Leopard Cur

[Dan McDonough]

I forgot to put something in my above statement about good breeders and picking good people to get dogs from. Any good breeder or hunter that is not a thuroughly trustworthy person (at the very least, in his dogs eyes, because I've known some real rouges that have exceptional dogs consistanly) can never realize the full potential of a great dog.

I'm going back to learning now...thanks for listening.

[dwalton]

There have been some great post about the Leopards. Dan when you said about building the trust with the dog, that is a hard think for me to be able to relate to others also. The Leopards are very smart and sensitive dogs. If they are handled ruff they will not work for you. My Milly is the only house dog that I have ever had. She just moved in liking the digs. She does not let dogs to come into her house. She lays around the house on rugs that I have put down for her. She minds better than most Labs. People that see her hunt before they see her in the house can not believe she is the same dog. She hunts full out all the time always running for the lead. She is far better at getting her point across to me than I am to her. She will look at me, bark or touch me me if she is on my blind side to get my attention then look at what she wants. If what she wants is not within sight she will take you to it. If they think that I have corrected then unfairly they will avoid me for a day or two. A example was When I corrected one of her pups for being in the mule field she would not let me pet her for a day. They need very little correction and need to be trained in a positive way. They are dogs with a lot of intelligence. You need to guide them not train then. Get into there heads and see things from there view. A lot of old fashion training methods will not work for them. In other words you have to be at least as smart as the dog. As far as different types of Leopards I have only hunted with Mcduffy that came through Rex Bower or Wayne Hensley and even with those I see a difference in individual dogs. Like buying any dog one should put his time in to find what you want. Dewey

[Sierra Madre]

Thanks guys,
Dan, I guess the point of the tread was selfish. I am new to the dog world and when I tell people I am training Leopards to be cat dogs they say curs are coon or hog dogs and smile at me thinking I am wasting my time.

I Bought my dogs from Ricky Love. The 3rd and 4rd generations are heavy Rex and McDuffie. I really enjoy my 2 curs. As well have brought them further in training situations by being positive as opposed to negative. I have walked away from the dogs when I was really upset but know if I would have beat them for the mistake I would have lost time or worse.

I have never thought about it but isn't being fair and honest a trait every living being understands? If a bird or a frog or whatever is unfair to another one if its kind you would think it would remember and act accordingly. I find myself striving and going out of my way to be fair with them. This may be why when they have done something bad and I am calling them to me for their correction they come.

It's interesting what was said about getting one of the exceptional Leopards. I guess this is a numbers thing. The more you have access to, the more likely you are to find one. I called Ricky after I read this post and said I have room if he comes across this type of dog. Thanks again guys.

[Dan McDonough]

Boy o' boy, I re-read my posts and I sure did ramble on. I do miss that Rachel dog. 10-4 Dewey. I'm not very natural to the style of training these Leopards need but I am getting more habitual about it the longer I do it. I keep thinking crossing a jagdterrier with a border collie and then back to a good lep. I've been thinking about that cross for almost as many years as I've been following trail dogs. That formula comes from how I've seen each of those breeds so a lot of people will read that and scratch their heads but I don't think they will be thinking about the same dogs that I will having gotten lucky with seeing a couple of really good jagds. Smart B.C.'s are easy to find and great Leopards are about med.-hard but really great jagds. take a great deal of work to make. The jagds. will test the resolve of most dog trainers because it seems like your loosing the battle for the frist year but when you get over that hump, they are the opitomy of hunt-desire and we all know what desire does for a dogs nose. I don't know if you really nead the border in the mix at all but I'm getting addicted to smart dogs. If a guy could work a whippet into the program without deminishing the voice or coat, I'm sure there just isn't anything that could escape a dog like that. There is a guy in that region of the country (N.W.) that has some old hunting stock of whippets he brought over from the E.U. I'm in the process of finding him. I'd like to have access to that kind of dog for future ideas.

[Dan McDonough]

By the way, those jagds are not really that hard to find but like I said, they are hard to make. Your in for a serious time investment if you want to make a really serviceable dog that handles, can be hunted efficiently in multiple settings and be close to trash free. Of couse there is a bright side to all of that game drive in that it's easier to hold a dog back than to push it along. I repeat that old saying to myself at least once a day it seems. Now it won't seem like a lot of time compared to what a bird dog trainer puts into a good bird dog though.

I just picked up a border collie/pit cross pup to train up for sale to the lurcher guys out there. I think this pup is going to give me a whole bunch of stories in the next year if it doesn't sell to soon.

I have a book recomendation for everyone, actually two. The first one I've already read and it was very informative and has many usefull breeding tips that can be applied to all sorts of crosses. It's "Rogues and Running Dogs," by Brian Plummer. Awsome read! The next is by the same author and I have not read it yet but Plummer has a dog training book out that I intend to get very shortly. I can't remember the title off the top of my head but it's something like "Dog Training Secrets" or "The Secrets of Dog Training". After reading Rogues and Running Dogs, I want to hear what this guys has to say about dog training.

[Dan McDonough]

Brian Plummer has a lot of old world dog knowlege and writes quite a bit about the old European poachers and gypsy and tinkers who had dogs that did crazy things for them...stuff I've never even thought of. Reading books like this can broaden your horizons about what you can get a dog to do beyond your dreams. It's a real art and it was like living your whole childhood in the same neighborhood but only finding out about the candy store in town when your 15. It blows my mind. David read Rogues and Running Dogs, so he's had a taste. Maybe he will make some comments about that.

There I go again!