BigGameHoundsmen.com

I’m new to posting on here but been around reading stuff for a few years. Buds & I lost/ retired a few dogs this year leaving us needing new dogs. We hunt in Ontario, deep woods, swampland with rocky plateaus but not mountainous by any means. We’re after squirrels, Coons & yotes & use our now retired Airedale & a gsp/redbone to locate denned up fur for our Terriers. Up here most common type of hound is a typical cold nosed hound, guys like a dog that’ll follow a track to hell & back if that’s where it goes. Problem there is when the dogs get too far from ya that’s when someone will shoot it & my pals & I are tired of burying good dogs. To get to the point after that long introduction we’re looking for a more medium/ hot nosed dog, that likes to hunt in relatively closer to the handlers. We been doing a bit of research on the old google & we're thinking that a black mouth cur dog may be what we’re looking for. Main problem I hear is that they’re too protective but I’m a dog trainer by trade & spend a lot of time with dogs bred specifically for protection so I don’t see that being too much of an issue. The real thing I see as a challenge is it appears like there’s not a ton of consistency in them from what I’ve read online. Figured there’s enough guys on here someone may be able to point us at some decent BMC’s or a different breed that may fit our needs. Appreciate any responses in advance, happy hunting !

Did you research the Laika? Northern breed hunts close. Hotter nosed and and will hunt around you. And they hunt! You will read they are over protective but I've never seen it kinda like the BMC. There's bad apples in every breed but for the majority they're as nice as the rest of dogs out there.

Dont believe everything on this forum about the cur dogs. They will suprise you with their hunting style. Its pretty much what you described. I've hunted curs for years and they're hard to beat at hunting around you not miles away. Not the best if you're tracking yesterdays bear but good for small game. They're not a hound. There's a BMC breeder in Alpena MI but there is 2 litters for sale on the UKC forum and I'm sure there's 1 on this forum somewhere

There's plenty of laika in the good old USA. I've had them for 15 years. Most seem to be down south but there's some here in MI and close too here.

If you go to “search” and enter Laika, you will get about 8 pages of posts going back ten years. It will include some made by people in the USA who own them. You might also do a search on the Canadian Cur. If you study on how the Canadian Cur was made, you could gain some very valuable insight. (There is probably more about them on the UKC board). There are great dogs among the Kemmers and also among the leopards. (There also are some not so great among them, like any breed). There are strains of leopards that have heavy double coats.

[quote="Northmanworkingdog"]We’re after squirrels, Coons & yotes

After careful consideration, my thoughts are you will need something with speed to deal with the coyote's, and something that knows it's way around a tree to deal with the squirrels and coon. to me this leaves only one clear choice.


Jack.

This is a picture of a Canadian Cur I had a few years back, I got him when he was nine, had not been hunted for many years. the person that had him didn't hunt him with a tracking collar and he would loose him all the time. Myself I hunt running dogs most of the time and after a short period of time I got a handle on him and tone broke and would say that at the time didn't know of a hound any better. He was the type that made every coon look easy....drifting winding style and on a breezy night around ridges was like magic.
where I really began to appreciate he was watching how much ground he covered on the Garmin and that he remembered every place we had treed a coon and would check trees and cover ground so fast you just had to laugh. On cold nights (around 0 degrees) I would hunt him like a running dog and follow in the pickup.
So his pervious owner breed a Canadian female I think she was the NKC world show champion and I took my stud fee pup and they were so nice I bought one more, neither of which was like him.
The breeder of this dog was Ed Roggen, I think of NY.
Jack

In a group my laika would hunt together, hunt separate from each other. Hold pressure on a split tree. Tree together. Trees anything that climbs a tree or sometimes fly into tree. I've hunted them with cur dogs and some hounds. Never had a growl at each other. In a diverse group like u have they should team up pretty good and get after whatever is in the woods.

Most Russian woods dont have the roads we do so a hound is no good unless u walk as far as they trail something. Laika and curs hunt close so u dont have to fallow the chase as far. Or in my case smaller sections off woods so I'm not trespassing most of the time I'm hunting.

Irish jack that's a good looking dog there

I think you will enjoy them. Best of luck to you