Steelhead Mickey Loc: NJ

Anyone have experience with a Catahoula Leopard Dog?
State dog of Louisiana.
Rip or Four?

Long story.
Thanks
Mickey

saw1 Loc: nor cal Windsor

Sorry brother, several different breeds but none of them. Good luck.
Post a pic of the pup.

OJdidit Loc: Oak Creek Wisconsin

My Son and his Wife adopted a rescue catahoula leopard dog out of LA. She is a sweetie!

Steelhead Mickey Loc: NJ

Thanks Saw & OJ.
Here’s the rest of the story:

First, let me preface this post with: “my bride & I are fairly experienced with dogs”.
We’ve been blessed with Smokey Black Lab/Golden mix (1984-1998). Roxi “the Dachsie”, our 14 pound miniature long-haired Dachshund (2006-2022) & her “little” 90 pound brother MOOSE (my fishing buddy), a Yellow Lab/Husky/Shepherd mix, (2007-2020). 

Well, the empty nest was a little too quiet around here & with my wife being a volunteer at a local shelter, it was only a matter of time… 4 months ago we adopted an 8 month old, rescued stray from Louisiana. We assumed the shelter’s classification of chocolate Lab/mix was accurate. Since we’ve had experience with Lab mixes, we were excited to adopt “Hank” from the shelter. So much for “assuming”…
Turns out he is mostly a “solid brown, Catahoula Leopard Dog”, the state dog of Louisiana. A herding breed & always is looking for a job.

The first couple months he seemed to be a typical puppy, but the past 2 months, “Hank the Tank”, has been pushing our boundaries. When amped up he’s full of energy and gets our attention by nudging & nipping us. 
He plays HARD & is almost uncontrollable at times (mostly after pooping). My brides arms are all bruised and I have a pretty nice gash on my thumb. He is now wearing a soft muzzle for our safety & it calms him down. He can eat & drink with it on, but he’s always rubbing his snout trying to loosen the Velcro. Hopefully he’ll learn & we can reduce the time in the soft muzzle.
With the muzzle, we now call him, “Hannibal Hank”. 

He plays HARD, but he’s also great with other dogs. We just fenced in our backyard (his $7K playpen) and run him everyday. 
We’re all exhausted by dinner time. 
At nightfall he turns into a 45 pound cuddle buddy & at bed time he goes directly into his crate until 5 am, then it begins all over. 
Anyone have any experience with Catahoulas? Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks!

Hank will be a year old tomorrow. Here are a few pix.

Steelhead Mickey Loc: NJ

I’d be remiss if I did not include pix of Roxi & MOOSE, Smokey was pre-digital.

FourchonLa. Loc: Fourchon Louisiana, South Louisiana

No Mickey I don’t have any experience with them. Many of the cattle farmers use them along with healers. The ones I have been around are trained and won’t move a muscle unless told. I think that’s where you need to direct your attention if you can.


https://doglime.com/catahoula-leopard-dog-training/

Whitey Loc: Southeast ohio

Good lookin pups mick. I'd say Hank will learn after a little time 👍

Steelhead Mickey Loc: NJ

Steelhead Mickey Loc: NJ

Thanks Whitey for the vote of confidence - we love this pup!

Blackdog Loc: Round Rock, TX

Beautiful Dog!

From those eyes you can tell its intelligent and thinking.

Keep us posted.


BD

mick2360 Loc: Tennessee

mind if I pass this along to my dog trainer? She has done wonders with a standard poodle puppy that we adopted. You may also want to look into a educator collar. It uses a slight vibration which gets the dogs attention. It is not a shock collar, amazing results between the collar and the trainer.

OJdidit Loc: Oak Creek Wisconsin

Nice looking dogs! Looks like Hank has a lot of lab in him to me. Only about 4 years of puppy left, so lots of patience and training ahead for you. Constant reinforcement and time will turn him into another great dog! Good luck!

kandydisbar Loc: West Orange, NJ

It's really beautiful!

Steelhead Mickey Loc: NJ

Thanks Blackdog, yes he is very smart, those amber melted our hearts, maybe a little too much.
Gotta reinforce who the Alpha is & it's not him!

Steelhead Mickey Loc: NJ

Please do mick, looking to get him to obey. Doe your trainer have experience with Catahoulas?
I've heard mixed reviews on the collars, is there a specific model you can recommend? Thanks.