Laika Lurchers

[Dan McDonough 560]

The leopards are classed as hounds by some and curs by others. They are just built in the head for hunting but some how, some way, some one figured out how to make them much smarter without screwing up the drive that makes a hound useful. They do not have that sharp, super quick style of brains you see in the collie, it's more like they come with a wisdom chip installed in their hardware already (at least the good ones do). They are easy to train and very easy to trash break.

[Dan McDonough 560]

The funny thing is that everyone of those dogs pictured are pretty closely related. The houndiest are just as smart as the curiest. In fact, the houndiest of them are usually better track dogs and hold pressure better on the tree. I can call any one of them off the tree and off some tracks with just a whistle and from as far as they can hear me. i know it has a lot to do with the amount of time I spend with them but they are smart too. I've had walkers, engilsh, plotts and loads of mtn. curs. I've hunted with nearly every brand of hound not mentioned also but these dogs are for me and really fit my style.

 

When ever possible I like to get in the woods with them and be a part of the hunt. It keeps me in shape and while I understand my woodsmanship helps the catch rate, I couldn't do it quite as well with any other batch of dogs. About % of these dogs turn out above average and it's really very easy to get a good dog.

 

They're not for everyone though. They don't take a heavy hand very well and they don't weather being sat on a chain for very long. Smart = sensitive in this line of dogs so they have to be kept busy and spoiled a little. Outside of that, they are tough dogs and I've never seen better treedogs.

[bird 9,939]

The funny thing is that everyone of those dogs pictured are pretty closely related. The houndiest are just as smart as the curiest. In fact, the houndiest of them are usually better track dogs and hold pressure better on the tree. I can call any one of them off the tree and off some tracks with just a whistle and from as far as they can hear me. i know it has a lot to do with the amount of time I spend with them but they are smart too. I've had walkers, engilsh, plotts and loads of mtn. curs. I've hunted with nearly every brand of hound not mentioned also but these dogs are for me and really fit my style.

 

When ever possible I like to get in the woods with them and be a part of the hunt. It keeps me in shape and while I understand my woodsmanship helps the catch rate, I couldn't do it quite as well with any other batch of dogs. About % of these dogs turn out above average and it's really very easy to get a good dog.

 

They're not for everyone though. They don't take a heavy hand very well and they don't weather being sat on a chain for very long. Smart = sensitive in this line of dogs so they have to be kept busy and spoiled a little. Outside of that, they are tough dogs and I've never seen better treedogs.

 

do they have( cat )in there breeding ? will they stay with a bear or bob cat on the ground, if either didn't want to or couldn't get to a tree in time. I know stags will pile into a yote and lock on to the neck as dan+ stunt as said many a time. and I know bear a lot more dangerous animal +puma than any yote . Dan said if you get a good stag there are brave dog , that's strong with very good jaw on them. would these A L H be of similar courage /strength/ power , as a good stag .?

[Dan McDonough 560]

They have been selected for cats only by me and that only covers about 10 years of breeding. It's just one of those lines where most of the individuals prefer cats over most things if given the choice. This line has almost exclusively been bred for coon. it's just that once in a while certain breeders are making bobcat dogs without knowing it and I found one.

 

They'll stay as long as it takes in my experience but my dogs would say the same about me and that is certainly a factor. Some folks can take these dogs and not have the same success. If they put them on bear without proper backup or into a pack that is much slower on track the dogs can only end up on so many bear by themselves before they learn to stop pulling fur and stand back. As far as bobcat, I don't remember the last time any of my dogs left a cat and most cats die on the ground if that's where they want to stay. I've had some that would leave a cat that went into someplace they could not go but they're not with me anymore.

 

I used to keep about half of every litter and get them all started before I made any picks but now I only keep one or two from each litter.

 

They do not have the same kind of fight that a stag does and they don't really need it in my opinion. But then, I've never been in it for the fight. Even with terriers I'm there to catch critters, I don't care how it happens to play out as long as the end is the same. They could never dream of being in the same power range as a stag but that has to do with sheer size. My leopards are usually between 45 lbs. and 65 lbs. while my stags are between 70 lbs. and 105 lbs. The stags are there to kill and the leopards are there to catch generally speaking. There are exceptions of course and when I get an exception that does something extra that's what I use for breeding.

 

The leopard in the first picture has extras. He's just got the full package and the right coat and he's pretty hard for his line but not a stupid fighter either. My stag Duce is everything a stag should be but he also trees like a good cur. That's not very easy to find at all. He also doesn't need a hound to jump a coyote for him. He's not going to work up an 8 hour old track in blowing snow but if it's warm he'll run the track in and jump it himself and sometimes catch it by himself pretty quickly. That doesn't happen all of the time but enough to be pretty impressive. There are a lot of guys that call b.s. on that until they see it. After that they don't want me hunting in their area anymore. People around here are used to following the race until they can get in and shoot the coyote listening to the hounds all of the while. When Duce goes in there is not a peep unless your close enough o hear the fight. He gets on the neck pretty quick most of the time so there is not much for noise in those cases. I just have to keep an eye on the GPS and walk in when it circles and drag a dead coyote out. I try and feed some help in whenever possible to keep the number of cuts on his head to a minimum so I don't have to hand him up all of the time. I don't have very many sighthounds so I can run out of dogs pretty quick if I'm hunting a lot and don't try and make the kills as quick as I can manage.

 

Here's a picture of Duce and his half brother out of a July sire. It's not the greatest picture but it gives you an idea of what they look like. Duce is the black dog and Bandit is behind him.

[Bosun11 537]

Crackin write-up Dan, love the look of that Deuce dog.

[forest of dean redneck 11,648]

Crackin write-up Dan, love the look of that Deuce dog.

Both those two,look good,love to see them on large edible game.

[bird 9,939]

Crackin write-up Dan, love the look of that Deuce dog.

 

 

+ 2 great info and love the stag keep them coming dan

[Dan McDonough 560]

I don't have many pictures. I've never been good at remembering to take some. I have more of the leopards because I was training them to sell for quite a while and had to have pictures. I do have my first litter of stags due in early Oct. I'm pretty excited to get to raise a bunch. I've bought or been given all of the stags I've had so far. It took a while but I have two that do what I was looking for with the bonus of Duce treeing. My female is exceptionally fast and has hawks eyes but she doesn't tree. They both can hunt up their own coyotes and fox and have good warm noses and both can really fly on a track. Catching them in the open is the easy part. I live right on the edge of the Great Northern Forest that goes right up to the Arctic Circle so there isn't much for open fields around here. The fields we have are not very big compared to out in the plains and the coyotes don't spend much time standing out in the open...not unless they want to get shot at. I'm really impressed at how well they handle the woods and bush here. I did not expect it to go so well. Initially I wanted to find a good one and breed it to a terrier or collie and make something that could handle the brush here well. While the lurchers are suited better for bobcats, I've been having way to much fun with the coyotes and fox to quit now. I'm pretty hooked. I've only been working with stags for about four years now.

 

I sure wish some of you people could come over and go coyote hunting for a season. I think you would like it a lot. You wouldn't want to come here, not with the palins being the way they are and the sheer number of coyotes there. One day my youngest children will be older and I'd like to fly one of you out here and put you up for the winter just to get the perspective of someone that's spent their whole life around this type of dog. It's a few years off but i would really like that. The only catch is that no one can make fun of me for liking the Plummer books. They are what really got me into this and I still re-read them from time to time.

Edited September 24, 2015 by Dan McDonough