| Mountain Cur | |||||||||||||||
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 A young Mountain Cur | |||||||||||||||
| Origin | United States | ||||||||||||||
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| Dog (domestic dog) | |||||||||||||||
TheMountain Cur is a type ofworking dog that is bred specifically fortreeing and trailing small game, likesquirrel andraccoons. They are also used for hunting andbaying big game like bear andwild boar as well as being an all-purpose farm dog. Curs are a member of theHound group, and the Mountain Cur is one of several varieties ofcur. It can also be used as awater dog. Mainly bred inOhio,Kentucky,Virginia, andTennessee, it has been registered with theUnited Kennel Club since 1998 and has since been recognised by theAmerican Kennel Club, theNational Kennel Club and theContinental Kennel Club.[1][2][3] The Mountain Cur Breeders' Association was formed in 1957.
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The Mountain Cur was brought toAmerica nearly two hundred years ago fromEurope by the settlers of the mountains in Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, then later Arkansas and Oklahoma, to guard family and property as well as chase and tree game.[4] These dogs enabled the European settlers to provide meat and pelts for personal use or trade, making them valuable in the frontier. With the advent ofWorld War II, many of the families who had bred them left rural areas to work in factories in the war effort. By the end of the 1940s the breed was becoming rare. Four individuals, Hugh Stephens and Woody Huntsman of Kentucky, Carl McConnell of Virginia, and Dewey Ledbetter of Tennessee are given credit for saving the breed from dying out and setting the Mountain Cur breed standard. In 1956, these four founded the Original Mountain Cur Breeders' Association. Soon after, controversy over the breed standard caused Hugh Stephen and Carl McConnell to leave the OMCBA to found the Stephen Stock Mountain Cur Association.
Explorer and frontiersman of the Appalachian mountainsDaniel Boone bred and raised Mountain Curs. Like many other settlers of early America, he heavily relied on the breed while blazing trails through the Appalachians, providing protection to his family and helping hunt wild game.[5] He is said to have even carried young pups in protective baskets while on these expeditions.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Mountain View Cur was developed from the Mountain Cur by Michael and Marie Bloodgood ofAfton, New York after World War II.
Mountain Curs are short-coated dogs which come in blue, black, yellow, brown, or brindlecoloration. Some individuals will also show white markings on the face or chest.[4][6] The weight is usually between 30 and 60 pounds, and height is 18-26 inches for males and 16-24 inches for females.[7]
Mountain Curs are intelligent, easily trained, and neither vicious nor shy. They are known to try to please their humans and are able to get along well with children and other pets. Since these curs were bred to work, if deprived of the opportunity to hunt, guard, or work around a farm, they will sometimes grow anxious and bored. However, when they have a job to do, they are generally happy and obedient.[8]
Mountain Curs can live up to 14–16 years, and there are no reported breed-specific health issues.[8]