THE CATAHOULA LEOPARD DOG

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By: Holly Arnold November 2003
Holly passed away in October 2017 but this story she wrote in college brought two of her passions together, dogs and Louisiana.

Holly and Luna

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The Catahoula Leopard dog is the state dog of Louisiana, and the only native domesticated dog of the United States.

The dog's history goes back 400 years or more, to the times when the first Europeans came to America and settled in the region around the present day Catahoula Lake, in central Louisiana

Catahoula Lake - thetowntalk.com

The Spanish

Dogs of the Conquistadors - weaponsandwarfare.com

The Spaniards, led by De Soto, came down the Mississippi River and brought dogs of war with them that were used to attack hostile Indians.
 
These dogs were probably descendants of the Mastiff breed or Wolfhounds.
 
When the Spaniards moved out, a lot of the dogs were left behind, and many of the Indians who feared these dogs took them in and used them for hunting.

The Indians

Some of these Indians were members of tribes near the Catahoula Lake region, for which the dogs were named. These tribes were believed to be a combination of the Avoyelle, Tunica, Ofo, and Choctaw tribes.

The name Catahoula comes from the Choctaw words "okhata" meaning lake, and "hullo", beloved.
 
Some of the Indians would use these dogs for hunting and tracking, and loved them so much that some burial sites of the Indians also contained the remains of their dogs.

Native Americans and their dogs - merchdope.com

The French

Female Beauceron Dog - poochinfo.com

Later some of the French settlers brought a spotted dog called the Beauceron, a boar hunter, which is believed to give the Catahoula its unique leopard markings.
 
The French bred the Beauceron with the native hunting dogs in order to create a more versatile dog. The dogs then interbred with each other and with the native red wolf to create the Catahoula Leopard dog.

Later in Louisiana history, many natives in the area bred these dogs for certain desirable traits, which include hunting, tracking, baying "tree", and working the livestock, hogs in particular.

They would tree raccoons, whose fur could be sold, and flush out wild boar as a food source for the natives in the area.

Today

The Catahoula is now used primarily for tracking and herding livestock.
 
There have been search and rescue Catahoulas that have tracked the scents of missing children, people fallen overboard into the water, and even identified the murder weapon in a murder trial.
 
The dogs are very aggressive workers and can herd feral pigs from places that would be hard for a man to go, and round them into an enclosure with the aid of two or three other Catahoulas.

About the Breed

The Catahoula's color is the striking characteristic of the breed. It can be leopard spotted, blue merle, reddish, or black and white.

The Catahoula cracked eyes - Country Roads Magazine

The eyes are usually two different colors, from amber to glassy blue. The eyes can even be "cracked", or have two different colors in the same eye.
 
The dogs with a lot of white to their coats and glassy eyes are prone to be partially or totally deaf.

They also have webbed paws which help propel them through the Louisiana swamps.
 
The females are between 55-70 pounds and the males between 60-90 pounds.
 
They have short, dense coats which help repel water and protect them from the brush, and have strong, sturdy frames.

Loyal and Stubborn Dogs

Because of the Catahoula's desire to work hard and willingness to show off its many talents, this breed can be stubborn and unless trained well and exercised regularly, can be destructive. The dog is very loyal and protective of its family and territory and will not allow strangers onto its property.

State Dog of Louisiana

In 1979 Governor Edwin Edwards signed a bill making the Catahoula Leopard dog the official state dog of Louisiana.
 
The National Association of Louisiana Catahoulas is based in Denham Springs, LA and is the official registry of the breed, since this breed is not AKC recognized.

Louisiana Governor " Edwin Edwards" - catahoularanch.com

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Sources
http://www.eatel.net/~wahya/dog.html
http://www.catahoulaleopard.com/homepg.htm
http://www.thebreedsofdogs.com/CATAHOULA LEOPARD DOG.htm
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http://www.wyoag.com/Ingalls/dogs.htm
http://www.catahoulas.com/
http:/ /www.dogbreedinfo.com/catahoula.htm
http://www.catahoulas.org/catahoula.htm
http://www.centralpets.com/pages/critterpages/mammals/dogs/DOG309l .shtml
http://www.louisianasongs.com/song09.htm
http://www.ukcdogs.com/breeds/herdingdogs/louisianacatahoulaleoparddog.std.sh tml
http://www.donabney.com/information.shtml
http://www.sec.state.la.us/around/facts/facts-E.htm
http://www.gov.state.Ia.us/kids/symbols.htm
http://www.senate.gov/~breaux/kids symbols.html
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