Mountain Cur

The Mountain Cur is an American working cur from the Appalachians and the Ozarks — a treeing and stock dog kept by settler families as a general-purpose farm dog.

History

It came west with settlers who needed one dog that could tree game for food and fur, drive stock and guard the homestead. The type nearly disappeared after the Second World War as rural life changed, and was organised into a registered breed in the 1950s by a handful of breeders who gathered the remaining working dogs.

Temperament

The breed is known for being courageous, hard-working and devoted to its handler, protective of its family and businesslike about everything else.

Care and training

It needs a great deal of exercise and a genuine job; it does poorly in a household with nothing to do. The short coat needs almost nothing.

Health

Generally robust from strict working selection; nothing is widely documented as breed-specific. These are patterns for the breed rather than a forecast for one dog; the measured facts are in the panel.