Florida Cur

[Cutter Bay Kennels]

The following was copied directly from a UKC dogs thread.  I don't know if anything in it is factual, as I saw it and thought I would paste it here for comments.  Again, I did not write or research it's truthfulness.

Regards,
Cutter Bay Kennels

The Flordia Cur
The origins of Florida cow dogs and cow dog work practices are not easily traced. There were early Spanish influences; De Soto, for example, brought stock dogs to Florida in 1539. British and Celtic cultures have long histories of using dogs to herd cattle and sheep, and many the antecedents of Florida cattle ranching families were people of British and Celtic origin from Georgia and the Carolinas who settled in frontier Florida in the 18th and 19th centuries. Indigenous peoples used dogs as work animals too. In 1770, naturalist William Bartram observed “A troop of horses under the control of a single black dog…” and noted that the proprietor of the horses was an Indian from the Suwannee River Valley who “… trained his dog up from a puppy to this business.”
After the Civil War, an estimated 600,000 wild cattle descended from the old Spanish criolla stock roamed the state. Ambitious Floridians developed a brisk business of gathering up the wild cattle and shipping them to Cuba, where they fetched as much as fifteen dollars a head in Spanish gold—big money in a time when the South was in dire economic condition. The wild cattle had to be flushed from the scrub and swamps, and the men who accomplished that difficult and dangerous task were known as cow hunters. They used dogs to help flush out the cattle and keep herds together as they drove them to holding pens at Tampa, Ft. Myers, and Punta Rassa on the southern Gulf of Mexico coast.
When artist Fredrick Remington visited Florida in the late 19th century to document cowmen he found a rough and ragged lot that, in his opinion, did not compare with the dashing, romanticized cowboys of the West. In an article published in the August 1895 issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine Remington wrote:

“…but they are picturesque in their unkempt, almost unearthly wildness. A strange effect is added by their use of large, fierce cur-dogs, one of which accompanies each cattle-hunter and is taught to pursue cattle and even take them by the nose, which is another instance of their brutality. Still, as they have only a couple of horses apiece, it saves them much extra running.”

Remington augmented his article with several illustrations including this one which shows a Florida cowman, or cow hunter, with his horse and dog.

Despite the intense heat, swampy rangeland, and seemingly infinite numbers of mosquitoes (some of which carried malaria and yellow fever), ticks and other insects, cattle ranching flourished in Florida. Open range remained a common practice in Florida until mandatory fencing legislation was passed in 1949.
Breeding
Florida cow dogs are bred with one purpose in mind: to produce dogs that work well with cattle. Specific breeds might be included in the mix. Probably the most popular is the Southern Blackmouth Yellow Cur, also known as the Blackmouth Cur.

Although the origins of the Blackmouth Cur are debated, it is now a recognized and registered breed. Another breed popular today is the Catahoula Leopard, which has its origins among the French or Native Americans of Louisiana, depending on what claims one chooses to believe. But the Florida cowman has no interest in purebred dogs; they are usually too nervous, or have other weaknesses. Good cow dogs might contain strains of cur, for all around endurance and good working traits; hound, for long wind; and bulldog, for strength and aggressiveness. Mature male cow dogs usually weigh sixty to seventy pounds, females five to ten pounds less. Okeechobee ranch foreman and third generation cattleman Keith Bass described the varieties of Florida cow dogs he has encountered:

“They just got kind of a little round lookin’ head on ‘em, kind of short-eared. Not like a bull dog. Kind of got short hair on ‘em. Some of ‘em is stub-tailed or bob-tailed. Some of ‘em is long-tailed. Some of ‘em is yellow lookin’ dogs with a black mouth. Some of ‘em’s black, you know, with a little yellow on ‘em. I’ve seen some brindle dogs, leopard dogs.”

Florida cowmen overwhelmingly prefer dogs from bloodlines known to produce good cow dogs. For example, a cowman might proudly announce that his dogs are descended from those bred by the Partins of Osceola County, a family that has produced top-notch cow dogs for probably at least a hundred years.
Many working dogs do not last long—maybe three years, sometimes less—although a few continue to work at eight or ten years. They are subject to a number of on-the-job injuries including broken bones and teeth and the surprisingly infrequent snakebite. Several cowmen have told me they do not like a dog that is too “rank,” or aggressive, as they invariably will be seriously injured in a short time. Some dogs mysteriously disappear into the scrub never to be seen again.
To maintain a quality line of dogs, breeders are always looking for another good line with which to cross-breed theirs. Lines for cross-breeding are selected strictly by reputation for producing excellent work dogs, and such arrangements are often made between old friends.

[Florida Curdog]

 

[hogaholicswife]

Good Article.   

[rdjustham]

One hing not mentioned in the article is if you havent known someone with one of the "old" lines (partin, peeples etc.) you aint getting one of those dogs/pups for any price..lol

[hogaholicswife]

One hing not mentioned in the article is if you havent known someone with one of the "old" lines (partin, peeples etc.) you aint getting one of those dogs/pups for any price..lol

Aint that the truth .... funny thing is I hear people talking alot about having Partin Dogs, it kinda reminds me about the Weatherford Ben dogs.......its a WB even if it is only by a tail hair lol.

I went to school with a Bronson and heard him talk of the Partin/Peeples dogs but never knew anything about them other than they were dogs from Kissimme that his family had been raising, if I had only known how "sought" after they would have been I would have tried to conn him out of a few!!

I think what sets a Fl Curr aside from others is they werent bred for color or a certain look but they were expected to take a lickin and keep on tickin; they were/are culled hard. 

They were made up of mostly hound/bulld dog with a little of this or that thrown in to get what ever worked best for those using them.....I always tell my husband his little female looks like an over grown weiner dog (she has a fiesty head) but if you see her brothers you wouldnt know they were related as they took after the blocky head/big bodied dogs.

My grand daddy told of a man named Leo Boney that had the ugliest little fiest dogs but there were always people lined up to take a puppy or dog off his hands.   

[Florida Curdog]

My buddy used to get dogs from the Partins in Osceola County.

[rdjustham]

Guy ive known has a cousin who has some sure enough peeples yellow cow dogs.  Hes breeding his bitch when she comes into heat with a peeples male.  def in line for one may be gettin two im beside myself excited..

[sfboarbuster]

I think that a very small percent of partin dogs are actually real partin dogs.
People get a dog from some cowboy, they think just because it is a cowdog that it is automatically a partin, peeples, sellers, etc...
Most people have no clue where these dogs come from or what is in them, these dogs aren't good because of what ranch they came off of, they are good because the people who use them every day cull them in a heartbeat, not sell them or give them away as a housedog. If they don't like a cow or hog they ain't gonna wait for them to turn on they are done for.

[Florida Curdog]

Your right about that. Gil use to get them straight from the Partins. I use to get a lot of dogs from  Judge Platts wife. They use to get those dogs from all over Florida. These ranchers give dogs to each other all the time when they need them. Theres fixin to be a litter of some old school, block headed, natural bob tailed, gritty little cruisers on the ground real soon.

[sfboarbuster]

Your right about that. Gil use to get them straight from the Partins. I use to get a lot of dogs from  Judge Platts wife. They use to get those dogs from all over Florida. These ranchers give dogs to each other all the time when they need them. Theres fixin to be a litter of some old school, block headed, natural bob tailed, gritty little cruisers on the ground real soon.

Well dang, ive been lookin for an old school, block headed, bobtail, gritty little cruiser.