January 28, 2009

In which I make an executive decision


He is a Mountain Cur. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.



He has border collie eyes and a body like a little presa canario.

Vet says Smoke's about five and a half months old and very ill with a respiratory thing, so please hold good thoughts.

First thing I did when we got home from the vet's was give him a nice hot-but-not-too-hot bath, to get rid of the grime and the shelter smell. So now Smoky is shiny and new, and he ate his dinner like he was going to a fire, and the other dogs can't meet him for two or three weeks, oy — but he loves people and we're bonding nicely. Tired but happy, that's me. No, wait: that's us ;~)

26 comments:

Sam said...

Good choice! Here's wishing Smoke a long and very happy life.

Juli said...

Congrats on the new addition!

Smoke, get well soon!

PBurns said...

Excellent.

Man, did Smoky just land sunny side up!

And yes, he's definitely Mountain Cur.

*Shenandoaha* Mountain Cur if am any judge of dogs.

Shenandoaha Mountain Cur is a famous breed. Custer had two of them during his Virginia campaign, one of them named Smoky (which your dog is named after), and the other Fire. Fire died at the Little Big Horn, but your Smoky is a direct descendent of the original Smoky which, if memory serves me, came to Custer as a gift from Queen Victoria through Lord Buckley.

An unbelievable find! And, of course, you are too. As a friend of mine says, "What God intends he serve up pressed and folded."


A case example here. Imagine! A pure-bred
Shenandoaha Mountain Cur!


Patrick

Luisa said...

And in SoCal, Patrick...! I can scarcely believe it, myself! Call me the world's luckiest. [Historical trivia: legend has it that Fire died after ingesting large quantities of war paint. As Custer often said of him, "That dog will lick you to death."]

Robin French said...

I don't know, i think he looks a bit like the Plott hound across the road from me. :-) Glad you got him. He'd been stuck in my mind since i saw him on here.

YesBiscuit! said...

I am SO SO SOOOOOOOOOOOO happy for you both. SmokeyPie!<------my pet name for him, heh.

Anonymous said...

He's so sweet! Good on ya, Luisa. And congrats to you both.

Anonymous said...

LOL!!! Congratulations........
And great for Smoky....
Shenandoah Mountain Cur.....who woulda thought....
sigh.....love the region....having lived near there....Blue Ridge Mountains....Shenandoah River........

TEH

Caveat said...

Yes, one of the last remaining examples of a fine working breed indigenous to the southern United States. The Shenandoah Mountain Cur Preservation Society just opened a branch in SoCal. Address all inquiries to the curator.

I'll be out your way next month but up in the Central Coast area visiting my Dad. One of these days, I'd like to meet some of my invisible friends who live in CA.

Here's hoping he gets better soon. He's certainly a good-looking pup.

Mazel Tov!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I am a best-selling dog expert type personage, and I agree: That's not only a mountain cur, but a particularly fine example of one!

Anonymous said...

Mountain curs laugh at kennel cough, he'll lick it in no time!

Congratulations to you both!!!

JenniferJ

Heather Houlahan said...

A THOROUGHBRED Shenandoah mountain cur. I am sure of it. See him look at the squirrel? There? Did you see that?

Got papers? I'll get ya some.

God, I'm a sucker for a dog who looks me right in the eye and actually sees me, drags me right of my skin that way.

Luisa said...

Oh, he's thoroughbred, all right — you can tell because of his brindle coat. [A coworker explained this.] Mutts can't be brindle.

You learn something new every day!

Anonymous said...

"Mutts can't be brindle. "

Snork!

I picked up a lurcher pup off the street in Ukiah. There were quite a few around as a woman had a big male IW who was very very good at escaping his yard.

So IW and gawd knows what else, grizzled brindle, broken coat, pretty darn fugly, looked like a cross between an african wild dog and a daddy long legs. When I called AC to report him in case someone was looking I was informed he was a pit bull 'cause that was what was brindle. Period.

I pleasantly commented that as there are dozens of other breeds in which brindle occurs and no one could see any remote trace of staff or pit features ( it would have OK by me if he was pit or pit mix!) And that the best guess was IW and aussie or shepherd mix I was haughtily informed:

1) he could not be part irish wolfhound because they do not mix with other breeds
2) only pit bulls come in brindle
3) that it was a state law that I had to keep him for two months to try to let his owners find him but I should bring him to the shelter ( in those days he local AC killed more or less everything within 72 hours)

Being very polite, I basically told her she was full of excrement. She then demanded my phone number and name and I hung up. Yay for the days before caller ID.

As you said, you learn something(s) new everyday!

BTW, baby boy came down with corona, which would have earned him instant death at the shelter. He recovered, doubled his size about once every seventy two hours and found an awesome home on the beach in Jenner.

I am so happy Smokey has also beaten some long odds and ended up in an awesome home with you! Best of luck with the new kid,

Jenniferj

Anonymous said...

He's gorgeous. I hope he's feeling better soon! Congratulations :)

Caveat said...

ROFL! One of the govt lawyers defending the Ontario 'pit bull' ban in court said, in response to a question from the bench about the difficulties of breed ID:

"It's easy, Your Honour. If it's brindle, it's a 'pit bull'. If it's black-and-tan, it's a Rottweiler."

At our Remedy session, held when laws are found unconstitutional, the senior govt lawyer said, and I quote:

"There's no such thing as a 'pit bull', Your Honour. We know that.'

All the air went out of the courtroom. People were like, "By Jove, I think he's got it!"

And yeah, those AC guys rock at identifying breeds because they see SO many purebreds - er, thoroughbreds - at the shelters, don'tcha know.

Anonymous said...

Welcome home , Smoke. Shake off that bug quick so you can meet the gang.
My day is complete now that you`re safe.

Henry Chappell said...

Smoke sure looks currish to me - looks like Cate's daddy, actually. You could show up with him at any hunt in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, or East Texas and people would say, "Good looking curdog. I bet he's got a mouth on 'im."

Congrats and best wishes. Please keep us posted.

Luisa said...

Henry, thanks so much! You know I've had a not-too-secret wish for a mountain cur ever since I first read about Cate. You made my day -- thanks again.

fav.or.it said...

I don't think he looks like a cur. He looks like a putbull mix to me, espicially in the face...the distance between the eyes, the breadth of the nose and the tail...all pitbull. So is the brindle.

sent from: fav.or.it

Steve Bodio said...

Congratulations Luisa and Smoky!

People are just weird about brindle. Some saluki people say they can't be pure if they are brindle (supposed greyhound cross) but the color has showed in Asian art since before AD 1000, and is common in central Asian dogs.

Doug TerBush said...

Dead ringer for my Mountain Curr Smokey when I was a kid. Never a better dog was born.

Meaux said...

My Ruby looks just like your Smoke. I have been hunting for her breed and am so glad to have found your picture. She is a rescue as well. I have had her for just over a year now and have no complaints. Intelligent, loyal, protective, alert. She could be more playful and seems to always mean business.

teresa said...

congrats on smokey! i saw smokey's picture and couldn't believe my eyes. We are fostering his twin, I swear! A friend rescued her from a radiator shop in houston and went out of town so we have her. she was found with a tire wrapped around her waist with no food or water in over 100 degree weather. they were probably thinking she was a pit bull and was going to make her mean and their guard dog. we can't keep her b/c we live in a 2 bdrm condo and our neighbors are going to run us out of here. She is a beautiful baby and would make anyone who knows the breed a wonderful addition. please email me if you are interested and i'll send pictures. We are running out of time!

teresa said...

well, an update on amber but it looks like noone has commented on my post earlier. We found her a great place to live and i cried all the way there and home but it was what was best for her. Amber went to a 122 acre ranch with horses and cows outside Cleveland, Texas to be part of a 5 pack herding dogs. She loves it and we keep in contact with the guy who took her and he says she is "living life large!" which is what i need to hear. if we had not lived in the city among city dwellers i would have kept her in a minute. she was beautiful and i'm happy for her. this is a fascinating breed of dog:)

Anonymous said...

I believe he could also be a tennesse treeing brindle...lovely anmal!