We adopted a PUP! Need your help :)

What the heck is he? They said the mother may have had some catahoula in her, but that is all the info we have.
He is 3 and a half months old. Weighs 26 lbs. paws are almost the same size as our 4 year old lab and ridgeback mix.

She definitely looks like she has some Catahoula in her! Also congrats on your new puppy! How about the name Kimber? It's fun to yell Lol


Edit: Oops sorry! Read your post too fast and thought he was she. My bad.

LOL. Thanks. We named him Jasper.

Some people think he may have some pit, German Sheppard, or Dane in him. What do you think?

Love the name and the meaning behind the stone: Jasper If I were to guess the breed I would think Catahoula, Boxer, some kind of Shepherd with possible Labrador and Malamute.

I see mostly, if not all, Catahoula, maybe with a bit of Lab thrown in, since the coat is just a tad longer than most Catahoula coats. Catahoulas are frequently brindle, by the way. The head structure, etc., is more Catahoula than anything else, though. I don't see any Pit Bull Terrier characteristics at all. Be prepared for a stubborn, high-energy pup, which means you must be prepared to be the Alpha at all times, or the pup WILL be. These are extremely intelligent dogs that need a job to do, a challenge, so start looking into that, as well.

pitbulllady

Thank you so much for the quick responses y'all.
He's gotten much bigger already since we've had him for only a week and a half. Our other dog is Skye, she a big girl. Hopefully he will not test her for dominancy, bc she can get fairly aggressive, mainly bc of her daddys tough housing . Jasper will be neutered in about two months, so maybe that will calm him down as well.

He is very stubborn already and does not like going outside. He will pee inside, but when I catch him I snap my finger and say "NO" in a stern voice. He immediately stops. I take him outside to the same spot, but he sometimes goes but usually runs quickly to the door we came out of to go back in. If I put both dogs outside together, they will either play and not get any business done, or he will still run up to the door and scratch and whine.

Doesn't help when he pees inside, I say NO and the wife gets onto you for being too stern. I've trained four of our families dogs and you just have to be stern, bottom line.
Any pointers from you all on the potty training? Cannot wait for that phase to be over with.

Alarm bells going off. I'd suggest listening to PBL very carefully. I'm lousy at dog training but I've had a world of experience with smart animals. You establish things now or it will probably be a long long haul. For the rest of the animals life quite possibly. You've got stern. Emphatic. Unyielding. Rigid. They've got an agenda and a zillion years of genetic instructions. Maybe right now the peeing is just relieving itself. But that's also, inevitably, marking territory. MY TERRITORY! I RUN THE SHOW HERE!

I got my buddy, an Akita, after he was already set in his ways. Ending up repaying people a lot of money for the chickens and dogs he ate. Stopping him was impossible. It was his right and lineage and nobody had laid down the law and kept it established when he was a pup. You've got an Akita Mark II. Watch yourself.

potty training

When he needs to go out, put him on a leash and lead him to an area and walk him around (I like perimeter lines, with males I like to have a few good "targets" to walk past, especially if the other dog uses it). Tell him go potty and praise the heck out of him when he goes.

Jasper's a real nice looking dog. Stay on top of him and be a strong owner!

Chances are that he will bow to the female rather quickly and step in line behind her...allow her to teach him to follow. :wink:

Austin S. said:

Thank you so much for the quick responses y'all.
He's gotten much bigger already since we've had him for only a week and a half. Our other dog is Skye, she a big girl. Hopefully he will not test her for dominancy, bc she can get fairly aggressive, mainly bc of her daddys tough housing . Jasper will be neutered in about two months, so maybe that will calm him down as well.

He is very stubborn already and does not like going outside. He will pee inside, but when I catch him I snap my finger and say "NO" in a stern voice. He immediately stops. I take him outside to the same spot, but he sometimes goes but usually runs quickly to the door we came out of to go back in. If I put both dogs outside together, they will either play and not get any business done, or he will still run up to the door and scratch and whine.

Doesn't help when he pees inside, I say NO and the wife gets onto you for being too stern. I've trained four of our families dogs and you just have to be stern, bottom line.
Any pointers from you all on the potty training? Cannot wait for that phase to be over with.

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First things first-DO NOT NEUTER THIS DOG until he is fully mature! There is a large and growing body of evidence proving that early spay/neuter, of large, slow-maturing breeds especially, greatly increases the dog's chances of developing serious orthopedic issues, such as osteoporosis and ACL tears, as well as several forms of cancer, which are known to occur almost exclusively in dogs that were neutered prior to full physical development. If you wish, just Google it. More and more evidence is coming out in studies every day to link early spay/neuter with serious, life-threatening conditions in large breeds. It's no different that performing that same surgery on a pre-pubescent child, really, in that it deprives the dog's body of essential hormones that it needs for the bones and connective tissue, as well as the urinary tract, to develop properly. Catahoulas are slow-maturing dogs, and a Catahoula really is not fully grown, especially a male, until he's around three years old. A one-year-old Catahoula is still very much a puppy and many of mine weren't even lifting their legs to pee at a year of age. Catahoulas are a dominant, highly intelligent breed and they WILL challenge you and other dogs. It seems that your dog is already doing that. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with sex hormones, since he hardly has any at this point; it's just the breed. Neutering is not going to stop that, anymore than removing the gonads of a Bloodhound is going to take away its desire to follow a trail. This is a trait that has been bred into these dogs to help them survive in the swamps and "prairies" of Louisiana, where they were not bred or kept as pets, but as essential tools, and weak, submissive dogs didn't make the cut and were "weeded" out of the gene pool. You are not going to surgically turn him into something else that goes against almost five centuries of selection. It's going to be up to you to establish yourself RIGHT NOW as pack leader, no if's and's or but's, and familiarize yourself with canine body language so you can pick up on potential problems before they become real problems, and nip those in the bud. Catahoulas ARE indeed "Akitas Mark II", as The Snark put it. They are smart, they are naturally assertive and will constantly find ways to challenge you, sometimes subtle, or not so much, if you let the subtle ones slide by. They need a job to do, something to keep that mind occupied, so like I said in my earlier reply, start looking into things that you can do with this dog, like weight-pulling or SAR or something to make use of his mind and body.
Be prepared and ever vigilant, like the father of a rebellious teenager with a genius IQ, because it's coming.

pitbulllady

The thing that drives me bats about these ... pseudo dogs, extremely smart and even more so, mind set independant, is they test, and test, and test ad infinitum ad nauseum. With a horse I can get on the dang thing and go through it over and over until an understanding is reached. With these canine knotheads that doesn't happen and the second you slack off or turn your back, it's boundary testing time again. And smart horses and dogs pull the exact same trick. Get it to quit balking or frisking under me and everything is fine, right? Wrong. Put a green rider on it's back, or someone in charge of the dog that cuts slack and they instantly see how much they can get away with.

Sent a group of six riders up the trail with perfect angel horses, when I'm around, and 8 hours later the group comes straggling back in, completely lost and bewildered. Left my mother to supervise my Akita, cough up $130 for chickens and fence repair.

Thanks for the replies you two. We actually did to a lot of research on the neutering a few days ago and actually decided against it because of those very reasons.

He's gained 14 lbs so far since these pictures were put on here... that's insane.. I do notice him testing all the time as well, but he has stopped testing me. All I have to do is snap my finger now and he stops doing whatever he was doing. Our other dog submitted him last night as he was getting pretty rough with her. Literally was one of the scariest things I've ever seen in a dog. You know the movie planet of the apes, second to last one that came out, when Caesar says NO for the first time.. I swear to God I heard our Big dog Skye scream that at him, throw him down, and held him there. As for my wife... well she is not one to be "mean" to a dog. So I see this becoming a problem soon, if it has not already.

He was pissing her off last night though and she yelled "NO" like a possessed women, and it really worked. But 5 minutes later she was holding him like a baby saying I'm so sorry.
I've told her over and over, this will be a hard headed dog, which will need to be put in it's place at times. We'll see what happens

Just a quick update. He has gained 17 lbs since this post, lol.
I have read that Catahoulas weigh anywhere from 30-40 lbs? Not sure how accurate that is, as I thought they would be much bigger, around the 65-95lb mark.

He is potty trained now as well. Well, for the most part. He will run up to me and scratch my leg when he needs to "go". Him and Skye play non stop, but when play time is over, she puts him in his spot.
Only thing that annoys me, is he is afraid of being outside. Not sure why, but with every noise he hears while out there, even if I'm out there with him, he tucks the tail and jets to the back porch and scratches at the door. If we put both dogs out, he will turn around and scratch at the door non stop. Doesn't help that with every noise (Even if its a car door shutting 5 houses down), the big dog Skye barks like a raged maniac, scaring the shiz out of him.

Don't really know what to do about this. I'm hoping as time goes by, he will understand that there is nothing to be afraid of out there.

Austin S. said:

Just a quick update. He has gained 17 lbs since this post, lol.
I have read that Catahoulas weigh anywhere from 30-40 lbs? Not sure how accurate that is, as I thought they would be much bigger, around the 65-95lb mark.

He is potty trained now as well. Well, for the most part. He will run up to me and scratch my leg when he needs to "go". Him and Skye play non stop, but when play time is over, she puts him in his spot.
Only thing that annoys me, is he is afraid of being outside. Not sure why, but with every noise he hears while out there, even if I'm out there with him, he tucks the tail and jets to the back porch and scratches at the door. If we put both dogs out, he will turn around and scratch at the door non stop. Doesn't help that with every noise (Even if its a car door shutting 5 houses down), the big dog Skye barks like a raged maniac, scaring the shiz out of him.

Don't really know what to do about this. I'm hoping as time goes by, he will understand that there is nothing to be afraid of out there.

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Where on earth did you read that Catahoulas weigh between 30-40 pounds? That source needs to be set straight, ASAP! I've had 3-month old puppies that weighed that much, and my 9-week-old, "Smoke", weighs 25 pounds now, and he's not even from a large line of Catahoulas. My last Catahoula, prior to him, was Koon's Bubba, seen below. Bubba weighed 115 pounds in working condition in his prime. Misleading information is one of the reasons why most Catahoulas placed in pet homes wind up in an animal shelter or being put down, because the new owners didn't expect a dog that large, that powerful, that active, that assertive, that stubborn or that aggressive when the information they were given stated the opposite.



As for the fear, that's normal in puppies to be leary of strange sounds, and most Catahoula pups are a bit cautious and easily startled until they get older. Keep in mind where they originated, in the swamps of Louisiana, hardly a safe place for a young puppy. At that age, they need the pack for back-up. Do not react when he acts scared. Don't pet him, don't baby-talk to him, just ignore him, otherwise you will reinforce that reaction. Take him out as much as possible, and by "out" I mean in public, expose him to all different sorts of people, noises, sights, and smells. Keep in mind that the breed's standard actually states, "intolerant of strangers", so you can expect him to be distrustful of unfamiliar people; you just want to remain in control so that distrust does not eventually translate into "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out. Believe me, I've had Catahoulas that harbored the latter attitude when it came to unfamiliar people, what Cesar Milan refers to as "red zone dogs". I got them as adults, so there wasn't much I could do at that point to change that, other than keep them away from people and on a short lead.

pitbulllady

pitbulllady said:

Catahoulas weigh between 30-40 pounds?[SUP]1 [/SUP]

short lead. short lead. short lead. short lead. short lead. short lead. short lead. short lead. short lead. short lead.

pitbulllady

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That is a very handsome critter.

1. Per foot. x4=total dog. :biggrin:

"Bubba" was a handsome critter indeed. I still miss him. He lived to the age of 17 years, 2 months, before passing away in his sleep. Bubba hated fences or walls of any sort, and if you put him in a pen or kennel, he'd be out of it before you could take more than 10 steps away. If he couldn't go over it-and he could jump a six-foot fence from a standstill- or dig under it, he'd go through it. He destroyed many a fence, including heavy-gauge cyclone fencing that had previously held tigers successfully, even at the risk of serious injury to himself. A chain was the only way to contain him. He'd have rather been shot than put inside a house and would have gone through a window to get out, or taken out a wall. Bubba was traded to me for a puppy because his owner in Louisiana considered him too rough after he broke the legs of a 2,000-lb. steer, but that worked out just fine for hog hunting. With me, he was a big ole' baby, though. This is what a Catahoula is supposed to be, a "total dog", a real working dog.

pitbulllady

pitbulllady said:

"Bubba" was a handsome critter indeed. I still miss him. He lived to the age of 17 years, 2 months, before passing away in his sleep. Bubba hated fences or walls of any sort, and if you put him in a pen or kennel, he'd be out of it before you could take more than 10 steps away. If he couldn't go over it-and he could jump a six-foot fence from a standstill- or dig under it, he'd go through it. He destroyed many a fence, including heavy-gauge cyclone fencing that had previously held tigers successfully, even at the risk of serious injury to himself. A chain was the only way to contain him. He'd have rather been shot than put inside a house and would have gone through a window to get out, or taken out a wall. Bubba was traded to me for a puppy because his owner in Louisiana considered him too rough after he broke the legs of a 2,000-lb. steer, but that worked out just fine for hog hunting. With me, he was a big ole' baby, though. This is what a Catahoula is supposed to be, a "total dog", a real working dog.

pitbulllady

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So like my Akita. Stuck in the house he would just sit there and stare at the door, never moving an inch. That permanent 'on the job' attitude. Hog hunting, or bears. Or other dogs. I don't relish the idea of, once it takes out a hog, you have to convince them to share the meal. That would be very difficult and potentially quite dangerous. That was the most disturbing aspect of my acquaintance with him. An established communication. Give him a good hard kick in the butt with a steel toed boot and his laconic response, 'Yeah yeah. You can have some... when I'm done'. But of course there was the initial training phase: 'Kick me again and you lose that leg' which gradually moved to kicking him just to get his attention, kicking him to ignore the treed bear, kicking him to get him to not chew up a fence, kicking him to get him to stop protecting the baby so we could feed it... or the only game he played, try to kick him and he would circle and try to slam his weight against the back of my legs and lay me flat on my back. Oh the joys of owning a canine brick s*** house with an agenda.

The Snark said:

So like my Akita. Stuck in the house he would just sit there and stare at the door, never moving an inch. That permanent 'on the job' attitude. Hog hunting, or bears. Or other dogs. I don't relish the idea of, once it takes out a hog, you have to convince them to share the meal. That would be very difficult and potentially quite dangerous. That was the most disturbing aspect of my acquaintance with him. An established communication. Give him a good hard kick in the butt with a steel toed boot and his laconic response, 'Yeah yeah. You can have some... when I'm done'. But of course there was the initial training phase: 'Kick me again and you lose that leg' which gradually moved to kicking him just to get his attention, kicking him to ignore the treed bear, kicking him to get him to not chew up a fence, kicking him to get him to stop protecting the baby so we could feed it... or the only game he played, try to kick him and he would circle and try to slam his weight against the back of my legs and lay me flat on my back. Oh the joys of owning a canine brick s*** house with an agenda.

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Much more excited about this experience. Haha only kidding.

Austin S. said:

Much more excited about this experience. Haha only kidding.

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Actually, we're just pointing out in our rather lame ways some dogs aren't 'normal'. Lie around the house, love to go for rides in cars and demand getting petted and attention and bark at nothing and in general, run around like airhead 3 year olds. Feel free to correct me but the ancient lineage, India wolf-dingo-Indo Asian-Chow-Akita on down the line are more along the lines of rank and file organized crime soldiers without a Don. Rogue mentality, often loners, they have agendas and there are no rules or laws unless the owner up in their face establishes them and even then the rules and laws are constantly going to be tested.

This testing is exemplified perfectly in our Thai dog-Akita forebearer. Cringes and cowers because of his upbringing. Fawning while fearful when near me, he goes out in the yard and decides to harass someone walking past or riding a bicycle. So I call him, telling him no. He instantly gauges if I am in a position to enforce the no. If quite near him outside, he cringes and goes to the porch in submission position. If across the yard, he ignores me but after the a-hole-ism he runs to the back of the house where I can't see him. If I call from a window he completely ignores me. He has it down to a science. So I took to enforcing the NO by tossing water balloons from the porch. No change except when he hears me call no from the porch he checks to see if I'm holding a balloon. If he sees one he retreats to the back of the house. Then he tests that. He continues a-holing for a few feet then turns to see if I'm getting ready to throw a water balloon or if I'm just holding a balloon as a bluff. That got refined into him figuring out the range and trajectory of the balloons and quickly dashing beyond throwing range. He's going to follow his agenda and nothing under the sun will deter him.

One of the ancestors of the Catahoula is the Carolina Dog, whose DNA has been proven(and I'm not talking about those over-the-counter DNA kits you can buy to supposedly find out which "breeds" are in a mongrel's background)to be identical to that of those Indo-Asian primitive dogs, and the other main contributor was a now-extinct Mastiff breed known as the Alano, which was bred specifically to hunt and kill HUMANS. It was a biological weapon used by European warriors. Catahoula DNA is more European than anything else, though, so they take more after that Mastiff side than any other canine clade. One of the original bloodlines was the Wright line, out of central Louisiana, which featured mainly brindle dogs of huge size, males generally in excess of 100 pounds. My Bubba's ancestry traced directly back to that line. Earl Long is credited with saving this breed from extinction in the 1920's, when he served as warden of the infamous Angola State Penitentiary. During World War I, he'd been impressed with German Shepherds trained as sentry dogs in Europe, but found that they couldn't handle the Louisiana heat and humidity...or alligators, too well, so he sought to find a breed of dog that would be bad-*** enough to deal not only with the climate, topography and local wildlife, but the usually-violent criminals at the prison, AND be able to control the cattle and hogs that the prison raised to feed the inmates, so he chose a native breed that had begun to die out, and combined the remaining bloodlines into the Catahoula we have today. The prison still breeds and maintains its own Catahoulas for those purposes today.

pitbulllady

I am a loyal German Shepherd owner and would say that there is some In there however the ears are not up which could either mean a pit cross with GSD for the floppy ears?