Well there is a very popoular breed of cur dog right here not far from me not going to say the name but these dog are some of the hardest working dogs you ever seen but WILL NOT HANDLE I at one time I was wanting to try to cross there dogs into mine but it did not take me long to decide that was a mistake.These dogs would slobber at the mouth bay and bunch cattle just owesome but you could not call them off you whip them with a bull whip and they would go right back to doing what they were doing before.The only way you could get the dogs to stop was to pen the cattle and then get on the ground to catch them.My brotherinlaw bought 2 dogs from this man thinking he was going to have the best hogs he lost 2 places to hunt over those dogs not listen.He wanted me to make the cross to see if we could get them to handle and I refused to make it best looking cur dogs I ever saw!So yes I beleave you can breed handle in them.
Or breed it out them them on purpose or not.
Its hard to say about Cur dogs they don't have the typical trainability that you think of when you think of most pet bred dogs like labs and such. The way I think of it is, a Cur dog has a strong desire to work stock and that is bred in to them (Nature). More so, they have a strong desire to perform thier work FOR you, and WITH you which is also bred into them. With that they are more inclined to take a handle because they understand that they are doing the work for you and instinctively look to you for direction during the work while at the same time maintaining an independent mind (Mind of thier own if you will) which is required for the type of work that they do. Every good Cur dog ive been around definately had a mind of thier own compared to the extreem of pet bred labs which are like zombies wating for you to tell them what to do. So I would say the handle you find in Cur dogs expecially cow dogs is a result of that desire to work for you more than it is trainability, plus the amount of work hours they put in penning cows most days of the week. Now I've found its harder to train Cur dogs to do things like sit, or shake than it is most other dogs. And I've found it impossible to train any Cur ive ever had to fetch they just dont have the retrieving instinct. But with enough time spent both the Curs I have in my yard know sit, shake, laydown and wait untill I say "take it" before they start eating...most of the time. lol. But that stuff is a result of lots of repitition and if they really dont wanna do it, they wont sit or shake or lay down. Thats why I say a Cur does'nt really have trainability they just have a desire to work FOR you. just my .02
Waylon
