# squirrel dogs



## Drake

Just wondering how many of you use dogs for squirrel and what breed?
Thanks,,Dave


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## 357Maximum

I have used Curs in the past. Best dog to ever own me was a McDuffie strain Leopard Cur. She was that ONE DOG most men only get once of in their life, I miss her a bunch R.I.P Roxy. That being said I currently have two Treeing Feist Sisters. The Feists do the same job with less food and less poop. Both of my Feists are bedwarmers as well as hunters. I like my little Feists a lot. The first two years them feists puppies can be a bit "energetic" for the uninitiated however.


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## rhobbs

Good looking dogs 357,

I hunt a mountain cur and a feist. Both house dogs as well.


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## Drake

Real nice,,,,,good job,,,,,,

Dave


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## rhobbs

Drake said:


> Real nice,,,,,good job,,,,,,
> 
> Dave



Thank you sir.


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## Jumpshootin'

I have a 4 y.o. female McAndrews feist/Cur cross. She's a hard teeing squirrel dog but since she turned out to be such a good bird dog I mostly pheasant hunt her.
She's 18", 35 lbs, and points birds.


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## Terry Van Haitsma

Drake said:


> Just wondering how many of you use dogs for squirrel and what breed?
> Thanks,,Dave


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## Terry Van Haitsma

I hunt a mountain cur from cedar creek kennels. We got 30 this weekend. Treed maybe 120 squirrels its hard to see them with the leaves


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## Waif

My " boy" passed on to other woods way up above our old haunts on earth.
Teddy Roosevelt rat terrier.18 pound range.
We had us quite a time doggin squirrels.Fishing. Loafing.
Grand sire to the # 1 T.R.T.in the U.S. for multiple years running.


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## rhobbs

Terry has a real nice dog! 

And Cedar Creek Kennels knows how breed them. I reccomend any hunter looking for a cur in Michigan to look them up.


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## mussey boy

Question, I have been looking at buying a mountain cur for a couple of years now. Just wondering how they do as a family dog. I have heard of some people keeping them in the house but others saying they are strictly outside hunting dogs. What's your opinion or experience?


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## 357Maximum

mussey boy said:


> Question, I have been looking at buying a mountain cur for a couple of years now. Just wondering how they do as a family dog. I have heard of some people keeping them in the house but others saying they are strictly outside hunting dogs. What's your opinion or experience?



My McDuffie strain Leopard was a sweetheart and a bed warmer. Unless you were a squirrel, ****, woodchuck, or housecat everyone was her friend. Excellent house/family dogs...and smart as all get out. Keeping a dog like a Cur outside in a kennel would be a waste in my opinion. They are exceptional friends.


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## Waif

357Maximum said:


> My McDuffie strain Leopard was a sweetheart and a bed warmer. Unless you were a squirrel, ****, woodchuck, or housecat everyone was her friend. Excellent house/family dogs...and smart as all get out. Keeping a dog like a Cur outside in a kennel would be a waste in my opinion. They are exceptional friends.


Family/Pack shares the house in mutual caring. And hunt like caring family .


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## Terry Van Haitsma

Waif said:


> Family/Pack shares the house in mutual caring. And hunt like caring family .


Mine is in the house. He is never tied out or in a kennel


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## Waif

Terry Van Haitsma said:


> Mine is in the house. He is never tied out or in a kennel


I get the dogs out in the fenced yard ,and when one is in heat ,in the lower kennel for time to run and sun and potty .Fresh air and sniffing around.

Temp extremes winter and summer. Biting insects , and not being close enough to catch problems like a seizure makes leaving them out all day or night just not desirable to me. 
Then too if isolated ,are they part of the pack or near outcasts on the edge? 
With a dozen dogs remaining ,Order still needs to be maintained . A dog not involved in the constant dynamics of home life gets disconnected from a harmony that I want in the field as well.


Ability to scent ,or hunt I have not found lacking when comparing dogs kept outside to those inside ,though A.C. conditioned dogs need to be conditioned to warmer temps if run in them. The old argument that a hunting dog is better kept outside all the time I have come to disagree with after many years. Maybe it is the result of evolving into a more holistic approach in raising them , but part of that is as simple as asking if some one keeps their hunting or fishing buddy in their shed till time to hunt or fish? And how smooth is the relationship and teamwork that way?
Years ago I had hounds that stayed out most of the time except extreme weather and visits , and when more time was allowed indoors with more family involvement/ socializing hunting did not fall off. If it had fallen off they would have seen less time indoors.
More a better working relationship resulted ,in my opinion.
Today the dogs are more like kids than slaves. Though they behave better than many kids.But then ,they are not getting away with misbehaving or not doing what they are told either.


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## mussey boy

Thanks for the input. I have a 9 and a 2 yr old at home so I just wanted to make sure a cur was a safe choice.


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## Waif

mussey boy said:


> Thanks for the input. I have a 9 and a 2 yr old at home so I just wanted to make sure a cur was a safe choice.


What is safe in life?
Socialize the pup. Do not let a child abuse the pup. (Step on,pull ears, bite ect.)
A pup can treat a child like another pup . (Bite,step on ,pull ears ect.) so do not leave them alone together. 
All a pup knows is what it has experienced. Fighting ,real or play with littermates and momma's discipline.
You replace momma and the pup needs to learn not to chew on your (human) pups.
Not easy when you think everyone is a pup like you are....

A crate is not a jail or a punishment , but can really help both you and a pup have a sense of safety for you both/all.
Never let the pup/dogs safety in the crate be violated by kids or anyone , and while never trusting the crate to secure the pup (remember the part about not leaving child alone with pup) a crate trained dog can be better than one tearing around when something is going on you don't want it to be tearing around.

Introduced right ,and supervised ( both dog and kids,family) ,a pup becoming an older dog can really be special with youths it matures with.
Introduced wrong ,or having much negative experience in the past ,present or future can make it not so special.

Not any breed so much as how it is treated and understood and worked with /trained/socialized.

Yes I am being long winded. I am not with my dogs though...
If you are interested in a specific breed ,study it.
If you find an outstanding example ,study it,s owner and ask how it was raised.
Personal one on one time each day and exercise are important.
Not so unlike humans but mental matters matter with both..
They are canines though.
Left to their own devices or unattended outside seldom works out as well as being connected to you. Then you need to understand they are connected when you are not around and are waiting for that normalcy to return.


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## 357Maximum

mussey boy said:


> Thanks for the input. I have a 9 and a 2 yr old at home so I just wanted to make sure a cur was a safe choice.



If you have a good relationship with the dog and it knows you are ALPHA, no breed is inherently "safer" than the other. A buddy of mine has a 3 year old pit bull that I have used as warm fuzzy pillow while watching his tv......it is all how they are treated and raised.


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## Melissa Beckley

I am looking for a man who sold us a mountain feist pup in 2016. I need to contact him and lost his info. He lives in Michigan on a dirt road south of peck road and m-53. If anyone knows him please help me get in touch with him.

Thank you so much!


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## Jay1977

I have a beagle cur mix but I’d say a great all around dog listens and loyal. Great protection dog at home also. There are so many uses for curs you will love them. I would recommend them. Great nose and high energy dog never seems to tire.


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