Australia's first Black Mouth Curs

[aussie black mouth curs]

G'day fellas,

Some time ago there was a post on here about BMC’s coming to Australia.  I thought that I would take some time to explain. 

We have purchased 1 male and 2 females from breeders in texas (females are related but from different parents). The dogs are all linebred "weatherfords ben" bloodlines.   Randy Wright bred the male (Cattlemaster x Cowgirl) and David Thoms both females (Colorado X Gato and Western Atascosa X Prissy Coyote).  All the pups are all currently in "home " quarantine with David Thoms for 150 days!!  The pups should arrive August 2011, they will be 11 - 12 months old and started on cattle.  They will be the first BMC’s in Australia.  A bit of a summary of our plans -

1. This is a joint project with my cousin. I will be working my BMC's strictly for pighunting. My cousin is in Queensland manages a large property he will be working his dogs on rough cattle in rough country. We will both sell pups for cattle and pig work if we have them.

2. We are not really intending to sell a lot of pups we are mainly interested in working the dogs as a result we will be retaining a few pups each from the first litters to assess and work them. All going well though we should have pups in 2012. At this stage my cousin is talking about keeping ALL of his first litter.  If we do sell a few pups we will try and fund a trip to Texas to hunt and look for other BMC blood (depending of course on how the orginal dogs go).

3. This is something that we have been planning for ages and that we are committed to. We had planned to do this in 2005 and spent 5 weeks in the USA but cyclone Katrina hit and we couldn't get to the area.  We are committed to breeding and working good dogs. If we sell a pup then it will be because we don't have room to keep it. We intend to be starting pups before they are sold and we will be culling VERY hard.

4. Bloodline selection....We spent a LOT of time selecting bloodlines and trawling the net for feedback on different lines.  I have probably spoken to some of the ETHD members? Clearly everyone has an opinion (imagine one of you guys selecting just 3 Bull Arabs to import to the USA). In the end we went with the Weatherfords Ben bloodline as they seemed to breed true to type and be able to work pigs and cattle. Also the breeders have a lot of repeat customers, which speaks for itself. Another factor was that David Thoms was prepared to look after the pups for 5 months for us and go through all of the quarantine requirements and testing. I have to say that he has gone well beyond the call of duty and nothing has been too much trouble. In our dealings with him he has been generous, honest and an absolute gentleman. A friend of mine was at the TDHA hunt recently and he called in to meet David and look at our pups.  In short he was VERY impressed.

We hope that there are exciting times ahead.

cheers

Troy Crittle

[Amokabs]

Wow, congratulations on a well planned dream coming true. All you hard work will pay off and will be fun to watch those curs take over Oz.

[YELLOWBLACKMASK]

Can't argue with your color selection brother. I hope they make some effective stock for yall down there. Keep us posted.

[Mike]

Troy, sounds like a good plan.

What are y'all looking for in the dogs... rough and catchy type dogs or stricly bay dogs?

[aussie black mouth curs]

G'day,

thanks for the positive comments. 

Yellow Back Mask - Goin on your name you might be a little biased......but I understand.

Mike - personally I will be selecting for dogs that are rougher than most, where I live is hilly and scrubby and sometimes they take some stoppin'.  Dogs that run behind barking are culls in my book.  Eventually I would like dogs that can be "sooled in" to catch at the bay.  So to answer your question.  I'll be breeding for hunting ability and stopping ability.  I should add that dogs that won't rig (we say "utefind") are also regarded as culls.   

My cousin wil be selecting dogs for working cattle.  He already has good collies so I guess that he'll be goin for rougher dogs as well, some of the cattle he has have never seen a human except when they are being chased by one in a helicopter.  These cattle can take some keeping in a mob and are running over his collies.  Hence the BMC's.

Will keep you all posted.

cheers

Troy

[sfboarbuster]

What kind of range are you looking to get out of your dogs?

[aussie black mouth curs]

Sf,

the kind it takes to catch pigs is the easy answer.  If they are rigging on a quad or ute then we want them going when they smell a pig, sticking on the track until theres a pig on the end.  If we are walking then shorter range is ok as long as they'll take a track.  Because of distances involved noone here runs there dogs in front of the truck much (no-one I know anyway).

Troy

   

[sfboarbuster]

Gotcha, so pretty much a wind type dog is what you are trying for

[tnhillbilly]

G'day,

thanks for the positive comments. 

Yellow Back Mask - Goin on your name you might be a little biased......but I understand.

Mike - personally I will be selecting for dogs that are rougher than most, where I live is hilly and scrubby and sometimes they take some stoppin'.  Dogs that run behind barking are culls in my book.  Eventually I would like dogs that can be "sooled in" to catch at the bay.  So to answer your question.  I'll be breeding for hunting ability and stopping ability.  I should add that dogs that won't rig (we say "utefind") are also regarded as culls.   

My cousin wil be selecting dogs for working cattle.  He already has good collies so I guess that he'll be goin for rougher dogs as well, some of the cattle he has have never seen a human except when they are being chased by one in a helicopter.  These cattle can take some keeping in a mob and are running over his collies.  Hence the BMC's.

Will keep you all posted.

cheers

Troy

I have purchased 5 ben dogs from 2 different people, and so far, all of them are rough as a cobb and real catchy.

[dub]

personally I will be selecting for dogs that are rougher than most, where I live is hilly and scrubby and sometimes they take some stoppin'.  Dogs that run behind barking are culls in my book.  Eventually I would like dogs that can be "sooled in" to catch at the bay.  So to answer your question.  I'll be breeding for hunting ability and stopping ability.  I should add that dogs that won't rig (we say "utefind") are also regarded as culls

I know y'all run different. But any dog that just barks will not stop many hogs. But a catchy cur dog does not retire. Just a thought. You have obviously thought long and hard plus you are way smarter than me. But I want my curs to put a tooth to stop a hog and then sit back and bay. I expect them to stay bayed until I get there. Sometimes things are crazy and I don't want to worry. Just food for thought not criticizing. Plus I respect that people want to run different and that is good too.

[weller44]

Just curious..What breeds do yall usually run in Australia?

[aussie black mouth curs]

G'day thanks for the comments,

TNHB - thanks, I really hope ours are as rough as yours have been.  One thing that is a bit of a difference between Aus - USA is leg biting dogs.  Here it is a definate culling (for some people more than others of course) trait as the pigs cannot be sold into the game meat market if they have been bitten on the legs or shoulders and it is something that worries me a bit.  Mostly though its something we try and stop before it starts.  Holding syle is a trait that we select for here,  dogs that hold down the side of a big boar to avoid the pointy bits are rare and worth holding onto / breeding from.

Dub - I know what you mean.  There are very few good old dogs around here.  Garmin astros have helped a lot though.  My end goal is to breed curs that find pigs and bay on big boars when they need to.  I see taking a few pokes as part of the learning process.  If we have real hard ones that will catch big boars "one out" then we'll work those dogs differently.  Oh, and absolutley no offence taken.......you texans are so polite.......David Thoms called me "Mr Crittle" over the phone for about 6 months.............geez not even my grandfather was called that..............

Weller 44........short answer is mostly what you call running catch dogs, of many mixed breeds....google "boardogs" or "ozziedoggers" for more info

cheers

Troy

   

     

[warrent423]

Sounds like you aussie boys have got the right idea. Them yeller dogs should fight the head, not the ass, not the hams, not the nuts.  Cowards fight from behind ;)Should be able to get them Weatherford ben bred dogs to catch on command. Good luck to you boys. Catch 'em up.

[waylon-N.E. OK]

My brother-n-law bought a dog off randy this winter around December called Wright's Cattlemaster. I assume it is the same dog your talking about, let me know how the pups work out. I would like to know how the pups are built to, if you ever get a chance post some pics, congrats on bringing the yeller dogs down under, a wise choice  on the breed anyway 

Here a leg biter is a cull here to on most yards to despite what you may have heard

[C L]

Aussie BMC,

Obviously, you have given his project a lot of thought and have made an excellent start. Blackmouth curs should do the jobs you have described on hogs and cattle. I hope you keep us posted on your progress with both hogs and cattle.

I have thought for some time that this type of dog and working style would be useful to muster cattle in the northern areas of Australia.

Good luck.

[ancuegar]

I have seen the pups you are getting from mr Thoms. They are some fine looking dogs. I myself have a Thoms male out of hornet and sugar. He has an awesome nose and gets out there. He also has a pink nose. You should be happy with them.