Mountain View Cur

Mountain View Curs is a specific cur founded by Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Bloodgood, of Bonnieville, Kentucky. It is a type of working dog used for treeing and trailing game; mainly squirrel and raccoon, but also large game. It is a member of the Hound group.

History

The Mountain View Cur was developed by Michael and Marie Bloodgood, now of Bonnieville, Kentucky. In 1987 the Mountain View Cur Kennel was formed in Afton, New York, where the breed was subsequently developed. Mr. and Mrs. Bloodgood obtained their first pair of yellow Mountain Cur pups in 1973. Though their skills were good, their sense of smell was a setback to being a good treeing dog, so they were sold and replaced with good hounds. After owning, raising, and training some outstanding coon hounds under the Black River Kennel name for over 20 years and finding it harder and harder to find hounds that handled well, they tried to locate good curs that could keep up with their hounds, but would handle better.

The search for curs that could fit this bill proved to be a difficult and challenging task. No expense was spared to locate and purchase curs from the best stock. Mr. and Mrs. Bloodgood tried 56 Mountain Curs originally, only finding 6 that were considered to be top tree dogs. It was found that 4 of the 6 were of a certain ancestry. When checking records, they found that half of the 56 Mountain Curs tried were of the same breeding; of the Kemmer Stock Cur variety.

The decision was made to concentrate on these 4 Mountain Curs, three females and one young male, all of which were not closely related. One Brindle female was culled later because she produced ill tempered male pups and another female because her pups lacked intelligence and ability, leaving one exceptional female, Mountain View Dance and one exceptional male, Mtn. View Gold Nugget, for the foundation stock of the Mountain View Cur. This selectivity resulted in 2 out of 56 OMCBA registered, or 2 out of 28 Kemmer bred Mt. curs meeting the Bloodgood standard. Later an outstanding male cousin to Mountain View Gold Nugget, Mountain View Buckshot (1991), and an outstanding female, Mountain View KY Lady (1993), were added to the breeding program. Most of the IPDBA registered dogs today carry these dogs in their blood lines. A few other select Mt Curs had been tested to be added over the years, but none have meet their high standards.

In 1992 the Kemmer Stock Breeders Association Registry was started, and in an effort to keep the line pure as possible, Mountain View Curs were originally registered with this registry. When the KSBA began they started with all pure Kemmer bred Mt. Curs. However, they started to register other lines and due to a desire for stricter standards among the founders of the breed, and realizing that the Mountain View Cur's high percentage reproducing quality was unique from most other OMCBA and KSBA registered dogs, Mr. Bloodgood and eleven dedicated breeders resigned from the KSBA. These eleven founders felt that they should register their dogs as a separate breed and with a registry that would certify every tree dog before they would be used for breeding, and would assure that no other stock could be registered in the breed.

In April 1995 the American Squirrel and Night Hunters Association (ASANHA) was chosen to hold the registry. The name Mountain View Cur was chosen for two reasons. One was that founders knew of the great reputation of Mountain View Kennel, it being well known in the cur dog world. The second reason was that Mrs. Kemmer asked that their name not be used.

Because of policy changes in the ASANHA to register non-proven tree dogs, the Breed Advisors felt that the Mountain View Curs should have their own registry with its own policies. Therefore, in the fall of 1996, the Mountain View Cur Registry was formed as a subsidiary of the International Progressive Dog Breeders' Alliance. A few years later, the Mountain View Cur was accepted for full recognition with the International Progressive Dog Breeder's Alliance, 'IPDBA' dog registry. The Mountain View Cur Registry website was changed to the Mountain View Cur Association website and is the Mountain View Cur IPDBA Breed Charter and it's Board of Advisors have full control of their breed's registration requirements and Breed Standard.

All Mountain View Curs MUST first be Certified as Tree Dogs before they can be permanently registered and used for breeding. This assures their owner that they are from generations of proven and tested breedings. They are known for their high reproducing of 98% Natural Tree Dogs without any genetic problems known and make wonderful loving family pets with a strong willingness to please their owner, making them easy to train to do about any task canine possible. They are the ULTIMATE universal canine, being used for not only treeing everything from small to big game, but also for hunting hogs, game birds, turkeys, retrieving waterfowl, decoying coyote, and even search & rescue as well as drug/bomb location. They have excelled on everything they have ever been tried for.

Appearance

The Mountain View Cur comes in yellow (Blonde-gold-almost red), brindle, and all black coloring, often with white points (white on toes, muzzle, chest). The dog should be muscled with strong, straight legs. The weight should range from thirty to sixty pounds. The dog's build should be for speed.