Mountain Feist or Catahoula or something else?

I want to get a new farm/hunting/all purpose dog. I am considering getting a Mountain Feist or Catahoula mostly. I have also thought about a Jagd Terrier, a Patterdale Terrier, an Airedale or an English Shepherd.

I want a dog that is protective of my property, okay with people I am okay with, aggressive towards people I am not okay with, that will kill or chase off other animals on command, that has some herding instinct, that will dig out and kill vermin like rats, mice and moles and that will hunt rabbits, squirrels and upland game birds. I want a very smart dog that handles very well. The dog will be with me almost all the time as I live and work on my farm.

I don't want a dog that is dog aggressive, that is shy or timid or that goes off hunting on it's own. I don't want a dog that can't differentiate between what animals to kill and what to leave alone.

I have a 16 year old feist and 12 year old mix, with a fair amount of English shepherd blood, that both did all that I wanted, but are now having issues with age. I have two livestock guardian dogs that do a good job on that end, but who don't really hunt. We have a beagle, who is mostly entertainment. The beagle and 1 LGD are going on 7. The other LGD is 11 months.

What breed do you suggest and why?

Keith

blue healer or "dingo"

We had a black mouth that did everything you said and more one of the best we ever had, also had a good mt. Cur wright know we've got a 1/4 cur 1/4 walker and 1/2 redbone, weve had sevral fiest good varmiters,thevy all been good but non as good as that black mouth
Colt

Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Blackmouth cur all the way

I was looking at the blue lacys

Jadg terriers are just what you described.

Kemmer curs will do most of what your asking for

Blue lacy

my son has a Rhodesian ridgeback. loves every human it ever encountered. will kill every animal it can get too. dog cat coon rat squirrel livestock doesn't matter. every animal. if it was my dog i would have shot it long ago. they have to keep it under tight control at all times.

The catahoula cur dogs my father in law had in Louisianna were the best all around hunting dogs i ever saw .
Squirrels, coons, bobcats, hogs, deer , they did it all and did it well.

I love Catahoulas. Everything you required, a good trained Catahoula will do. I love red leopards and blue leopards. Had one called Crazy Eyes: had one blue eye and one green eye, blue leopard coat.

Might want to Google up info on Blue Lacy's. They are good multi- purpose dogs, haven't seen a dumb one yet.. But I don't know if there would be any close to you.

I’m a upland bird guy, so I’ve always had bird dogs. My favorite all round dog is a springer spaniel. They are just about as happy hunting as they are rolling around in the grass with my boys. The one I have now will hunt rabbits with the boys, and then go bird hunting with me and not even look at a rabbit. The only thing I don’t like about them is there long hair. Lots of cockleburs to cut out after a day of bird hunting. My setters have only one thing on their mind; Kill Birds. Not so good with the kids. My border collie hides if she sees a B.B. gun, but dang she is smart. Best friend I have ever had besides my wife.

my new dog is half blackmouth/half australian sheppard.amazing dog.have had 5 curs ovver the years and was impressed with them all'

I have had a couple Wagner bred treeing feists. They think there as big as a grizzly bear. Once I broke them from killing my chickens they where good dogs.

I sure like Leopard Catahoula's, they are about everything you were looking for in your post.

I have a 16 year old feist,

In my opinion you answered your own question. If you have something that been working well I would find another with that same breeding. The Mountain feist were bred for just what you described. As far a aggression most of that is on the handler, one handler= one set of rules.

I have two feist that for squirrel hunting. You know when someone is on the property and both think that they are as big as a bulldozer.

Good luck with your decision.

B

I have hunted with both some excellent feist and really nice Kemmer Curs. On the Kemmer line - I prefer a smaller one under 35 lbs. Best I hunted with was a small/medium feist. My cur I have now is decent and I can not expect more from him as I have not put the time into him to make a dog. With all your expectations - that dog can be expected to have you out hunting a bunch and exposing it to vermin and what you want it to do.

i hope to own a feist before i die.

we have a catahoula - one thing is that you absolutely have to be able to train the dog. they are a bit stubborn and I've caught myself letting him form some habits I should never have allowed.

he is a good watch dog, if something moves or makes a sound, he lets us know. he sounds like he's going to eat everybody that shows up, but is fine once we greet the visitors.

he brings home rodents all the time, and will chase just about anything in the yard. he's been find with the chickens, but they were there first and and we had to watch him close as a pup. now he just like to try to push them back in the run when they are ranging.

He's good with other dogs, maybe a little invasive. really likes to check out the other dogs, but is not confrontational. We made sure we socialized him as a pup, knowing he wasn't going to encounter many dogs just staying at the house.

we let him run at the house, with no worries of him not coming back. he's always been within earshot, and returns when called. sometimes it takes a minute, but you can usually hear him clabbering through the leaves trying to get back.

I'll say it again, stubborn and hard headed.

Thanks everyone. You have gave me a lot to think about.

Keith

I still plan on getting another feist someday and would like to get a catahoula at some point too, but I got this puppy today. She is half English Sheperd and half Anatolian Shepherd. She has a really nice personality. She should be my near constant companion for many years to come. I think she will make a good all around farm dog. She was born 8/25/2018 and weighs 16.4 pounds. She was bottle fed, because her mother did not produce much milk.







Keith

A fellow bowhunter I know has two Blue Lacy's. They are somewhat considered to be a herding dog, but he has trained them to be trialing dogs for recovering wounded/shot deer that are proving difficult to recover. They are also extremely athletic.

Catahoulas are one of my favorite dogs. I would love to have enough land to have one.

good looking pooch keith - hope you two have lots of years together

How do these feist, curs and lacys do being an outside dog in northern areas?


Edit:I've been thinking about a small Spitz type dog but there ones in north America don't seem to be field/game bred but more house pets.

A lot of the Norwegian Elk Hounds still hunt well. Some have been bred for appearance only now, so you have to be careful, which you buy to hunt. They have plenty of hair for cold weather.

Keith

My current English Shepherd is hands down the best dog I have ever owned.Easiest dog I have ever trained,and probably the most athletic.He went through a stage at about 9 months old were he thought he was the Chief not an Indian but hey what adolescent doesn't.I have owned about everything mentioned above minus a Ridgeback and Jag.Owned a Ladner bred Blackmouth that was the craziest thing I have ever seen,he could out dig a Badger and barked every time his foot hit the ground.

you just described a aire dale to a t