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I've just shipped a Catahoula gyp to Australia and I'm very pleased with her, direct from Camp-a-While, I've been running some Camp-A-While/Cutter blood on hogs for a few years now out here and I'm happy with how they're doing.

I've been bitten hard by the 'bay dog bug' and I'm keen to give another American breed a go on Aussie hogs. The two I've narrowed down to are the Black Mouth Cur or the Plott Hound but I need more information. There may not be any MAJOR differences between the 'Houlas and BMC but I do think the Plotts would differ greatly, though I could be wrong. I'll start with two basic questions...

GENERALLY, what can I expect from a BMC (at this point not worried about lines/strains) and how much do they differ from the Catahoula?

How much trail bark does the Plott have? Are there kennels breeding Plotts with no trail bark?

The comparisons of breeds can get a little prickly so good direct answers/information on personal experience will be greatly appreciated.

Thankyou.

From my experence with BMC'S,they are silent on the trail,very protective around the house from stranger's and other dog's.
They use there eye's,nose and ear's when tracking.
If they get down wind of there prey they will leave the track and head straight for it.
I don't know about the catahoula's but from what I have read about them they aren't much different from BMC'S.
You can read about them at blackmouthcur's.com.

I think you will find that there are more differences among BMCs and among Catahoulas than there are differences between BMCs and Catahoulas in general. I have heard of BMCs that are open on track, but have not seen one.

Although there are Plott lines that have more cur dog traits than others, in general plotts are hounds and will be open on track. There may be some lines that produce more silent dogs than others, but I do not know which ones they are. I am not aware of any kennels that are producing silent Plotts, but there may be some.

Listed below are some of the general differences that I have observed between Curs and Plotts. I am sure that these differences would not hold up for all individuals, and maybe not even for all lines. They are just general differences that I have observed in the Curs and Plotts that I have owned.

Curs (Catahoulas and BMCs)
--quicker
--more athletic
--able to bay a hog closer without getting cut
--hotter nosed
--more desire to please vs less desire to hunt
--easier to put a handle on
--faster on jumped game
--shorter range
--silent on track
--less voice(volumn and tone)

Plotts
--Colder noses
--longer range
--faster on track other than jumped game
--more endurance
--more desire to hunt vs less desire to please
--better voice(volumn and tone)
--open on track

My number one choice for hogs is a Cur/Plott cross, number 2 is straight Cur, number three is a straight Plott. When I say Cur here, I mean Catahoulas or BMCs, there may be other cur breeds that are as good, but I have not owned any of them. It is very possible that I might change the list above to include jagds in the near future. The sample size of jagds that I have seen is very small, but I am really liking what I have seen.

Bill

Thankyou very much for your replies Curdawg and Broncobill.

I'm definantly not keen on open mouth dogs, maybe if I could find a Plott breeder with more Cur traits in their kennel I could be enticed... But it's a gamble considering the time and funds required to ship a dog/s across to Australia.

I'm going to have to keep researching and weighing up options. No rush, it took me over 2 years to get a Catahoula across, which was mostly looking at different lines and speaking to a lot of breeders before I finally decided on a pup to start with.

Cheers.