Mountain Cur
Encyclopedia
The Mountain Cur
is a type of working dog
that are bred specifically for treeing
and trailing small game, like squirrel
and raccoon
s. They're also used for hunting and baying big game like bear and wild boar as well as being just an all-purpose farm dog. Curs are a member of the Hound
group, and the Mountain Cur is one of several varieties of cur
. They can also be used as water dog
s. Mainly bred in Ohio
, Kentucky
, Virginia
, and Tennessee
, it has been registered with the United Kennel Club
since 1998. The Mountain Cur Breeder's Association was formed in 1957.
from Europe
by the settlers of the mountains in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, then later Arkansas and Oklahoma, to guard family and property as well as chase and tree game. These dogs enabled the settlers to provide meat and pelts for personal use or trade, making them very valuable in the unforgiving frontier environment. The Mountain Cur was bred and maintained for nearly two hundred years. With the advent of World War II
, many of the families who had bred them left the rural areas and went to work in factories in the war effort. By the end of the 1940s the breed was becoming rare. Four individuals, Hugh Stephens and Woody Huntsman of Kentucky, Carl McConnell of Virginia, and Dewey Ledbetter of Tennessee are given credit for saving the breed from dying out and setting the Mountain Cur breed standard.
Mt. Curs were the pioneer dogs of the southern Kentucky and Tennessee mountains. It has been said that without Mt. Cur dogs the pioneers could have never been able to settle in these mountains.
Mt. Curs were a necessity for the frontier family. They guarded families against wild animals and other dangers; then also provided food by catching, treeing and holing game for their families' food. Mt. Curs were held in high regard by the pioneers and few were sold after acceptance into a family.
It is believed that the Mt. Cur came from Europe along with their owners who came to America seeking new homes. It has been established, through the research of the late David Carr, that the cur as a type of hunting & herding dog has existed in Britain since at least the 13th century. Many of these dogs were born bobtailed and this gave rise to the word curtail. This cur is the source for later cattle dogs such as the Welsh Corgis, the famous Smithfield and the Old English Sheepdog. After its arrival in colonial America in the 17th century it became the source for other cur breeds including the modern Mt Cur, and the Blackmouth Cur of Old Yeller fame.
Until World War II, the Mt. Cur was still an economic asset to the mountain people. Their Mt. Curs helped feed the family and many of these mountain people bought food, clothes, and other necessities with money from furs caught by their Mt. Curs. Then came the War and the industrial revolution, making jobs available in the Cities. As more mountain people became moved to the Cities to become factory workers the Mt. Cur became scarce in the late 1940s.
However the Ole' mountain men did not forget the Mt. Cur. Four men have been credited with saving the Mt. Cur from extinction, even though many Mt. Curs bloodlines carry very little if any of the blood of the old pioneer Mt. Curs. These men were Hugh Stephens and Woody Huntsman of Kentucky, Dewey Ledbetter of Tennessee, and Carl McConnell of Virginia.
In 1956, these men founded the Original Mountain Cur Breeders' Association. Soon after, much controversy over the breed standard caused Hugh Stephen and Carl McConnell to leave the OMCBA and they founded the Stephen Stock Mt. Cur Association (Registered only long- tailed little black and white dogs).
Later the Tennessee Treeing Brindle Association ( Registering any long-tailed brindle dogs), and the Kemmer Stock Breeders Association, who registers any and all OMCBA registered dogs, regardless of bloodlines.
The Mountain View Cur was developed by selecting only the very best certified tree dogs out of a certain pure Mt. Cur bloodline. This is why they are known as the "thoroughbreds" of the cur dog world. No other Mt Cur Strain has ever been bred under their strict selection and breeding standards.
Cur
Cur as slang refers to a type of random-bred, or mixed-breed dog. This article deals with Cur as a breed.-Etymology:The derivation of the word "cur" dates from the 13th century. It is thought to be short for the Middle English "curdogge", which derives from the word "curren", meaning "to growl"...
is a type of working dog
Working dog
A working dog refers to a canine working animal, i.e., a type of dog that is not merely a pet but learns and performs tasks to assist and/or entertain its human companions, or a breed of such origin...
that are bred specifically for treeing
Treeing
Treeing is a method of hunting where dogs are used to force animals that naturally climb up into trees, where they can be shot by hunters. Particularly used with coonhunting, treeing dogs are selected for the instinct to not cease barking at an animal after it has escaped into a tree...
and trailing small game, like squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
and raccoon
Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...
s. They're also used for hunting and baying big game like bear and wild boar as well as being just an all-purpose farm dog. Curs are a member of the Hound
Hound
A hound is a type of dog that assists hunters by tracking or chasing the animal being hunted. It can be contrasted with the gun dog, which assists hunters by identifying the location of prey, and with the retriever, which recovers shot quarry...
group, and the Mountain Cur is one of several varieties of cur
Cur
Cur as slang refers to a type of random-bred, or mixed-breed dog. This article deals with Cur as a breed.-Etymology:The derivation of the word "cur" dates from the 13th century. It is thought to be short for the Middle English "curdogge", which derives from the word "curren", meaning "to growl"...
. They can also be used as water dog
Water dog
Water dogs, once called Water Spaniels, are a type of gun dog and count among their number some of the oldest dog breeds. With the advent of kennel clubs many water spaniels were accepted under the names including the designation retriever rather than water spaniel. As the name implies, water dogs...
s. Mainly bred in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, it has been registered with the United Kennel Club
United Kennel Club
The United Kennel Club is the second oldest all-breed registry of purebred dog pedigrees in the United States and the second largest in the world. According to the website, the club records 250,000 registrations annually. The UKC is not part of the International Canine Organisation, Fédération...
since 1998. The Mountain Cur Breeder's Association was formed in 1957.
History
The Mountain Cur was originally brought to AmericaUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
by the settlers of the mountains in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, then later Arkansas and Oklahoma, to guard family and property as well as chase and tree game. These dogs enabled the settlers to provide meat and pelts for personal use or trade, making them very valuable in the unforgiving frontier environment. The Mountain Cur was bred and maintained for nearly two hundred years. With the advent of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, many of the families who had bred them left the rural areas and went to work in factories in the war effort. By the end of the 1940s the breed was becoming rare. Four individuals, Hugh Stephens and Woody Huntsman of Kentucky, Carl McConnell of Virginia, and Dewey Ledbetter of Tennessee are given credit for saving the breed from dying out and setting the Mountain Cur breed standard.
Mt. Curs were the pioneer dogs of the southern Kentucky and Tennessee mountains. It has been said that without Mt. Cur dogs the pioneers could have never been able to settle in these mountains.
Mt. Curs were a necessity for the frontier family. They guarded families against wild animals and other dangers; then also provided food by catching, treeing and holing game for their families' food. Mt. Curs were held in high regard by the pioneers and few were sold after acceptance into a family.
It is believed that the Mt. Cur came from Europe along with their owners who came to America seeking new homes. It has been established, through the research of the late David Carr, that the cur as a type of hunting & herding dog has existed in Britain since at least the 13th century. Many of these dogs were born bobtailed and this gave rise to the word curtail. This cur is the source for later cattle dogs such as the Welsh Corgis, the famous Smithfield and the Old English Sheepdog. After its arrival in colonial America in the 17th century it became the source for other cur breeds including the modern Mt Cur, and the Blackmouth Cur of Old Yeller fame.
Until World War II, the Mt. Cur was still an economic asset to the mountain people. Their Mt. Curs helped feed the family and many of these mountain people bought food, clothes, and other necessities with money from furs caught by their Mt. Curs. Then came the War and the industrial revolution, making jobs available in the Cities. As more mountain people became moved to the Cities to become factory workers the Mt. Cur became scarce in the late 1940s.
However the Ole' mountain men did not forget the Mt. Cur. Four men have been credited with saving the Mt. Cur from extinction, even though many Mt. Curs bloodlines carry very little if any of the blood of the old pioneer Mt. Curs. These men were Hugh Stephens and Woody Huntsman of Kentucky, Dewey Ledbetter of Tennessee, and Carl McConnell of Virginia.
In 1956, these men founded the Original Mountain Cur Breeders' Association. Soon after, much controversy over the breed standard caused Hugh Stephen and Carl McConnell to leave the OMCBA and they founded the Stephen Stock Mt. Cur Association (Registered only long- tailed little black and white dogs).
Later the Tennessee Treeing Brindle Association ( Registering any long-tailed brindle dogs), and the Kemmer Stock Breeders Association, who registers any and all OMCBA registered dogs, regardless of bloodlines.
The Mountain View Cur was developed by selecting only the very best certified tree dogs out of a certain pure Mt. Cur bloodline. This is why they are known as the "thoroughbreds" of the cur dog world. No other Mt Cur Strain has ever been bred under their strict selection and breeding standards.
Appearance
- Coat: Heavy, medium short.
- Color: Brindle, black, dark brown, black and brindle, red, yellow and can have white points
- Head: Broad square with top being a flat plane between the high set ears.
- Eyes:Green, blue, or light brown, expressive.
- Ears:Short to medium with a high set and tightly controlled.
- Muzzle: Heavy with wide nares. Teeth form a scissor like bite.
- Body: Stocky, muscular, square and slightly longer than it is tall. The tail can be docked but long enough to form a handle for show. 50% or more of pups are born with a bobbed or naturally short tail.
- Legs: Straight, medium long, muscular capable of speed.
- Feet: Oval shaped, muscled with feline-like pads. Can have back dew claws.