A Catahoula must have a job to do or it may expend its energy in a destructive manner such as digging incredibly large holes, uprooting landscaping, chewing up the garden hose, redecorating the house etc. They are extremely versatile and have been used in search and rescue, hunting, herding and agility.

Work

Hunting

The Catahoula is a common working dog of the region and is seen on farms and ranches across North America. These dogs are outstanding tracking and hunting dogs, commonly used for hunting feral pigs, squirrel, deer, raccoon, mountain lion and black bear. A feral organism is one that has escaped from Domestication and returned partly or wholly to its wild state Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times A squirrel is one of the many small or medium-sized Rodents in the family Sciuridae. A deer is a Ruminant Mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. The raccoon ( Procyon lotor) (sometimes spelt as racoon) also known as the common raccoon, North American raccoon, northern raccoon The cougar ( Puma concolor) also puma, mountain lion, or panther, depending on region is a Mammal of the Felidae family The American Black Bear ( Ursus americanus) is the most common Bear Species native to North America. They often track silently and only begin to make their distinctive baying bark, eye to eye with the prey, once it is stopped. For large game it is not uncommon for a pack of three dogs to work together. Uncle Earl's Hog Dogs Trials, held in Winnfield, Winn Parish, Louisiana pits Catahoulas against hogs to see how fast a dog can corner a hog without actual contact. Uncle Earl's Hog Dogs Trials is a yearly Hog-dog baying event held in the third weekend of March in Winnfield, Winn Parish, Louisiana at the Winnfield is a city in and the Parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. Winn Parish ( French: Paroisse de Winn is a Parish located in the U The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America

Catahoulas have found their way to the Northern Territory of Australia where they have been found to be a superior hunting dog for pigs by breeders. The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the center of the mainland continent as well as the central northern regions For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. ^[2] Apparently, they have been introduced in New Zealand as well, but the number of Catahoulas there is unclear. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island

Herding

They are used for herding cattle, sheep, and pigs by a method of antagonizing and intimidation of herd animals as opposed to the method of all day boundary patrol and restricting the animals being herded from entering or leaving the designated area. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times ^[3]

The breed is recognized by the United Kennel Club under the "herding dog" breed group. The United Kennel Club (or UKC) is the second oldest all-breed registry of Purebred Dog Pedigrees in the United States and ^[4]

Health problems

As a breed, Catahoulas are relatively free of a lot of diseases. Deafness is one of the major genetic flaws in Catahoulas. A Catahoula that is mostly white, or has a white face with glass eyes, has an 80% chance of being deaf in one or both ears. Hearing in one ear is also referred to as "directional deafness. " Breeders are not readily willing to allow deaf Catahoulas to leave their premises and will generally euthanize the deaf pups. Euthanasia (literally "good death" in Ancient Greek) refers to the practice of ending a life in a painless manner Catahoulas are also prone to hip dysplasia. Catahoulas can have eye problems (tunnel vision, eye won't open all the way, pupil is abnormal, etc. ). Some older dogs are known to have been diagnosed with cancer.

History

One theory as to the origins of the breed states that the Catahoula is thought to have descended from "war dogs" (Mastiffs and Greyhounds) brought to Louisiana by Hernando de Soto in the 16th century. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America Dogs left behind by the explorer's party were interbred by the local natives with their domestic dogs.

The idea that Native Americans bred their dogs with or from red wolves is not supported by recent DNA work. Several recent studies,^[5] have looked at the remains of prehistoric dogs from American archaeological sites and each has indicated that the genetics of prehistoric American dogs are similar to European and Asian domestic dogs rather than wild New World canids. In fact, these studies indicate that Native Americans brought several lines (breeds) of already domesticated dogs with them on their journeys from Asia to North America^[6].

There is a plethora of published sources detailing the domestic dogs found in prehistoric archaeological sites^[7]. Clearly, the red wolf was not the only canid located in the Mississippi River Valley before the arrival of Europeans. There were also foxes and grey wolves as well as various domesticated Native American breeds^[8],^[9],^[10],^[11],^[12].

In the 1800s, French settlers arrived in Louisiana with their Beauceron. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. They told of strange looking dogs with haunting glass eyes that were used by the Indians to hunt game in the swamp. ^[13] It is thought the Beauceron and Red Wolf/war dog were interbred to produce the Catahoula. The word 'Catahoula' is actually a combination of two Choctaw words 'okhata', meaning lake, and 'hullo', meaning beloved. . . or a French transformation of the Choctaw Indian word for their own nation, 'Couthaougoula' pronounced 'Coot-ha-oo-goo-la'. (Don Abney)

Jim Bowie and brother Rezin Bowie, who spent much of their youth in Catahoula Parish are reported to have owned a pair of Catahoulas. James "Jim" Bowie (April 10 1796 March 6 1836 a nineteenth-century American pioneer and soldier played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating Rezin Pleasant Bowie ( 8 September 1793 - 17 January 1841) was an American inventor and designer of the Bowie knife. It was said that they would sleep with a Catahoula at their feet. ^[14][15] During the early 1900s, Teddy Roosevelt used the Catahoula when hunting. Theodore Roosevelt (ˈroʊzəvɛlt October 27 1858 January 6 1919 also known as T ^[16] Louisiana Governor Earl K. Long had an interest in the breed and collected them. Earl Kemp Long ( August 26, 1895 September 5, 1960) was a colorful American politician and three-time Democratic governor ^[17]

In 1979, Governor Edwin Edwards signed a bill making the Catahoula the official state dog of Louisiana in recognition of their importance in the history of the region. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) Edwin Washington Edwards (born August 7, 1927) served as the Democratic Governor of Louisiana for four non-consecutive terms (1972–1980 1984–1988 A state mammal is the official or representative Animal of a U The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America

Catahoula lines

There are three versions of the Catahoula Cur:

• The Wright line was the largest at 90 to 110 pounds (40 to 50 kg) and were developed by Mr. Preston Wright. This line represented dogs originally produced from Hernando de Soto's dogs.
• The Fairbanks line was the next in size at 65 to 75 pounds (30 to 35 kg) and were developed by Mr. Lovie Fairbanks. They were brindle to yellow in color.
• The McMillin line was the smallest in size at 50 to 60 pounds (about 25 kg) and were developed by Mr. T. A. McMillin of Sandy Lake, Louisiana. The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America These were Blue Leopard dogs with glass eyes.

These three lines were crossed back and forth and created the variations of Catahoulas seen today. ^[18]

References