As you walk up to the fence, you are instantly greeted by some very strange looking dogs. In one yard there is a large, dark spotted dog with dark eyes; or in another yard, it could be a light, blue-gray Leopard with white trim, but you only notice his coloring after you take your eyes off the haunting white eyes of the animal which has been staring straight at you ever since you first approached. The closer you come, the higher the hair stands up along the dog's back, reminding you of a razor-back hog. The dogs may run up to the fence, bark, show their teeth and then run to their house and back and forth to the fence . . . not a very warm welcome at any rate!
When the dog's master comes out to greet you and makes the dog back off or ties him to a tree. Now it is safe for you to enter the yard. You have just been introduced to the Louisiana Catahoula Leopard . . .to some a great stockdog and to others, an all time great family protector and watchdog.
Later when you are going home, you are amazed to see that same dog playing with a child. The children run and play, pull his ears and pat his head and you wonder if the child is about to lose his arm . . . but you are only seeing another side of the very versitile Catahoula, a family dog and a lover of little ones. This dog will tolerate anything from the children for whom he has formed an affection.
Watching the dog, you see him walk over to a place and all at once just "flop" down like a junkyard dog; get up and prance around with his tail held high like a show dog; or approach with his tail between his legs like a whipped pup. These are all characteristics of the breed.
Many a Catahoula owner has gone hunting squirrel or hogs in the morning, penned a few cows that afternoon and had a good coon hunt that night. . . all with the same pair of dogs.
The COON HUNTER would love to see a Catahoula fight an ole' coon in a creek. They stopped putting Catahoulas in the "Coon on a Log" trials because it just wasn't fair for the coon to lose all the time.
For the DEER HUNTER, you can hunt and go home with your dog . . . all in the same day. Some hunters use Walkers and they run deer for a day and spend the next 3 days looking for their dogs. The Catahoulas are short-range dogs. They are the best silent trailers and bay dogs on earth. Some trail on the ground, but most scent the wind.
HOG HUNTERS need to know that the Catahoulas are also called "coward" dogs because of the way they hunt and/or work hogs. The bark, snap and run. This is a born instinct, telling the dog that to aggrevate the hogs will make them follow, and this way he can get them to follow him for miles to a pen; or a short way to something that he can make a hog back up against . . . baying the hogs until his master comes. What would some city folk think of our great dog if they saw the Catahoula bark at a hog and turn tail and run . . . with the hog right on his heels? Yep, COWARD. But we know that the Catahoula is about as dumb as a sly fox!
For the COW MAN, the Catahoula uses the same instince in herding cattle. If the cow man goes in and tries to move the cows before he has let his Catahoulas work, bunch, circle and calm the herd, he is wasting his time and making it hard on his dogs, because cows will break and run, causing the dogs to leave the herd to catch the stray. So, a word to the wise is "sit back and let your Catahoulas do what comes naturally . . . and that is, tease, circle and bay until the cows calm down and bunch up, then the master can move in and slowly start the herd moving. The Catahoulas will keep them bunched together until they are penned. Then, put your Catahoulas in the back of your truck and park it any place, because as the old cowboys used to say . . . and still say . . . "your truck will be intact with Ole Lep in the back."
Everyone wants to know how to train their Catahoulas because they work a bit differently from most dogs and they work mostly by instinct which is born and bred into them. So, if you are a COW MAN, put the pup (6 weeks) in the truck and take him with you, letting him get to know the smell of the calves . . . letting him bark at them (baying up) and learn how to move around them. When he gets a bit older (4-6 mos.) put him on a short job with an older dog. From 9-12 mos. he should be considered a "started dog" and after a year old, he should be polishing his technique and learning how to handle stock in different situations.
Catahoulas are very quick to catch on to just what you want them to do for you. HOG HUNTERS get a shoat and let the pup bay him or start him on young penned pigs. DEER HUNTERS should put the pup with hound pups to start him off. It's been found that keeping a young Catahoula pup with a pack of hounds, he will team with them and make a good pack dog. Some Catahoulas will open-every once in a while on trail. The deer men say that once a Catahoula is trained on deer, there is no dog to match him. Catahoulas won't run a cold trail and they are a short range dog that can run like greased lightening.
COON HUNTERS have found that the Louisiana Catahoula Leopards have the best eye sight at night of any dog known and if the Catahoula has every smelled a coon or fought with one, they will hunt for the pure pleasure of it. Their baying can be heard above and beyond the hounds and a Catahoula-coon fight is something else! Likewise, the SQUIRREL HUNTERS will see that the sharp eyesight is useful, plus a very keen sense of hearing and smell. A good way to begin is to take the pup along, kill a squirrel and let him get the smell, the training is half done.
Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dogs grow and keep filling out until they are two years old. They work like an adult dog at 8-9 months. We find that the smaller built dogs start working earlier than the big or large boned dogs. Some training should start at 6-10 weeks, such as chain breaking, riding in a truck and being told NO. Females can come in heat anywhere from 8 months to a year old. We wait to use males as studs until after they are 12-24 months old. Catahoula females make good brood dogs but they start to wean their pups at 4 weeks, so have a place ready for the pups.
These dogs will eat anything, but they do best on a consistent diet of good dog food as opposed to table scraps. The hunter, cowman or housewife can easily feed the Catahoulas, but remember one thing . . . a Catahoula doesn't like anything else to eat out of their pan. If another dog tries to join the table . . .LOOK OUT!
Something else all new Catahoula owners should know . . . the Catahoula is a "one man dog" or a "one family dog." He will do his best for the one who feeds and takes a little extra time with him. Not everyone should own a Catahoula. But if you are lucky enough to have one, make sure that you are BOSS at all times. To get the most out of your partnership, let him know what you want him to do and not to do and a kind word and a pat on the head will be reward enough.
So now you can see why the Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog has lasted so long, because if you can use a dog in so many useful ways and train him to your own needs, you will make sure that you always have one around.
That same "haunting" dog you met when you arrived, can go home with you and become "your" dog, all of the above and more, if you have the time to work with him, a place to let him run and the patience to make him YOURS.
MKW Quarter Horses & Paint Horses
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