While I nolonger have catahoulas I bred them for many, many years. One of the things that I have noticed lately is a lot of dogs showing up with a lot of white on them, especially on the heads. Just a word of warning....many dogs with a lot of white have healthy issues. Many have what is called directional deafness. The dog can hear but cannot tell which direction the sound is coming from. It can be hard to detect because at home the dog has learned where the noises come from. They also often have issues with their eyes. Some are blind while other might just have a pupil that is misformed. Often with jagged edges. I am not saying that any of the dogs posted have issues. I am just throwing out a general to people to be careful with catahoulas that carry a lot of white. The first time I experienced direction deafness was in 1985. It can be hard to figure out that first time.
While I nolonger have catahoulas I bred them for many, many years. One of the things that I have noticed lately is a lot of dogs showing up with a lot of white on them, especially on the heads. Just a word of warning....many dogs with a lot of white have healthy issues. Many have what is called directional deafness. The dog can hear but cannot tell which direction the sound is coming from. It can be hard to detect because at home the dog has learned where the noises come from. They also often have issues with their eyes. Some are blind while other might just have a pupil that is misformed. Often with jagged edges. I am not saying that any of the dogs posted have issues. I am just throwing out a general to people to be careful with catahoulas that carry a lot of white. The first time I experienced direction deafness was in 1985. It can be hard to figure out that first time.
-john
I have read that before and was concerned about my new puppy. Things change maybe. My little girl can hear very well. Test her on it to make sure cause I worry about everything. Maybe breeding has corrected some of those issues?
I have read that before and was concerned about my new puppy. Things change maybe. My little girl can hear very well. Test her on it to make sure cause I worry about everything. Maybe breeding has corrected some of those issues?
Probably just means that you were lucky. In the old days most of us would put down the white headed pups the day they were born. Now many breeders sell them instead. If anything I am seeing more dogs with issues and not less.
Probably just means that you were lucky. In the old days most of us would put down the white headed pups the day they were born. Now many breeders sell them instead. If anything I am seeing more dogs with issues and not less.
-john
i think its more people are breeding the wrong dogs together. i have a catahoula page on my facebook and there are a LOT of idiots on there, most the time i just shake my head at it.
i think its more people are breeding the wrong dogs together. i have a catahoula page on my facebook and there are a LOT of idiots on there, most the time i just shake my head at it.
I hear ya. I wish more people would go to the NALC Texas show and meet the old timers. They could learn alot. Of course the ****ed thing is scheduled for opening day of deer season....LOL.
Too many people breeding for all the wrong reasons. You have to study the bloodlines way back to breed good dogs and still get bad pups sometimes with good dogs.
Very glad my pup was not put down. She is an awesome little dog!
I hear ya but if she had been put down by the breeder you would have just picked one that did not have the white around the eyes or ears and you would have felt the same about it.
Why? The vast majority of the white headed dogs have problems. A breeder is miles ahead to put them down. I hope you are right about the hearing on your dog but honestly I would bet against you. I have been hunting with more than one person where my dogs would strike a hog. Their dog would throw its head up and start circling. It would then run 180 degrees in the wrong direction. They would normally say hes on a different hog....No its not. The ****ed thing has no clue where the baying is coming from. People see what they want to see. You cannot test for direction deafness at your house or around other dogs. The dog learns to cope which makes it hard to see. The best way I know is to have someone lead the dog into the middle of a 20 acre field. Have people in the four corners but out of site. Make sure they did not leave a scent trail. Have one of the down wind people call a couple of times and watch how the dog reacts.
Not throwing rocks at anyone but one of the white headed dogs in this thread looks to have blown pupils. If the picture is accurate the pup never should have left the breeders and should never be bred. I am sure the owner has no clue its a problem that should be avoided.
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