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Breed Standards for the Louisiana Catahoula
As
approved by the National Association of Louisiana Catahoula's,
Inc. |
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Origin and Purpose: |
Country/State of Origin: United States/Louisiana.
Used
as stock dog, tree dog, companion, watch and guard dog.
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General Appearance: |
The
Louisiana Catahoula is a medium to medium-large dog, well
muscled, yet trim, powerful, but denoting agility and great
endurance. |
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Temperament: |
Independent, protective, territorial. May show aggressive
behavior. Signs of timidity on leash should not be taken as
cowardice, but the intolerance for strangers. |
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Size: |
Males should measure 22 – 26 inches (55.8 cm – 66.0 cm).
Females should measure 20 – 24 inches (50.8 cm – 60.9 cm). |
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Coat
& Color: |
The
coat-length should be short to medium in length.
Color-Leopards are to be preferred and may come in blue,
gray, black, liver, red, white and patched. Trim may be
black, white, tan, red or buff. Solid colors acceptable are
black, yellow, red and chocolate. |
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Head: |
The
head should be powerfully built with well developed cheeks.
Skull: Broad top-skull with well defined stop being
moderate in length. Muzzle: The muzzle should be strong,
deep and approximately equal in length to the top skull as
measured from the stop to the occiput bone. The muzzle
should be broad at the base and taper towards the nose when
viewed from the front. Bite: The bite should be a strong
scissor bite, with a level bite being acceptable. Complete
dentition is greatly desired; however broken teeth are not
to be faulted. Eyes: Glass eyes are preferred although the
eyes may be of any color or combination of colors. The eyes
do not have to be the same color and may have partial glass
in one or both eyes, commonly called “cracks”. Ears: The
ears should be short to medium in length slightly below the
top of the head. Properly hung ears, with the inner edge of
the ear lying close to the cheek are to be preferred.
“Laid-back” ears are acceptable. |
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Neck: |
The
neck should be muscular and of good length. |
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Forequarters: |
The
length of the foreleg should be 50 – 60% of the total height
of the dog as measured from the ground to the top of the
withers. The shoulders should be well laid back with an
upper arm bone of ample length. The forelegs should be set
moderately far apart and the front feet should toe neither
in nor out. |
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Body: |
The
back should be strong and well muscled, level and of medium
length. The chest should be deep reaching below the elbow.
The chest should be fairly broad with well sprung ribs. The
underline should have tuck-up in the loin area to a moderate
degree. |
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Hindquarters: |
The
croup should be medium to long in length and slightly
sloping with the tail having a medium to high set. The
stifles should be well angulated and the hocks should be set
low to the ground. The hocks should turn neither in nor out
when viewed from the rear. |
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Feet: |
The
feet should be strong and moderate in length. Good webbing
between the toes should be evident. Dew claws may be
present or removed but if present should be uniform. |
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Gait: |
The
gait should be smooth and effortless denoting agility.
Single tracking at a trot is acceptable. |
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Faults: |
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Fly-away or houndish
ears
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Animals either
undersize or oversize
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Cat-footed or
coon-footed
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Serious Faults: |
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Dogs being either
natural bobtail or having the tail docked.
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Any malformed or
acentric pupil formation of the eyes.
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Animals having either
overshot or undershot bits.
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Disqualification: |
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Long or fuzzy coated
dogs
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Cropped ears
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