Like many other settlers of early America, he heavily relied on the breed while blazing trails through the Appalachians, providing protection to his family and helping hunt wild game. He is said to have even carried young pups in protective baskets while on these expeditions. Mountain Curs are short-coated dogs which come in blue, black, yellow, brown, or brindle coloration. Some individuals will also show white markings on the face or chest. The weight is usually between 30 and 60 pounds, and height is inches for males and inches for females.
These dogs enabled the colonizers to provide meat and pelts for personal use or trade, making them valuable in the frontier. With the advent of World War II, many of the families who had bred them left rural areas to work in factories in the war effort. Four individuals, Hugh Stephens and Woody Huntsman of Kentucky, Carl McConnell of Virginia, and Dewey Ledbetter of Tennessee are given credit for saving the breed from dying out and setting the Mountain Cur breed standard. In 1956, these four founded the Original Mountain Cur Breeders’ Association.