Abilene

I fell in love with Catahoulas many years ago whilst working in the USA. I have now moved from Australia and reside permanently in the US... but I miss home I have Catahoulas as well as my dogs I brought over from Australia with me and working border collies as well. The Cats are an incredible breed, but definitely not for everyone... they can be extremely strong willed, very independent, stubborn at times..... their temperament can be quite unique to other breeds. They are trainable, but it takes a firm hand... I have bred, exhibited, trained dogs all my life and I still find them a challenge. My 12 week old puppy growled and lunged at me when I went to move her food bowl whilst she was eating, when she was a puppy.... I immediately grabbed her and put her on her side in a submissive position and growled at her and made her stay there until I was satisfied that she had totally submissed. She turned out a wonderful dog, but I had to re-inforce who was the pack leader periodically ... in the wrong hands they could be dangerous. Mine have wonderful temperaments, are from health tested stock and I health test, baer deafness, eye test, hips & elbows. I will not go into genetics but to breed Cats, you really need to know what you are doing, especially because of the merle gene etc...They are often aloof with strangers, a trait of the breed, make great guard dogs, are good hunting dogs and cow dogs... I also have working border collies and Cats do not work like a border collie or kelpie... they were used to flush the cattle out of the swamps in Louisiana and they are hard biting and aggressive on cattle.... I don't use mine on cattle... I have the collies for that. Mine are great guard dogs, they will come with me when I am out riding... they are great if we go packing in the mountains with pack mules and we camp out for a week or so... the Cats guard the campsite from bears and alert us of mountain lions etc.... A Cat will defend you with his life, they are very loyal. They certainly are not the easiest dog to train and are not a yes sir - no sir dog.... they are not as popular for coon hunting (racoon hunting... just need to clarify that for those who don't know...) coz that is what it is called here in the US... not as popular as the coonhounds... the black& tans, redbone, blue ticks and walkers, plotts etc.... those breeds tend to dominate the coon hunt competitions... and most people I know who coon hunt have one of these breeds... but like the curs... the blackmouth etc, they tend to be more of an allround versatile dog... you won't get a coonhound that will be a good cow dog... (well if you do, they are few and far between).... hence the Catahoula has the nickname of the Cowboy hounddog... because of their versatility... I like the fact that they are not like a normal hound.... mine don't wander, they do not get on a scent and take off like most of the hounds do.... mine never venture far from the house. I don't allow them to chase the cattle at all... because they can be hard headed, I don't want them also deciding that they will chase the horses. Mine prefer to travel in the horse trailer with the horses (in my gooseneck) rather than on the back of the truck.... they often sleep with the horses... they are super with my little house dogs and protect them... but if a strange dog comes onto our property, and comes near me or my small house dogs, my Cats will fight... they can be very dog aggressive especially if another dog is encroaching on their territory. One of my females when she was almost 12 months of age, was very territorial. I took her trail riding with me and a number of other people. There was also an Australian Shepherd belonging to the other people. My dog ignored the other dog until we stopped for lunch when the other dog went near me. My Cat made sure the other dog did not come near me at all. Then eventually the other people that were with me, finally convinced my Cat that they were her friends.... she ignored them at first and by the end of the day, decided that these other people were okay... so then when their Australian Shepherd tried to go to her own owners, my Cat decided that she had to guard them, she had decided that the other people also were part of her pack and the poor Australian Shepherd was not invited... and she was not playing, if I had not put her on a lead and put her in a submissive postion a number of times, she would have attacked the other dog. It wasn't a jealousy thing, it was purely a guarding instinct. So yes many of them can be dog aggressive. I wanted a short coated dog, that liked the water, that had stock sense, that would be a guard dog, that would be enjoy running beside my horse when I went out riding, that didn't wander and have too much of a hounds nose to want to follow a scent, that wasn't overly friendly with anyone that they didn't know.... and the Catahoula is all of this and more.

I agree with Waverly. The only real way to keep the coat from bleaching is keep it out of the sun and especially the sun on a dry coat that has been in the salty water. Livamol is great for our horses and I used it years ago on a chocolate & white BC. You could maybe also try a shampoo, specifically designed for chocolate/brown coloured dogs. I use Champion Tails black shampoo (a horse shampoo) on my English Toys coats if they get sunbleached. You can get all different colours and I use the brown/chestnut one on one of my show horses who is a chocolate liver chestnut.