Hello Mate,
Well, its nice to hear from someone on the other side of the world
and to know they have found Jeanne and Jeff's great web site. Thanks
for taking the time to write.
I dont know how much help I can be to you with my answers, but I
will give it a try.
First, your question basically is :::
1. Black Mouth Curs, Mountain Curs, Gyp, What exactly are they how
were they derived? and do they have breed standards.
Answer: As far as where they came from, Im not the one to ask.
People have been using cur dogs as pets, to herd livestock, to gather
stock and to find game for hundreds of years over here. Over here in
the states we have several breeds of what we refer to as curs.
Blackmouth curs, Mountain Curs, Catahoula Curs, brindle curs, Leopard
curs, Stephens curs, Cracker curs, Southern Blackmouth Cur dog,
Tennesse Brindle cur are just to name a few. I guess the word we
use "CUR" is one of those words that has different meanings.
Some
people hear the word "cur dog" and think of it as a mongrel type dog,
or a mixed up bred heinz 57 or a dog you might find at the pound
etc... Well, we sometimes call those curs also. But mainly, we hog
hunters say "cur dog" and mean on of the breeds that I listed above
or one of the many many other cur breeds.
When we say the word "GYP" we are referring to a female dog, some
people use the word "bitch" (its not an improper word, when used in
this type context) which also means a female gender dog.
Each breed of curs, that is a pure breed or registered dog has their
own unique breed standard for size, looks, color, conformation,
hunting style etc...
Its neat to hear what types of dogs yall use on the other side of the
world. You mentioned "Almost all dogs used to hunt pigs in
Australia are curs". In relation to that, I
think if all the hog
dogs in America could be counted, I imagine our numbers would show
the cur breeds or cur crosses would be the majority over here also.
You also mentioned that yall have "A huge variety of breeds are used
for pig hunting", such as the "Great Dane Bullmastiff crosses and
Irish Wolfound Bullmastiff Boxer crosses". I would guess that most
of the cross bred dogs over here have a touch of hound for a little
colder nose, about 1/2 or more cur for quietness on track and
herding/baying ability and a touch of bull dog for grit.
You also mentioned that "most hunters in Australia use dogs that
will both find and hold (catch). Thats pretty much the same over
here also. Most folks that Im aware of over here like a dog that has
the ability to find one, grab hold of his back side if hes running to
get him to stop and sit down and then would like their dogs to step
back and bay (bark at) the hog until the hunter get there.
I appreciate you sharing with us a little about yalls dogs and
hunting styles. And thanks again for writing.
Jim