via, “The Catahoula Cur is an American dog breed named after Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, United States. After becoming the state dog of Louisiana in 1979, its name was officially changed to Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog. The breed is sometimes referred to as the “Catahoula Hound” or “Catahoula Leopard Hound” because of its spots, although it is not a true hound but a cur. It is also called the “Catahoula Hog Dog”, reflecting its traditional use in hunting wild boar.”
I grew up owning Pit Bulls. That’s my preferred breed. I love Pit Bull dogs of all kinds of varieties. I’ve always owned pure-bread, mostly Block Head types. They’re challenging to train but incredibly loving and an all around family-dog. Most active dog-owners know that Pit Bulls are great dogs with a serious brand-image mostly due to people who fail to train them or abuse them. I’ve had one Boxer and that was Goomba and he had a lot of the Pit Bull similarities without the bad reputation. Goomba was great. Very loving, a small dog for his breed, short-haired, easily trainable and just an all around great-dog. He’s still with Elizabeth in their new home in Denver. Quite the well-traveled pup if I do say so.
Heather and I both wanted a dog, I let her spend the time researching because it’s a lot of work to find out what you want and where you’ll get it. Of course, a rescue is the only option especially up North where litters of dogs don’t just show up at random.
Zander’s story is that he was left with the rest of his liter by a river down south. No one knows how long they were abandoned there. The liter was split up and he and his brother Simon ended up at an adoption agency where Heather found them and applied to adopt. 4 weeks later, at 10 weeks old, Zander made his way up to New England on the same bus as Simon. They were together until Sunday when he and his brother said their goodbyes. Simon is headed to Maine and Zander (now Porter) is with us in New Hampshire.
I’m really impressed with Porter. He already is off to a great start. He’s learned how to sit, he can be very motivated by treats and he knows when to relax and when to play. He has only peed in the house once and he lets you know with a few yaps when he wants to go outside. I’ve only known him for a day and he already has a lot of promise and potential.
His ears and tail are of course too large for his current body. He’s eating all of his food and is not fussy about food, water or treats. He plays tug of war and listens to my commands. Drop it and Leave it are quickly being picked up. I think the core training will be done along with crate training within one month. Heather and I got insurance for him at around $45 a month which will eliminate any out of pocked expenses on literally everything from shots, check-ups, meds and major surgery. Goomba’s first year of out of pocked expenses was over 2 grand in bills so I see the $45 a month as a good investment.
I look forward to watching Porter develop. Heather and I have already socialized him a lot with people and dogs which will continue. Behavioral training will start at end of Summer. Here are a few photos of Porter. More to come, I’m sure.
