I have had catahoulas for almost 20 years. I have owned several other breeds of dog- various large bully breeds, rottweiler, cur dogs, lots of different hounds, and even mutts, but catahoulas are by far the smartest, most loyal, and best dogs I've ever owned. They are a strong willed breed and not for everyone, but if handled correctly, nothing else even comes close. The problem in my area is finding a good pure catahoula. A lot of the hog hunters cross them with bulldogs, curs, plott hounds, etc to benefit their specific needs. Nothing wrong with that at all, but it makes finding a pure leopard dog difficult. The other issue here is that any dog with a craked / glass eye or merle coat is classified as a catahoula, so you end up with funky colored mutts running around. Again, nothing wrong with mutts, but when you want a specific breed you don't want a mutt. Kinda like wanting a Corvette and someone telling you a Fiero is the same thing LOL. Looks similar, but not even close LOL. I bred my own catahoula for many years for that very reason. My first catahoula just died this year after living to be 18 years old. He was smarter than most people I know. I could write a book about the adventures that fellow had! I am getting two puppies that are descendants of him from a friend of mine. They were born last week, so they will be ready around Christmas time. I am going to raise them around goats, poultry and other farm animals and use them for predator patrol/control. I'm kind of hoping to find a LGD pup such as a GP, and raise them all up together. I will post some pictures of the new puppies when I get them and maybe try to find some pics of some of the catahoulas I've had.
PS- the best part about catahoulas is when someone asks what kind of dog that is, and you say "catahoula leopard" and they always say "a cata-what?" LMAO. We had one we actually named him Cata-what for that reason LOL
