COUNTRY: USA
WEIGHT: 35-65 pounds
COAT: Short or slightly longer and heavy
COLOR: Brindle, yellow, black/tan or mouse blue; with or without white neck ring and points
GROUP: Hound
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.
The blanket name "cur" is slowly being sorted into individual types. The name Mountain Cur used to encompass what is now the Treeing Tennessee Brindle and the Stephens Stock as well, but these two have attained enough individual identity to justify their own registering groups.
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.
WEIGHT: 35-65 pounds
COAT: Short or slightly longer and heavy
COLOR: Brindle, yellow, black/tan or mouse blue; with or without white neck ring and points
GROUP: Hound
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.
The blanket name "cur" is slowly being sorted into individual types. The name Mountain Cur used to encompass what is now the Treeing Tennessee Brindle and the Stephens Stock as well, but these two have attained enough individual identity to justify their own registering groups.
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.