Irish Jack wrote:r_cordell wrote:Thanks again for all the replies. Here's a question for you.... What's the biggest difference in hunting with curs instead of hounds?
I would say cur dog owners have seen and photographed Big Foot more than any other demographic of people
Jack
I got curs hoping to draw in some Bigfoot for some selfies. I finally gave up though. I am starting to think Bigfoot are like honest Houndsmen. Everyone has heard of them but nobody has seen one.
You ask a good question r_cordell
It is a huge question really and I won’t try to give a complete answer.
But a hound is more like a pre programmed machine, and a cur is more like an eight year old human child.
Also, most hounds hunt for their own pleasure. A lot of curs hunt to give their buddy pleasure (you).
For a hound, hunting is an irresistible temptation. He will do anything in his power to be free to hunt. He will use anyone he can use to fulfill his craving.
He is incapable of feeling guilt , except an especially sensitive hound might feel mad at himself that he got caught at it.
For a cur hunting is something the two of you decide to do together today because you enjoy each other and you have a mutual interest in hunting. If a cur perceives that he might have displeased you, it might cause internal collapse. And you don’t have to say it to him, you might only think it.
A hound does everything automatically and only needs to be pointed at a certain animal, and pointed away from certain other animals. I have had hounds that were complete at 12 months old, were amazing at that age because all their pre programming had fully kicked in. And they never really got any better because they could not learn. They were completely instinct driven. They were good hounds with a high demand for them. And you could not ruin one of them. But they could not learn and improve through their entire life.
There are hounds that are smarter, and that is because there are hounds that are more like curs. And sometimes I beleive other non-hound blood has been introduced at some point. This is quite obvious in the “leopard hound”. And I have heard stories of leopard blood being introduced into others of the coonhound breeds. Non hound blood- is also still true of some strains of Plott, because originally, Plotts were not hounds. When I see hounds that don’t act like hounds, it is easy for me to suspect introduction of non-hound blood. But I also know of hounds that have been kept very strictly, but selectively bred with intelligence the number one criteria.
There are more culls in the curs than in the hounds. And a long time houndman who can not individualize his training program will ruin most any cur dog. And that is one of the reasons there are a higher rate of culls.
Again, think of an eight year old child. Every kid is very different, and five kids in the same family environment will turn out completely different from each other sometimes. And each kid really needs to be recognized for his individual strengths that need encouraging and faults that need correcting. And the way you encourage and correct one child may not work at all for another child; could work beautifully for one child, and destroy another child.
It’s the same with cur dogs.
Good curs remember. Some can forgive. Some have a real hard time forgiving. Either way, they don’t forget. And that is why a good cur will just keep getting better and better with each hunting experience. A good one will watch you and learn you and eventually predict your behavior and train you if you let him. And if they are hunted on cats every day, they will begin predicting cat behavior as well.
If you are an impatient person, a lot of curs would not work well for you.
But just as there are smart and sensitive hounds, there are dumb and hard headed curs. There are hounds that can be easily ruined, and there are curs that might be pretty hard to ruin (probably because that cur has a lot of hound blood).
As with hounds, also with curs (and people):
Their greatest strengths are also their greatest weaknesses. What makes them extremely gifted and strong in certain things makes them weak or useless for certain other things. Sometimes nurture, training and discipline can compensate for the weaknesses or correct the faults in hounds curs and people.
sometimes it can’t.
That’s when you try Prayer.
I hope that gives you a starting point. If you think of more specific questions, ask away.
Me and Jack will try to help you.
