Message #452642

[T-Bob Parker]

First and foremost a cur is NOT a mix or a mutt.


The truest definition of cur that I can come up with is that individual types of cur dogs are simply dogs with common ancestry stemming from the needs of the local population from which they originated.

Meaning...

People in the Texas behind the pine curtain had to scratch out a livin off the land and employed the use of dogs as rugged, determined and mean as the early pioneers themselves. In the big thicket, alot of these folks were of peasant decent from the working class of scots, Irish and English ancestry. They would have brought with them several dogs from the old world such as lurchers, collies, shepards, some running and treeing hounds and game dogs among others. As with every area in America, this section of the country provided it's own blessings and challenges to every day life and since these folks weren't in the habit of feeding dogs just for the sake of benevolence, the best of the best (as it pertained to helping the family survive and thrive) were the ones that lived to breed. Over the course of time a specific "type" developed and as time moved on the traits became more ingrained in the "look" of the dogs.

All that being said, you can see many similarities in the curs from the carolinas all the way the cues of west Texas, but, when you single them out individually, you begin to see the subtle differences that suit them to the local areas they traditionally occupy.

IE;
Southern Louisiana curs retained camouflage or dark colors and more specifically, webbed feet.

Working Texas curs often yellow for heat resistance and becuase it's the color of supremacy. Lol

On and on and on...