Catahoulas Are Very Misunderstood

I am a breeder, and at de la Houssaye's Catahoulas, I make my best effort to match dogs with the right people and vice versa.

I think this is another myth, and very similar to the myths about pitbulls.

Catahoulas are aggresive.

I don't know where this comes from. Protective, yes and can they be a threat, yes. But judging how I hear so many stories about Catahoulas being aggresive, I wonder could it be, because of the rarity of the breed, most people don't know a Catahoula from a cross bred dog.


Worse yet most people do not know how to communicate authority, through voice tone.
And in my opinion, voice tone, is the most crucial form of communication,
in obedience training. And if you are not the boss, they step up and you have to play by their rules.

Below is a link to a forum where someone asked a question as to how to train a Catahoula not to be aggresive.

http://www.faqs.org/qa/qa-1448.html


Judging by the answers to this question, I am not surprised to hear so many people who call me about buying a dog, have so much misunderstanding about the breed in general.

If this forum is an example of the "information" people get off the internet about Catahoulas, no wonder there is so much concern in people about owning one.

I do make my best effort to screen my customers, who want to buy a Catahoula, because they like the way it looks, or if they "just want a pet", but I had no idea there was so much problems with Catahoulas being misunderstood and not properly handled. until I read this forum.

Here is one of the "answers" and it makes me wonder if this was even a Catahoula.

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I don't know what to tell you except BE CAREFUL!!! My daughter was attacked 4 days ago by one of these dogs. The owner told her to play ball with it and everything was fine. However, he didn't tell her not to go near his cage. She did and he viciously attacked her. She has broken bones, and an infection that isn't going away even with antibiotics. Apparently the dog has attacked several other dogs as well. My daughter is on a competitive gymnastics team, and competitive cheer team. She is now done for the season. Also the hand she writes with is mangled. She worked all of last summer at a pet salon and is well trained in the proper handling of dogs. I thought it was just that dog, but as I read, these dogs just suck as house pets. I am suing their asses off, so protect yourself, and don't let it near humans!!!!!!!!!

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Because I have never heard of anything like this ever happening with a pure bred Catahoula, I have to wonder if maybe it was a Pit Bull cross or worse, maybe a Rottwieller cross.

At any rate there appears to be a growing interest in Catahoulas, and judging by the publics reaction in this forum, we breeders and owners of Catahoulas need to be aware, of the challenges of educating the public at large as to the realities of well bred dogs and also the responsibility of proper raising and handling of these great working dogs should someone want one "just for a pet".



I have to wonder if the owners anxiety and expectation of pending trouble, while walking the dog in public is actually more of an influence in the dogs behavior than genetics in the breed.

A Catahoula is very sensitive to its masters vibes and body language.