Understanding Where The Catahoula Leopard Dog Originated from

The History of the Catahoula Leopard Dog

What has four legs, webbed feet, and sometimes two different colors in one eye? Of course, it’s the Catahoula leopard dog! The Catahoula leopard dog, commonly known as the Catahoula cur, is a dog that was discovered by the Choctaw Indians in North Central Louisiana. The Catahoula leopard dog has an interesting history, and the dog was declared as the state dog of Louisiana in 1979. The Catahoula leopard dog has an interesting history, unique characteristics, and has its reasons to be the state symbol of Louisiana.

Catahoula Leopard dogs have quite unique characteristics. A Catahoula leopard dog can have multiple colors (as seen in the picture) such as shades of brown, grey, white, and black. This extraordinary canine can have spots, light brown hair with streaks of color, a solid color, or patches of multiple colors making up its coat. In order to survive and swim in Louisiana’s marshes, the dog has webbed feet. A Catahoula leopard dog’s eyes can be amber, blue, green, brown, or sometimes two different colors in a single eye. As far as the strength of this dog breed, these dogs have effectively competed in sled racing competitions in Canada, and they have also been used for rounding up Brahman cattle in Venezuela.

The history of this dog breed is also very different like its appearance. The Catahoula Lake in North Central Louisiana is the origin of the breed’s name, and the Choctaw word “Catahoula” means “sacred lake.” In an early expedition from Europe, Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto, noted that the Native Americans had domestic dogs in about 1539. Hernando de Soto’s scribes took concise and incomplete notes about the dogs, leaving people unsure whether the domesticated dogs had actually been Catahoula leopard dogs. The Spanish explorer’s “war dogs” crossbred with the Native American’s dogs, but this information is only known as a legend. The explorers had also brought different types of hogs to Louisiana. The relation of the Catahoula leopard dogs to the hogs was that the dogs were used to create a “canine fence” around the swine and help catch the hogs too. To this day, the hounds are bred for working, and it is an instinct for the canines to be capable of handling herds of hogs.

The Catahoula leopard dog has a long history that started with the Choctaw Indians of Central Louisiana. Then, the Spanish settlers brought hogs to Louisiana which led to the dog breed’s specialization in hog herding. These dogs truly have unique coats of different colors and types, and today, the dogs still have their natural instincts of herding buried in their minds. No matter whether you call it a Catahoula leopard dog or a Catahoula Cur, the dog breed truly provides a perfect representation of Louisiana.