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April 29th, 2009 by Tanza Tripp

The Catahoula Leopard or Catahoula Cur is a native American breed with a colorful American history. Hailing from the Catahoula Lake area of Louisiana, this dog is a common sight among farms and ranches across North America. Considered as an excellent creature for hunting and tracking, it hunts small and big games; and as an outstanding herder, it successfully contains and traffics animal herds by means of intimidation and effective restriction.

For this breed, their history started in 1536 upon the arrival of Hernando De Soto and his massive war dogs, the Mastiff and Greyhound breeds. These vicious breeds were used to extort information from Indians regarding treasures and gold in the area. When the Spaniards left unsuccessful with their quest, they left some of the wounded war dogs and the Indians were soft-hearted enough to take them in and allow inter-breeding with the Red fox, the Indians’ hunting companion at the time, and the new breed of Indian fox dog began.

During the settlement of the French in Louisiana in the 1700s, they immediately noticed the mysterious skillful hunter and glassy-eyed native fox dogs. At that time, these fox dogs were all over the state and were well-received by the people of the state. With their own breed called Beauceron, the French bred the two and the result is the present day Catahoula Leopard.

The Catahoula Cur breed was famous and is said to have affected the lives of many known personalities such as the brothers Jim and Rezin Bowie who were believed to adore this breed so much they let them sleep in on their beds. Teddy Roosevelt also favored the Catahoula as hunting companion and the then La. Gov. Earl K. Long collected and bred Catahoula. Because of these inclinations to famous people, the breed became a household name all over the country and in 1979, it was made the official state dog of Louisiana.

This breed is one of the few breeds which are favored not for their physical appearance but for their characteristics and abilities. Physically, this breed has a single, short and dense coat but each one differs and varies in colors and patterns. The common variations are black with mottles of blue and gray, red or brown with a light touch of red or liver, and any other colors with a touch of blue or gray merle.

In texture, the coat of this breed also varies such as slick, coarse, shaggy or wooly. The course coat, when wet, dries out longer but maintenance of it is quite easy while the wooly or shaggy coats shed incessantly but grows back as course coat or double coat. The slick coat dries out in minutes when wet and is referred to as the wash n’ wear coat, obviously referring to its manageability and low-maintenance requirement.

The Catahoula is one dog not to be dismissed and according to Don Abney, “You must be ready to teach and exercise a Catahoula. If not, he will eat your house. The Catahoula will not let you forget that you own a dog.” This funny statement serves true for the Catahoula is inherently smart, hyperactive, a superb hunter, tracker, and herder; and a great family pet and household companion. At times it can be persistent and dominant but it is not born aggressive.

Because of its nature as an intense worker, this dog needs a regular outlet of energy in the form of daily exercise, house or farm chores or an ample amount of playtime. Without these activities that keep them busy, they tend to suffer physically and mentally. As they grow older, they have a negative tendency to over protect their territory from other dogs and animals which often results to fights and deaths.