I buried my best buddy, a 14.5 year old yellow lab "Dually" a month or so ago. I think I'm ready for a new friend to help me watch over my family and homestead.

I'm leaning towards a black mouth cur or similar. I live on 7.5 acres, and have other pets, horses etc, perfect for a dog of that type to socialize and be part of the family. Probably also train him/her as an all-around hunter to fetch dove, track hogs, coons, squirrels etc. Not looking for anything too extreme or world class in the hunting skills, just a smart dogs nose and abilities to "hunt" with me and my daughters. Family dog qualities are first, the rest is a bonus.

Anyone have any good breeder referrals in North Texas or east Texas area?

Can't help with a breeder in Texas but I highly approve of your choice....

I have a little Mtn Cur that does all that and then some....

Trees her own Cats and then sleeps on the foot of the bed...

Good luck...(although you shouldn't need a lot of luck since Cur's are one of the few breeds Americans haven't screwed up YET)

We'll need pix too but that goes without saying.....

I am with Field.. 15 years ago, a man in WV told me I could have one of his Mt. Cur puppies.. We hunted his dogs in the daylight for fox squirrel and at night for coons.. I loved those dogs.. Like a fool, I turned him down, because I already had two goldens and I wasn't sure what I would do with him in the West.. Foolish move.. May have to remedy that sometime soon..Best of luck..

What they said! My son's cur is the best family dog you could ever want, trees squirrels by day and coon at night, spoiled rotten though! she's laying on the dog bed rolling her eyes at me now while I type. They are hard to find around here but I think there are more breeders south of here, you might have to take a road trip to get one but again, well worth it for the right dog! Try some of the hunting dog web sites.

I just saw one on Craigs list here in CA. How would one be for a Deer Jump dog? The breed has always held a fascination for me. Do they bark when they are making a run? My hunting partner had one that a guy said was a Cur but we wern't sure. She had over 100 Bucks put down in front of her in her lifetime.

Here in the NE we have dog rescues that get Cur pups in from the South. Often times a mix (usually Lab) but sometimes pure bred. Haven't swabbed mine yet but she is either Lab/Cur or Lab/Coonhound. Once she hit 8 months old she became hell on wheels treeing squirrels and hunting down rabbits.

PM sent about my Mtn Feist pup- Pretty much cur mentality in a smaller package.
Good Luck in your search-
Tom