EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Well, I decided to throw this out there to get a discussion going. This is something that's just been really boggling my mind, so I figured why not hear fellow hunter's insight on the situation. Now we all have our preferences of breed. I'm not talking about that. In this thread, I am addressing coat color, specifically of the Catahoula.
Now, as hunters, far and abroad, the general consensus is "It don't matter what the dog looks like, long as it gets the job done." Wellll......why doesn't the same apply with Catahoulas? No one can deny....just look at all the ads for pups, even on baydog classifieds...on personal Cat breeder websites....why is it that colored up pups are always for sale for $100-$150 more than the solids? Why is it that folks are frequently 'stuck' with solid pups last? Had a friend with a litter of very well bred NALC pups.....litter had solids and leopards. Leopards all went first of course. People call and call, but only want leopards....then...they try and talk a man down on the price of a remaining pup just because it's solid!  ??? What's the deal with that? Now, I can see having a litter of well bred pups right in front of ya. It's gonna be a gamble no matter which you pick. So you pick what's most visually appealing to you. Fine. But why the significant price difference? Why try and talk someone down on a pup, just because of the coat color?
I figure this may be 'the elephant in the room' type situation here, but I'd love to hear y'alls insight on this. After all, coat color doesn't bay a hog, lol.

No...coat color won't bay a hog but if your gonna get a dog out of a high powered litter...keep it on your yard for years.....Why not pick one that's visually appealing?


As far as prices go...me personally....if I'm gonna buy a pup from someone I wouldn't try to negotiate based on the pups looks. Either you want a pup for said price or you don't.

X2

The most basic of economics...supply and demand.

There is greater demand for leopards, therefore they bring higher prices.

  lol  I dealt with it for years . and this is the very reason the Catahoula's took a big downfall when they became ''popular'' people were breeding just for colors and breeding merle to merle just to get merle . and the nalc was a big part of that . thank you to  the leapord hound breeders for putting a restriction on how much white a dog can have to be registered . this will stop the downfall on the hounds as the ''popularity '' becomes greater  .

As I mentioned in my post, I do understand picking a pup out of a well bred litter based off visual appeal. My thing was more the significant price difference of solid vs. leopard. I guess from a sales/marketing standpoint, more people want leopards so people charge more for them.

I was just addressing the whole notion that comes up so often about how looks are secondary to function.

Maybe I didn't word my initial post efficiently. Been a long day.

Most of the people picking solely off looks, don't know anything about how a hog dog should function, and there lies your problem.

So then.....

looks DO matter....

if people will pay more hard earned cash for a pup cause it's confetti colored than they'd pay for a solid colored one, even though both pups are bred the same exact way.

Guess that answers my own question, lol.  

I would never buy a pup because of color to tell the truth I like the ugly ones better I don't know how many times I have seen dogs that were good looking that where not worth a flip and the only good thing the owner of the dog could say is it was a good looking dog. I tell the next time pick the ugliest one

X2

Most people want a dog that's looks are appealing to them.  But I think that the merle color is "cool" to have for some people.  I have often wondered, same as you, why a person would ask more for a merle colored pup than a solid out of the same litter...the only explanation, is that the person is selling for looks and not ability

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

Keep in mind also that "want" drives the market more than "need".  I bet we can all think of something we paid extra for simply because of "want" when a lesser priced "need" would serve the same purpose.  (Vehicle, clothing, home, etc., etc., etc)

x2

you are right..."want" drives the market more than "need"...but needing can be a necessity...wanting can be a fad...

I do know this about me...when I like my dogs I tend to treat them a little better and I enjoy them even more in the woods...I want nice conformation and certain colors best but I have to go with performance first...and I don't like much white on a dog and I like short slick coats and a decent ear...

If I were into the catahoulas I would want about the same thing...but dark blue merle with dark tan trim is nice...with one brown eye and the other eye 1/2 brown 1/2 blue, and brown ears...I had one like that as a kid and he was a pretty good dog...of course "Blue" had to be his name...

U would probly be amazed at the number of people that think catahoulas only come in Merle with glass eyes or atleast one glass eye. How many times u seen anyone ask an owner of a colored up dog with a glass eye if it's a catahoula. Probly not many because when they see it they know it is. Now how many times u seen folks ask what kind of dog that solid dog is. People pay more for what they think a dog should look like and is easily distinguished as such. Who wants to pay same price for something they have to explain.


Shotgun
Arkansas

I can't understand why someone would waste money on a catahoula anyways...  >:D

cuz they are awesome lol I got 3 of them

Well....

I don't have to explain nothing to anyone about any dog that's on my feed bill, lol

When people ask me what kind of dog I have, I say, the kind that hunts lmao

Seriously though....I have leopards and solids. My solid red w/tan trim pup Si goes everywhere with me. If I had a dollar for everyone who said "Oh what a pretty Doberman that is!" I'd be a happy camper haha

Looks do matter in everything .....to he eye of the beholder.  Looks dont neccessarily mean much as far as performance, unless you are talking about breed standards.  When people shop for things they are looking to buy something they want and they must perceive "value".  Nobody goes to wal-mart and picks the first tomato they see; they look, smell, feel and look some more.  Shopping is about looking for options, they are all tomatos, but we have to take a glance at all of them before we pick what we want. 

Just like a lite of pups, we look, touch, pick them up, they are all pups!  Most people are going to see something they like or dont like and that is what they go off of.  We see this less in other dogs becuase the color range is not so wide.  If they are calling you on the phone, then the only basis for comparisson they have othere than gender is color.  If a solid color dog is not what they are wanting it is within thier buying power to offer less and the seller can accept or not.  This isnt something that just happened recently though.  I bought my first and only catahoula from Sherry Bando about 8 years ago.  When I called and spoke with her on the phone, she said I have one pup left out of her most recent liter.  Right way she offered the pup at a discount becuase she was black and tan with brown eyes.  She explained to me that many of her customers wanted the colored up dogs.  I wanted a catahoula so I paid her for the pup.  I was the beholder and I perceived some value in the B&T pup; others didnt.

Yeah you are right, color does matter to the buyer.  I have 5 plotts right now, three of them are saddleback color and if I were to walk up to a liter of 6 week old pups and they all acted exactly the same, I would take the smallest female saddleback pup.  I know what I like and when it comes to color, I prefer a saddleback.

Well said

Reason for the price difference... folks just trying to make a buck. And a little disingenuous for those "in it for the breed"

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

Great posts everyone. I figured this topic would make for a good discussion.

I've spoken to a lot of old timers (hunters), and it just always seemed that whenever I'd make any mention of a "pretty" or attractive dog, they're quick to jump on the "well color don't mean shat" or "pretty don't make a dog hunt" kick. That's a bit of what sparked me to throw the topic out there. In a pet trade, it's pretty much based on looks. But in the hunting world....any time I mention looks in person to someone people are quick to act like they could care less long as they work, blah blah blah.
I'll be the first to say, it is indeed nice to have best of both worlds (function and looks) if it works out that way  lol. Nothin wrong with that. It's just, I wouldn't turn down a pup that's bred right JUST because of it's coat color. Nor try and jew a man down on price of a pup just based on color, but I guess the market for Cats has already 'spoiled' people that way to where they expect that.

 To me when i go to buy a Catahoula, I'm going to  pick the color pup that in the past the colors that made the best dogs, which is the pups with the most black with the least white are the pups with a lot of  dark red and a few white patches. But i can't   lie and say when i first see a litter I'm not drown to the sure enough colored up ones because i am but then i have to remember that I'm trying to pick one that will make a hog dog. As for the price i think it is because the   owner knows  they can make more money on the  colored up ones and they  will prolly loose a little money on the solids. Just my thoughts

So in essence...your still picking by color. Lol , I'm just picking at you. Man it's a sure enough crap shoot picking 6 week old pups out of ANY litter, lol. I say go with the purty one!

KevinN your right I'm still picking by color, lol
Just going about it in a little  different way,

this exactly!im in south Carolina.its very rare to find a decent cat.here.so many bred for looks or bay pen with no hunt at all.but you can sill sell spotted pups right and left.lol

Like... LOL

I just picked up my first catahoula a couple weeks ago. When I went to see the breeder I wanted a leopard female with glass eyes and a long tail, just based off desire. Well when I got there the guy I ended up picking was leopard but with brown eyes and a bob tail. I wasn't disappointed but he isn't what I had in mind. He picked me so he is who came home. Now that might be a silly way to pick a dog but that is how I picked up my last three dogs (family pets not working dogs) and it has worked out. My wife's last three dogs she picked based on how cute they are and they are all three useless non-listening pains in my hinny. It's about a bond with me and nothing about looks. If the looks are there also I'm thrilled but that is no where in my criteria. When I picked up my catahouligan Kris asked me what I was looking for in my pup and none of my answers where helpful because I didn't have any real preconceived notions. I can tell you that my heart was really hoping a solid colored male didn't pick me :)

"Never seen a good dog the wrong color" LP.

As stated "A good dog can't be a bad color" However, it cost the same to feed a pretty dog as it does an ugly dog!  ;D

 Same thing happens in AB's. Most working people will pick the pitty looking ones, even though some bullier ones have great drive and good wind. On the bully side, people pay up to 3k for the most dysfunctional piece of garbage dog money can buy. There are good breeders on both sides that can't give dogs away . SMH

looks  and color  does matter ...its a reflection of the  line ......  if you had  a female and bred her  to your best catahoula and your best yellow bmc and she had pups and you wanted to keep a pup  off both males what would you do to increase  your  success in doing that ... you'd look at the  litter  and  pick 2  pups  each one  looking  like the father  if you can .... looks  do matter ...... oh and i have  done  it with different males and  one female and  it held  true ...i bred a german shorthair  female  to two cur males i had...one  male  was  rough bad  rough  the  other  just a  strait hunting  baydog .....the dogs  from that or about 8 years  old  now and the dogs from the litter that  looked like each  male  perty much acted  like them also ..... how  could  i tell ?  there looks matched there dads and actions ....one  litter from 2 males ....

I like a well built good looking dog with very little white with a short slick coat...and a hunting dog ear with good nose...cost the same to feed so why not please yourself...