How do I train my Mountain Cur to be obedient? I want him to come when called, sit, and not jump on people. I want him to settle down when I am in contact with him.

Your dog has to see you as the dominate figure in his life. If he doesn`t he will basically do whatever he wants. Your dog seems to have a lot of extra energy so you might want to increase his exercise. If you don`t have a yard a couple of 20 minute walks a day will go a long way. After you`ve lowered the amount of energy he has you can start training. The main thing when training a dog is to remain calm, be dominate and practice with the dog as much as possible. Repetition with reward is the key to getting your dog to act correctly. When on walks, give the dog about 1ft of leash and keep him close to you. Give him “jerk” corrections if he starts to pull or pay attention to other things. All of his attention should be on you. This is the perfect time to practice your commands. When you stop, have him sit or heel. When you start to walk, tell him to come. What you are essentially doing is building his dependence on you. Eventually, he will see you as the pack leader and start to respect your dominance. It`s also beneficial to keep a small leash on him in the house. This makes it easy to practice your commands. When he does what you ask, reward him with affection or treats. If he starts to jump on people, immediately correct him and convey that king of behavior is not appropriate. Teach him to sit when guest enter the room. The main thing to remember is not to ask your dog to do things but rather tell him in a calm assertive matter. He may be your best friend, but he needs to you give him boundaries and limitations. In the end, you will both be happier.

I just got a 6 month old mountain cur pup and i want to start training him to hunt and tree squirrels. What would be the first step in this process. I hope she is not too old to train.

well I'm a coon hunter so i might be giving bad advice but what a few good things are get him familiar with the scent...like a hide something to play with and chew on them show him a real live squirrel get him barking at it trying to get to it u gotta make him hate the sight and smell of it. then try raising the cage off the ground up in a tree with a rope and if u can get him going tell him good boy and pat him and show him he is doing right. then open the cage turn it loose while holding your dog and then let him go either catch or tree the squirrel and if he excells in that shoot it out to him and then back the cage a good 100 to 75 yards away from a tree in a field and let him have at it again but u will get much better results with an older trained dog there to help show him what to do because i know i learn better when shown what to do not told. this can be a long process at times with certain dogs or breeds and then it may not be. i hope that helped u

I just got a mountain cur puppy, and he's awfully silent. He won't even bark at people when they are entering our yard. Why is he like that?

Yes, they are extremely quiet dogs. More like a cat, right? Love mine.

There is a mountain cur mix at the shelter where I work .. I love this dog and admit I cried when she was adopted a few months ago. She and I were buddies and I used to walk her daily, she loved going for rides and seemed to be the happiest when laying around the backroom with me during the day. She came back to the shelter a few days ago. She had already been in the shelter for at least 3 years and I'm afraid there is no one here who fully understands her needs .. But I don't know if I can bare to see her go again .. I live in an apartment right now which is the worst place for this breed but we are in the catskill mountains and the shelter has trails and fields where I could run her everday. Plus my boyfriend and I love camping and hiking so she would make good company for our other dog when we go. Should I still consider bringing her home even though i don't know how long we will be in an apartment or should I just wait and let her get adopted out? I would really appreciate any input

I totally disagree with this site on the Mountain Curs' ideal environment, as well as any other site with this opinion. I myself keep a wonderful female Mountain Cur in a small home for going on 9 years now, and I know of a few others that have and are doing so as well, and I can tell you that these highly intelligent, loving, playful breeds, are just as perfectly suited for apartment or small home life as they are the outdoors. Curs are naturally curious and somewhat hyper and they will always need exercise indoors and out, but just about any breed needs this in my opinion to be healthy and happy. Also, you need to start training your cur early. They are amazingly intelligent and need to know you're the pack leader quickly. Once established, there's almost nothing they can't learn lol. They are very loyal and loving which means very eager to please mommy or daddy. They don't tend to gain weight easily but still keep a watch. They're They seem to get along amazingly well with cats and dogs and children, but make sure to socialize them slowly and carefully as with any dog breed. Very few health problems too, which is great on the pocketbook, but watch for minor skin irritations , overbathing will usually dry their skin out. I usually give mine an Omega 3 supplement which tends to prevent alot of the itching and dryness. Otherwise healthy breed. Also, my dog was a shelter dog, and she has been the best dog I've ever had. Loyal, loving, funny, everything you'd want a dog to be pretty much. So bring her home I'd say. You might have just found a new family member lol! Hope this helps btw

What is the best thing to do with Mountain Cur skin irritations? Our boy is constantly biting, licking, and just miserable. He is now getting sores. He has extremely red rashes in spots all over his body. We don't know what would be safe to help his skin irritations.

I have never owned that breed, but I'm guessing he is allergic to something. Probably his food. Food with corn in it is irritating to many animals. I suggest a holistic/premium food.

I adopted a dog a few months ago and the dog pound didn't know what breed she was. I did some research and I think she looks like a mountain cur, but I need a second opinion. She's medium sized, she's brindle, her ears are high up, her chest and paws are white, she's fast, she jumps high , and she's very protective. here's a picture of her [IMG]http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff502/kateoz32095/lily.jpg[/IMG]

Your image isn't coming up. So I can't tell from the looks. Brindle shows up in many dog breeds and now is overly used as a "cur mix" indicator. bully breeds grey hounds, great danes, mastiffs, in fact any dog that carries the genes to product a black dog has the brindle gene too as black and brindle are genetically very close. Scotty dogs come in brindle even, so do horses and cows and neither are curs to my knowledge. Ears, face, natural bob tail hind legs look almost hyena like. Temperment is the final thing soft and gentle with people but no back down attitude with animals. And what I consider the ultimate test is the squirrel test. Every dog chases squirrels, Mountain curs go nuts over them. Not just the sight, but the smell, and the noise, If they perk up at the smell of squirrel and lift their nose in the air to get a better whiff that is cur. Cur's wind game instead of trailing, picking the scent out of the air an not off the ground like hounds. Check for functional dew claws and really sharp nails. It is easy to make a mutt that looks like a mountain cur. Many people ask what kind of dogs my mountain cur and vizsla/beagle are because they look a like. It is hard to tell just by looks without dew claws or natural bob tails but the game instinct is a dead give away. especially if the dog looks up alot that was bred into them.