The Right Genetics Is More Important Than Proper Training

Ten years ago, in my mid-fifties, I retired from hog hunting with dogs and started breeding and training my Louisiana Catahoula Curs to be blood trail dogs. 

When I first started researching the aspects of my new business, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents told me that they estimated half the deer shot were not recovered and I was stunned by the meat going to waste. And then I considered all the time wasted by deer hunters tracking and searching for dead or wounded deer without a dog.

For me, I never wasted time tracking deer or lost and wasted meat, because I always had a dog to help me find a dead or wounded deer if I needed one, because I was a hog hunter, dog breeder and a dog trainer.

And because I lived on a houseboat in the Atchafalaya Basin Swamp since 1986, my dogs were companionship, hunters and security.

I have never locked doors on my house, for the last 34 years 

What I didn't realize when I first started training my dogs to track wounded deer was the high genetic prey drive in my dogs made it easy to 'train' them to find wounded or dead deer. I also did not realize my dogs were not only smarter than I had first assumed, but they were also actually smarter than me.

The photo below is proof of my low IQ

The evidence of their intelligence is obvious in the photos above as you may notice that the dogs had enough sense to stay in the boat! 

And I know what you are thinking, but that is not a dead alligator as you can see in the photo below.

The 3 photos above were taken on one of my Louisiana Swamp Tours at Lake Martin

Ten years ago I was a firm believer in making man-made blood trails and training my dogs year-round like everybody else did and gradually I came to realize the fact that my dogs ate a raw meat diet and had a high prey drive, that all the fuss about training year-round was  not applicable to my dogs and that may be in large part due to genetics.

Below are some of my favorite de al Houssaye's Louisiana Catahoula Curs

Luke Skywalker a grandson of Patch and Ruby

Ruby and a puppy in training

NALC registered C Arrow Patch

Samuel, a pure-bred wolf with Patch on a training track

Samuel and Valyrie on the boat ride deep into the Atchafalaya Basin Swamp

Jessie and Simon

Valyrie and Samuel last day of deer season in Louisiana in 2014

As a professional tracker, there is nothing more satisfying in the cool days of October than watching a happy archery hunter drag out a spike buck and put wild-harvest, organic meat on the table for his family on the first day of deer season.

I am Marcus de la Houssaye and I can be reached by email > catahoula1@gmail.com