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MOUNTAIN CUR |
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Additonal Breeds Starting With Letter:
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The Mountain
Cur is of the same general gene pool as the Leopard Cur. They originated
at the time the United States was new and were particularly common in
the Ohio River Valley. As frontiersmen, followed by entire families, moved
to open the West, their Cur dogs accompanied them. Those that foster this
breed say that besides the herding dog and hound, there is a dash of "Indian
cur" (a pariah-type dog) in their makeup. Although called "mountain"
because of their particular advantage to settlers in wooded, wild areas,
they were just as welcome in swampy or arid areas, or other places with
harsh living conditions.
This breed tends
less to the hound than some of the other Cur breeds, perhaps because of
that elusive Indian background. He is very stocky, wide and muscular with
a strong wide head and the short, higher set ear. Although the full length
tail is allowed, many are born tailless.
Trailing ability
varies with strains, but they have enough nose to follow game and are
particularly strong in treeing ability. Usually they are silent trailers.
And they are very tough, willing to face a squealing razorback or an angry
wild cat when it is cornered. This breed does not have any of the blue-mottled
color.
The book Old Yeller, about a boy
growing up in frontier Texas and a dog for which the book is named, is
a typical Mountain Cur (unlike the movie which starred a dog of Lab type).
In the book, Old Yeller is a short-haired, yellow bob-tailed dog that
hunts and trees, naturally goes for the nose when he faces a mad bull,
and isn't afraid to fight a full-grown bear when it threatens his own.
The author is precise in describing this old-fashioned breed and its use
to the pioneer, without ever naming the breed. Of course, in those days,
the breed really didn't have a name or an individual identity. By the end of the last war, there were very few of these old-time Mountain Curs left. A few die-hard owners still maintained some stock in isolated swamps and remote mountain regions of the southeast. Recently, they began to enjoy a modest revival, similar to the other Cur breeds. The Original Mountain Cur Breeders Association fosters and registers the breed today.
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