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real editor
Greetings and welcome to my canine catastrophe! :-) I have 3 Jack Russell terriers and a Catahoula Leopard Hound. Let me introduce you to my brood:
Darby is our only female and the second in command of our pack...but she is still trying to undermine us as the primary alpha! She's not hyper but she IS very high-strung. She lives for playing with tennis balls (known as "Wilson") and her mid-air acrobatics are amazing. She's a joyful challenge to photograph. The other event she lives (hopes) for is to seek out and destroy her adoped brother, Dashiell. They have to be separated at all times or it would be certain death for one of them...most likely her. Even Cesar Milan couldn't "whisper" any cure for this. While watching the movie, "Eight Below," I wondered why our dogs couldn't calmly elect their leader and assume their respective position in the pack without a blood bath. Just proves that real life isn't a Disney movie.
Dashiell & Dathan are littermates...twins that mirror each other in markings only. They are as different from one another as can be. Dashiell is both sweet & submissive (to humans) but commanding, territorial, and aggressive with his siblings. Dathan is the least confrontational of all. Alpha-schmalpha...he wants nothing to do with it. He lives to eat, sleep, hunt elusive rodents, and do battle with the garden hose.
Denethor...how does one explain Denethor? He's an 80-lb. goof, very good-natured and a comforting bedfellow. He was named after the character in Lord of the Rings, Denethor, the steward of Gondor. Why? Because he was a sloppy eater and I wanted another "D" name, so it fit. He's also deathly afraid of the vacuum so that would be the weapon of choice for any intruder.
Now for your next question:
WHAT THE HELL IS A CATAHOULA? I asked my vet the same thing when I was informed that this new puppy I rescued from a co-worker was indentified as such. So, here's the skinny on the breed:
Catahoula Leopard dogs are the only known domesticated native North American breed of dog... developed by our Native American Indians and early settlers, and kept pure to the present day by folks who use them to work livestock, hunt game ranging from squirrels to coons to bears, and as guard dogs. Leopard Curs, Catahoulas, Blackmouth Curs, Mountain Curs, etc., are all branches of the same root stock, but since there is no absolute documentation of the chronological history and precise ancestors involved, much is left to speculation on exactly when and how these several varieties emerged. We probably will never know their exact heritage until and unless DNA samples from today's dogs and their suspected canine relatives are tested. What we do know is part archaeological fact, part excerpted from diaries and letters written by early day dog fanciers, and part legend.
Archaeological facts: An ancient breed, the Xoloitzcuintli, is known to have existed in Mexico 3,300 years prior to the arrival of Spanish explorers, and the Peruvian Inca Orchid had been living with Peruvian citizens for several hundred years before the Spaniards landed on North American shores in 1539. It is only reasonable to assume representatives of these breeds made their way North through the hands of various native peoples into an area which later became Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, and perhaps even farther North. French explorers invaded the area in the late 1600's, and most certainly would have brought their dogs... one of which, the Beauceron, is still known today and displays leopard (merle) coloration. The Carolina Dog is a feral relic of antiquity, directly related to the Australian Dingo, African Jackal, and New Guinea Singing Dog, and has been only recently discovered surviving in uninhabited areas of our own Southeastern United States. The Carolina Dog was most likely the "Indian dog" base stock which interbred with dogs brought in by Spanish explorers, producing the ancestors of what we now call Catahoulas.
Catahoula Leopards are extremely agile and athletic, territorial, protective of "their property". They are more primitive psychologically than most breeds and need consistent obedience reinforcement. The owner must understand the Alpha concept and stay in control at all times, but still be loving to the dog. Very loyal, loving, intelligent and independent... they really think for themselves.
