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What's everybody's opinion on those leopard curs for runnin bob? I've never owned one, but I'm pretty sure I heard of a couple guy's that had some pretty good success with them on bobs. Just curious

Probably wouldn't have a pack without 1 in there.That's all we hunt is bobs.
Tim Pittman

Yea man, that's good news, I been talking to a couple guy's and might be buying a leopard real soon.

I got my first leopard last spring, and after 1 year I couldn't be happier. I'm no expert but everything you can ask for in a dog she has. More brains, desire and ability than any hound I ever owned. She has been easy to train and great to be around. she has also treed 2 lions and 11 bobcats at a year old. Not perfect, has made mistakes but will never leave my kennel.

not all strains of leps make Good cat dogs but there are quite a few that have produced some of the best cat dogs i've been too the woods with

Could you share some of the bloodlines with me, nice to get an opion from someone other than the breeder.
Thanks Tim

Some of the lines that take a liking to bobs are some of the Jug crosses, McDuffies line, and Dutchman Creek line. Russ Barney hunts leopards up in Oregon and he runs bobs.

MIcurhunter, or anyone else.

Our any of these bloodlines that have been mentioned(curs for bobtails)
being bread around michigan anywhere ?

Thanks,
Jeff

There are some litters right now, Ron Ganus has some pups from some Jug dogs on the ground. Should be ready to go around the 1st of Aug. Gonna pick mine up then. Reggie Snyder has some Dutchman Creek stuff up near the bridge. Some other guys over near the thumb have some Laker blood and some Dutchman Creek blood.

MIcurhunter, thankyou for the info, much appreciated.

Jeff

The most cat-catchingest dog I ever hunted with (to the point of fully knowing the dog) was 1/2 jug and 1/2 mixed bred stuff.

I had another daughter out of jug (full leopard) that showed me some things I had never seen befor also, and yes, she could catch bobcats.

I see a possible bit of my over-optimistic self in you though, and so I want to warn you a bit:
they are dogs. they are just dogs. They have faults. In my book, the faults are serious. But their faults are not serious enough to keep them from catching some bobcats, and in some aspects beating anything I had previously owned.

You should know though, that, I beleive the cull rate in the breed is much higher than what I experienced in the Walker breed, for example. But I never experienced in the Walker breed some of what these two girls have shown me. But befor I found these two girls, I had to cull four Leopard dogs.

when I was doing my research I found a Leopard breeder honest enough to tell me that he thought the cull rate was 2/3. He told me that if I ever got a good one though, I would be hooked, and would never again be able to fully enjoy a pure bred hound. Everything he said to me has proven true so far.

David, you hit the nail on the head

and they are just dogs

y

David, my question to you is this,this breeder first off,if he is man enough to cull 2/3s and tell you,right on, but my question is how were they breed,what female was Jug breed too? and were the dogs line breed,in my observation linebreeding jug dogs out of certin females seems to have a better cull rate than that,but yes they are still there,thanks

Ezra,
I am going to have to be a little vague, just because I am not sure folks always want their names included in these discusions, but I will tell you the breeder I spoke of was very close to Jug, and was often quoted by the owner of Jug, had pups out of jug, and had a female that was foundational in what has been done with Jug. Yes, this breeder practiced line breeding.

It was not my observatioin, but his, after many years of breeding and being around good Leopard curs. My very limited experience has been parallel to his observations, but I could not make that broad of a statement based on the few leopard dogs I have owned.

Of the leopards I have owned that did not make the grade, none were directly out of jug. I have seen dogs out of jug that had to be culled, but I would agree that it seems to me the percentages out of him are better than 1/3 decent dogs. It kind of depends on what you are willing to put up with. I have a freind who probably would cull them all, because I have never seen one that was close enough to perfect for him to put up with. I have not yet seen one that was near perfect in conformation, and every one of them I have been around is quirky in some regard. This freind of mine would not put up with either of those aspects. Yet, if a person is willing to look the other way on a few things, you sure can catch some game with them.

Hope I answered your questions

David, what other strains of leopards did you try? I know I don't base any judgements on a breed of dog after only 6 dogs. If that was the case I wouldn't be in to running dogs at all. Every breed has their good and bad. The bad fault in leopards that some find is they are a one man or family dog, people often confuse this with they don't want to hunt or they won't go with my buddy's dogs or when you are hunting with some people for the first time. When it comes down to it, not all people are meant to be leopard owners, just like leopards are not going to please everyone. As far as the cull rate, Leopards are not competition bred, they take longer to mature. I guess if the leopard numbers were as high as the treeing walker numbers the percentage would look alot better. I wouldn't say that leopards are the best of bobcat's, I would take their determination to please their owner and the ease of handling over anyother breed any day of the week. The best bobcat dogs are born that way and we have no control over what color or breed they are. That's why the people that hunt the bobs call themselves cat hunters. Otherwise we would all just be dog hunters, wait I do that alot when I am hunting with my buddy and his hounds.LOL