Mountain Cur

Protective of its family; can be assertive with dogs.
A Mountain Cur
Photo: ThoHug
Adult weight
14–27 kg
30–60 lb
Lifespan
12–16 yrs
Class · Field
also Working, Watchdog

What it's like

In temperament the Mountain Cur is determined and alert. It is close to its own family, protective of it and wary of strangers. It can be assertive with other dogs.

Day to day
Activity
Needs lots of exercise
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Needs an experienced owner
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Decides for itself
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Likely to chase small pets
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Size and growth

A Mountain Cur is a medium dog, heavier than a Border Collie and lighter than a Golden Retriever.

The breed is stocky and muscular, with a broad head, a deep chest and a short, dense coat in yellow, black, brindle or blue, sometimes with white markings. Some are born with a naturally short tail.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 3 months, a male Mountain Cur puppy is already as heavy as a grown Jack Russell. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
11 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight6
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
01020302m4m6m9m12m18m
01020302m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
3.0–5.9 kg 6.6–13.0 lb
3.3–6.5 kg 7.3–14.3 lb
3 months
4.4–8.7 kg 9.7–19.2 lb
4.6–9.3 kg 10.1–20.5 lb
4 months
6.3–12.6 kg 13.9–27.8 lb
6.6–13.2 kg 14.6–29.1 lb
5 months
8.1–16.3 kg 17.9–35.9 lb
8.4–16.8 kg 18.5–37.0 lb
6 months
9.7–19.4 kg 21.4–42.8 lb
9.8–19.6 kg 21.6–43.2 lb
7 months
10.9–21.8 kg 24.0–48.1 lb
10.9–21.8 kg 24.0–48.1 lb
8 months
11.7–23.5 kg 25.8–51.8 lb
11.6–23.3 kg 25.6–51.4 lb
9 months
12.3–24.6 kg 27.1–54.2 lb
12.2–24.3 kg 26.9–53.6 lb
10 months
12.7–25.4 kg 28.0–56.0 lb
12.6–25.1 kg 27.8–55.3 lb
11 months
13.0–26.0 kg 28.7–57.3 lb
12.8–25.6 kg 28.2–56.4 lb
12 months
13.2–26.4 kg 29.1–58.2 lb
13.0–26.0 kg 28.7–57.3 lb
15 months
13.5–27.0 kg 29.8–59.5 lb
13.4–26.8 kg 29.5–59.1 lb

Lifespan

No vet study has measured how long Mountain Curs live yet. The 12–16 years shown is a general figure without a published source.

Where it comes from

The Mountain Cur was the working dog of settler families in the mountains of the American South, treeing or holing game for food and fur and keeping wild animals off the household and its stock. There were no organized breeding records until 1957, when the Original Mountain Cur Breeders of America declared it a breed, and its old strains, among them the McConnell, Stephens and Ledbetter, carry their owners' names7,8.

The Mountain Cur is generally thought to descend from the mixed dogs that European settlers brought into the southern Appalachians, bred over generations for work rather than looks. Its numbers are said to have fallen sharply after the Second World War, when many families left mountain farms for work in towns and factories and the dogs lost their place. Breeders who had kept the old working lines organised to preserve them, and the United Kennel Club recognised the breed in the late nineteen-nineties. It remains a hunting dog first. It is used on squirrel, raccoon and other treeing game, and as a bay dog on wild hogs. Many trail with little noise and give voice once the animal is treed or cornered.

Breed standard

No FCI standard covers it; its group here is AKC Hound group.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Mountain Cur figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a medium-sized breed is most likely somewhere in the middle.

Compare with related

Plott Hound
Hound · Medium
Beagle
Scent hounds · Medium
Harrier
Scent hounds · Medium
Bavarian Mountain Scent Hound
Scent hounds · Medium
Or compare the Mountain Cur with any breed you choose
Track your own Mountain Cur
Log a minute a day and watch them sit on these curves. Free.

Sources

Uncited on this page: Lifespan — no reviewed source yet, so it is a general reference figure rather than a published one.
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Parts of this page were written by AI ·