Leopard hounds

[mike rogers]

I have 5 right now. Hope send one to Cody pretty quick. A guy bought 4 of my pups and took'm to Utah. Then turrned around and bought 1 more. He sent me a video the other day of them tree'n a lion. One did a solo lion at 10 months old.  I have a bunch of old info on the leopard cur /hound.  I even made a buyers guide last year with a lot pics of dogs and breeders.  Here's a few pics.

Me and Jack




Sally, Jack and Bubby.  Bubby is the mother of Jack and Sally


Bubby treed up on a coon


some of my pups



pups that went to Utah


Cover of the buyers guide I put together



let me know if you need some info.

mike

[Juan Horton]

Mike I would like a copy of th buyers guide, I am a Plott guy but I love hounds.

[TheRednose]

Nice looking pack of dogs Mike, sounds like your dogs are really doing good all around the country.

[liefalwepon]

Mike, those look about like the ones I've seen out west here. What do yo hunt with them?


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[TheRednose]

Cover of the buyers guide I put together



let me know if you need some info.

mike

Mike may I ask what dog that is on the cover of the buyers guide? That is the look I really like, the more cur looking ones with a little longer coat.

[UNDERDOG]

Cover of the buyers guide I put together



let me know if you need some info.

mike

Mike may I ask what dog that is on the cover of the buyers guide? That is the look I really like, the more cur looking ones with a little longer coat.

Looks like one of the old mcduffie dogs.

[TheRednose]

Cover of the buyers guide I put together



let me know if you need some info.

mike

Mike may I ask what dog that is on the cover of the buyers guide? That is the look I really like, the more cur looking ones with a little longer coat.

Looks like one of the old mcduffie dogs.

Yup I thought the same too, that is why I was curious to know who it was.

[mike rogers]

Yep that's the dog Richard McDuffie brought out of Texas along with 3 other litter mates.   Cumberland Valley Nimrod is one of the most noted and recognized  leopard cur out there.  Though he wasn't the first cur Richard owned.  In around the same time Richard got Nimrod,  other leopard curs were already being advertised. That's around 1960 to 62. Some old articles from the 40's and 50's tell of leopard curs.  Sports afield had articles in the early 50's about a "die'n breed" called the leopard hog dog, but the same story by the same man that wrote the leopard hog dog would change part of the article and call them leopard cow dog and Texas leopard cur dogs. Another words one in the same breed. These article also state that the leopard was originated by crossing Birdsong hounds on local curs. These articles were in print all over the USA. Funny how McDuffie wrote how his leopard cur was a dying breed... One of the earliest kennels in Texas and one of the largest kennels in the nation was located in Aledo Texas. It was called the Sunflower Hound kennel. They raised wolf and cat hound and you can find some of there old ads in early news papers.  They talk about stock being of strains of Redbone, Birdsong hound and bird dog. This was around the 1890's or so. a lot of Birdsong were leopard spotted so you can see where it's possible to get the leopard spottedness from the Birdsong. Also early redbones were high tan or saddle backs. The article from Sports Afield also say the dogs come east crossing the Mississippi into Louisiana 60 years before the article was written (early 50's). Kinda of the same time the Sunflower kennel was in operation.  All neat stuff to read, but it sure does take up a lot of time.  Man I could go on and on.....

Jaun if you want a book let me know. I normally get 20 bucks for them. Thats including shipping. It weighs just over 13 oz so it cost around 6 bucks to ship it. If your ever in Stephenville I can bring you one for $12. Thats my cost for making it.

Rednose I hunt coon with mine.


Mike

[mike rogers]

another part of the story is out of Georgia via Florida.  Some of the first dogs Richard added to his kennel and registered came from a man named A.W. Carter. Mr Carter was a cow man. Originally from Florida. Yes he was a Cracker Cowboy and had a leopard spotted cur ( i would assume cracker curs as they were known in the day ) that he used on cattle. Some would tree on there on. This was a characteristic that was a fault to him. He would sale or give these away.  He later  moved in the 1940's up to the Georgia area (i believe first ) to work on a big cattle ranch. He brought his dogs to work the cattle.  I think he moved again later on. Maybe to the Carolinas. You can also find stories about Fred French. His sweet talk strain was registered as leopard curs with the ALCBA and with ARF by Stodgehill as a treeing catahoula

[Georgia-Hawgs]

Neat information sir !

[TheRednose]

Thanks for all of that info Mike, that is really cool. I read an article too, I want to say it was written by Richard MacDuffie but I could be remembering wrong. It mentions adding in a little what today would be called a border collie I believe to the mix and that is what I figure they get the longer hair from but thats just a guess.

I just picked up a super heavy McDuffie bred pup. I'm hoping he turns out but only time will tell. But I will tell you he is sure a looker.

Mike could you PM me your info I think I might want you to ship me out a book as well. Thanks.

[mike rogers]

That may have been Doc the old time farm shepherd. Look him up....  Wikipedia has a small write up on him. Theres also a good article Richard wrote himself


Mike Rogers
343 PR1640
Stephenville Tx. 76401

[Reuben]

Cover of the buyers guide I put together



let me know if you need some info.

mike

Mike may I ask what dog that is on the cover of the buyers guide? That is the look I really like, the more cur looking ones with a little longer coat.

Looks like one of the old mcduffie dogs.

that's what I was thinking...

[dodo1987]

I'd like to hear more there is alot of great information being posted.... Mike how dose mr meeks fit into all this

[mike rogers]

my old male Ramrod (now dead) had a shot of Meeks blood in him on his top side.   Lamar Meeks has been raising leopards since the 60's. There are a ton of dogs that will go back to some of Lamar's stuff. Lamar has really helped a lot of folks out with leopards. He has ran a lot of the same blood over the years now. Leopard curs use to be all over this country. Texas and Oklahoma had a ton of leopards at one time.  Now not so much. 

[Watson]

Thanks for all the info I have been considering adding a leopard hound to my pack and I think yall confirmed

[liefalwepon]

Cool thread, keep the stories coming mike

[hoghunter71409]

Mike,

My opinion is the first Leopard dogs were originally brought into the US by the Spanish (via Ponce De Leon -in Florida).  Growing up in South FL, most of the curs I saw were leopards.  Do you believe that Mr. Carters dogs were of the Spanish decent and do you agree that the Leopard dogs were originally brought here by the Spanish?

I've read some articles that many Native Americans also had a Leopard colored dog.....before any of us modern day readers were born or thought of.

[Cajun]

  I have always wondered if the American Leopard hound & the Catahoula came from common ancestors but were bred for different purposes. The Leopard hound being bred more for tree game & the Catahoula being bred more for a stock dog. What are your thoughts on this. I have always admired them & used to read all Richard Mcduffies articles that he wrote in Full Cry.

[mike rogers]

I think there were a lot of breeds that went into these old dogs.  The Spanish war dog, Cuban bloodhound, and others just to start. Think about all of the early explorers that came to America exploring.  Not only the Spanish, but the English  but all the  other early  explorers.  Then think about the cur dogs , bird dogs, war dogs, fox hounds and other  breeds of dogs they brought over.   There are records of indian dogs that predate the colonizing of Americas. The indians used them for about everything. Packing and traveling, hunting, as guardians, pets and as food. I did read a neat article  that told how the indian dogs differ from tribe to tribe and from region to region. The more heavy haired wolf looking dogs where in the north for example while the more lean short haired dogs where in the south. That early natives used them for hunting things like turkeys. You can still find some neat info on the Turkey dog of Virginia and early Americans of that area.  Kinda neat when you start reading and researching all this old stuff and how one thing leads to another.  One thing about it the early Americans bred what they needed to survive in the new world. This country offered bear, lions, deer, small game, turkeys and other critters they could hunt, skin and eat. They bred it, improved it and bred it some more.  Our ancestors produced  some of the best dogs out there and one of them was the leopard cur.  We may never know whats exactly in them or where they came from, but they are truly bred and built in America.