American Leopard Hound

Notes

The American Leopard Dog, also known as the Leopard Cur, is thought to be the descendents of dogs brought to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors and crossed with native Mexican dogs, and were brought from Mexico by early American settlers and used to hunt bear, and are one of the oldest tree dog breeds in the U.S. Another theory is that the breed developed entirely within the southern U.S. from a mixture of Spanish, French, English, Irish, and Scottish hounds and herding breeds. Whichever is true, by the early 18th century, the American Leopard Hound had become well established in eastern North Carolina, where it then made its way into Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, and Oklahoma.

Intelligent and extremely driven to please, they have since been bred and used for hunting all varieties of other game, including raccoon, bobcat, cougar, squirrel, and other tree-minded game. The breed is unique in the world of tree dogs due to how easy they are to train . They are also unsurpassed in their ability to fight and hold game at bay without getting hurt, using a technique which involves ducking and dodging to avoid injury

Bred to be an all-purpose tree dog, the American Leopard Hound is an agile dog with high stamina and an extreme desire to please. It is medium to large in size, with a body that is just slightly longer than its tail and legs long enough to allow it to move with ease through rough terrain. The head is broad, with a heavy muzzle of moderate length and high-set, droopy ears. Though their merle coat is iconic, 60% of all American Leopard Hounds are solid coloured dogs!

Breed Files