Curs on cattle

[KS_cowboy]

Hey, everyone. I'm new here and was trying to find more info on using curs with cattle. I've decided to get either a cur or a lacy for hunting and blood trailing, but didn't know if anyone ever used them on cattle other than just to bay. I work on a ranch and ride out to gather and pen calves every day to sort off and doctor the sick ones. But, honestly, a sheep herding border collie could do 95% of anything I would use a dog for out there. We have good fence and a hell of a corral to sort in and pretty much keep everything as low stress as possible. The thing I was curious about, is whether anyone has trained a cur to maybe block a gate hole when sorting or return a calf if it breaks from the herd as I'm penning them. Like I said, I really don't need the caliber of dog for my day to day work, that a cur or lacy would bring to the table, but since I'm getting one anyway, I would rather have it with me than in a kennel all day doing nothing. Anything that any of you have successfully taught your dogs of this type would be great to hear about. And recommendations are certainly welcome...

 

[Caustic Burno]

A good dog is priceless one that doesn't know what he is doing the price of a 22 bullet

 

[M-5]

Curs are more suited to catch or bay. A dog can be trained to do what ever but instinct is powerful

 

[KS_cowboy]

Yeah, that's kind of what I thought. Obviously, obedience training is a must off the bat, but does anyone have recommendations for using such a high drive and instinctual dog to work low stress and stay behind my horse when I need him to? Not the first time I've trained a dog, but it will be the first time I train for cattle work. I'm a little worried I might be over my head trying it out with one like this.

 

[Brute 23]

It shouldn't be a problem. People do it all the time. The key is logging lots of hours with them which you should be able to do.

I don't personally use cow dogs but have been around quite a few and use cow dog blood lines to hog hunt with. Most of the guys I get my dogs from run them both ways... cows and hogs.

 

[Farm Fence Solutions]

I've got a Black Mouth Cur that will snuggle with a cat while a chicken sits on her head if I tell her to. We also have one that kills everything with a heartbeat and will gladly ear down a brushy cow. I think the key is starting with a pup and putting the time in. BTW, both of those dogs are very valuable to us. We keep border collies as well, and they are easier to put a handle on, but harder to put more grit into. Curs and Catahoulas make great all around dogs if you plan on a working/hunting/best buddy kind of unit, IMHO.

 

[midTN_Brangusman]

Unless your squirrel hunting, a hangin tree or texas heeler might be more suitable for you , very smart dogs.

 

[KS_cowboy]

Wow... Thanks for the responses, guys. I'm going to give this a try and see how it goes. Would any of you have a recommendation for letting it know what I'm after? As in, a way to let it know we are after cattle that day, instead of coon or coyotes and vice versa. I just really don't want it gathering someone's cattle when I send it after a coyote on a trap drag or start chasing coyotes when I send it to gather cattle in the brush.

 

[Farm Fence Solutions]

Good dogs will know what you want before you can tell em.

 

[Brute 23]

If you are raising a cow dog you should trash break them off of every thing but cattle and teach them "get out" or some thing of that nature to call them off.

 

[Dusty Britches]

My Lacy dog will not allow cattle out of the open gate unless I'm on the other side of that open gate and I'm leading them out. Lacys are headers and prefer to bay and hold, but I trained mine to gather them and drive them to me. I'm not all that familiar with BMC, but Lacys always impress me with instinctive-ness and intelligence. I know the vast majority of cow dog folks like a lot of bite in their dogs, but I do not. It grinds my gut to see a dog tear up a cows ears or nose. My Lacys will bite as a last resort and will not shred ears like an Aussie will. Every day Lacys get better and better and will top out around 7 years of age and stay there.

A lot of cow men in my area will tell you a Lacy dog is a truck seat dog - the rest ride in the back.

 

[BRYANT]

curs is a big group of dogs some being used for treeing others more for baying. A lot of the treeing curs will not bark on a trail. There is black mouths curs, Leopard curs, Mountain curs, Treeing curs, Stephen curs, Kremer Curs, Catahoulas. My cur dog, Mountain cur, is one of the smartest dogs I ever hunted was treeing at a early age but he will not get close to a cow, is scared to death of them. Most people that raise them will tell you that it is kind of rare for one to be like mine around cows but he wants nothing to do with them. It did not help matters that I had and ol Brahman cow try to kill him when he was about 4 months old.

 

[JWBrahman]

Hey, everyone. I'm new here and was trying to find more info on using curs with cattle. I've decided to get either a cur or a lacy for hunting and blood trailing, but didn't know if anyone ever used them on cattle other than just to bay. I work on a ranch and ride out to gather and pen calves every day to sort off and doctor the sick ones. But, honestly, a sheep herding border collie could do 95% of anything I would use a dog for out there. We have good fence and a be nice of a corral to sort in and pretty much keep everything as low stress as possible. The thing I was curious about, is whether anyone has trained a cur to maybe block a gate hole when sorting or return a calf if it breaks from the herd as I'm penning them. Like I said, I really don't need the caliber of dog for my day to day work, that a cur or lacy would bring to the table, but since I'm getting one anyway, I would rather have it with me than in a kennel all day doing nothing. Anything that any of you have successfully taught your dogs of this type would be great to hear about. And recommendations are certainly welcome...

Your typical Catahoula Cur/Blackmouth cur is used to catch and group. They'll chase em into a cluster then run in a circle around the group.

 

[TedH71]

I run catahoulas here in Kansas on feral hogs mostly in Oklahoma and Missouri. I'm going into blood tracking with my dogs this year hopefully and I have considered getting them started on cattle. They are head dogs mainly. Their job is to keep the cattle from running off while you walk or ride from behind. They can block gates if they know cattle aren't supposed to be going through fences. If you let one be loose on the property and a tree falls on a fence and breaks it loose, the dog is going to keep the cattle or any animal from crossing the broken area and escaping. The thing is they will be 2 or 3 years old before being totally reliable from running off the property.