According to the dictionary, a cur is:
1. a mongrel dog, esp. a worthless or unfriendly one.
2. a mean, cowardly person.

Say, what?

Most anyone in the southern United States might take affront at that definition. You see, round these here parts, a Cur is a type of highly bred huntin' dawg, one that you often have to know someone who knows someone to even get to talk to a man about a dog, much less get to buy a puppy from him.

The Cur breeds are genuine American originals, with their beginnings in the South. Not much is known for hard fact about their origins, partly because back then no one wrote down pedigrees on working dogs and partly because the men who developed them guarded the secrets of their lines jealously, a trait that continues in many lines even today.

Curs were -- and still are -- multi-purpose dogs. Even though they are known, first and foremost, as some of the ablest hunters on four feet, they were expected to be dependable watch dogs, alert and quick to let the master know if someone or something strange approached. While hunting was a large part of providing food and of the Cur's duties, so was rounding up free ranging livestock from time to time and the dog had to be capable of doing it all, as well as being dependable with the youngest members of the family.

Different types and strains of Curs were developed, probably some according to the needs in a particular area and the game and terrain. The breeds and types of dogs already known would have played a part in individual traits in different Cur lines as well.

There seem to be six distinct “types” among the Curs: the Mountain Cur, Southern Blackmouth, Yellow Blackmouth, Leopard, Catahoula and Blue Lacy. A few include the Plott Hound in the list, mainly because of its history in hog hunting, but the Plott is a hound, not a true Cur.

The Mountain Cur, best known as a bear dog, gets a great deal of credit for making it possible for the southern mountains, particularly the Appalachians, where they originated, to be settled. Without their hunting and guarding ability it would have been difficult for the early pioneers in the area to survive, especially with the bear population.

The Blackmouth Curs are probably the most familiar, especially the Yellow, which gained recognition after the publication of the book, Old Yeller, in spite of Hollywood's use of a yellow Lab rather than the correct breed for the movie. It is believed that both of the Blackmouth Cur lines came from hound and mastiff crosses. Exactly where and when they might have been developed is unknown for certain, further obscuring the exact types of mastiff and hound breeds that contributed. There is speculation that the hound part may have been Black and Tan Coonhound, since the Yellows carry a gene that sometimes produces black and tan puppies.

Catahoulas come from Louisiana. Where else could a dog with such a mellifluous name come from? Catahoula. Almost makes a person feel like a bon-ay feed-ay Cajun, the way it just flows off the tongue, it does, fo' shoor! One of the most distinctive features of the Catahoula Cur is the “glass eye,” clear, icy blue eyes that are very distinctive to the breed, subtly different than those of any other blue eyed dog. The traditional history of their make up is as untamed as the bayous; local Native American “pariah” dogs, Spanish war mastiffs, scent and sight hounds with a shade of red wolf.

The Blue Lacy hails from Texas, from the Marble Falls area up in the hill country. The Lacy brothers were a bit better at record keeping, or at least recording most of the breeds they used to develop their line, although they weren't exactly forthcoming about the particulars. The brothers record using Whippets or Greyhounds and an unspecified scent hound, crossed with coyote.

The Leopard Cur was all but lost by the early 20th century after existing as a distinctive type since the 18th, mainly in North Carolina. Early forays by conquistadors are credited with bringing at least one branch of the forerunner to the Leopard Cur to the area, although it is also claimed that the French journeyed in the region as well, bringing a contributory type with them. The Scots and Irish who came later brought their own hunting and herding dogs as well, and the Leopard Cur is most likely a melange from all of those different sources. Thanks to a group of three men, Richard McDuffie, Leroy Smith and A. W. Carter back in 1959, the breed recovering from its brush with extinction.

Time for a revision in the dictionary.

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