# Educate Me Please - Feist vs. Cur



## BMKClemens

I have been looking for a family pet/squirrel dog and I am having a hard time distinguishing between feists and curs.  Can someone offer their knowledge on the difference between these breeds?  There seems to be a number of different types of Feists; treeing, mountain, kemmer, bud, river run... And the same seems to hold true with Curs; black mouth, mountain, brindle, kemmer.  

There also seems to be great variation in size, temperment, trainability... Some, mainly the brindles, appear, to me anyway, to be crossed with pit bulls. This could be totally unfounded, so please forgive my ignorance.

I spoke with Delane Widener about his feist pups in Ranburne, AL and we actually made plans to purchase one, but unfortunately the litter was lost.   

I had a beagle once and did not really enjoy the experience and don't think I want a rat terrier either.  To give you a better idea, I am basically looking for a lab, with short hair, half the size, that hates vermin as much as I do.   If she would retrieve tennis balls, fiercely defend against intruders, love me and my faily unconditionally, and keep the killing of the neighbor's cats to a minimum, that would be great too.

Any information that would help me understand the variations of these breeds would be greatly appreciated. Thanks y'all.


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## jonkayak

> don't think I want a rat terrier either. To give you a better idea, I am basically looking for a lab, with short hair, half the size, that hates vermin as much as I do.  If she would retrieve tennis balls, fiercely defend against intruders, love me and my faily unconditionally, and keep the killing of the neighbor's cats to a minimum, that would be great too



Look at a Vizsla (spelling ?) other then not being a cur of Feist I think this is the dog you just described. They are pretty cool dogs. It might even be next on my list.


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## Tpr 325

What has  gotten you confused is so many type of Feist.Some of the names  you posted  was  breeders, Like Bud., River Run, ..Etc.
There is no difference in the Mt. Feist , American treing Feist, etc//The only difference would be the  orginazation they are Registered with....American  feist  is  American treeing feist assoc..Mt. treeing feist assoc...See what I am talking about..The  curs are the same...Mt Cur.  Black mouth,  Stephens  curs, all are curs, just  may be different colors, different orginizations is about all..ANy way to answer you question..If you get a full feist it shpuld be  about 15 to 18 inches tall , weigh about 15 to 20 lbs...Some will be bigger and some smaller.... Some Feist will have cur in them  making them larger..Curs are usually larger dogs 18 to 25 inches..weighing  35 to  50 lbs...If your looking for a house dog and a  sq dog you may want to  try the feist...Go to Squirrel dog central.com that is mostley a sq dog site...


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## cobb

feist are smaller, have more terrier characteristics
curs, bigger, more hound...


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## Hog

Well,Since you asked kemmer cur would be the one that I would recommend.Sorry but all curs are not the same as described above.Not so sure about fiest,the main difference I have observed about them are their treeing abilities & temperments.I know of a couple of good mountain fiest that were good tree dogs.The one my kids have I canot stand anymore.He is a mullins fiest & is very distructive.He has chewed up my aircompressor,4wheeler seat + fenders + wiring,lawn mower seat + wiring.You get my drift now,He would be ok I guess if it wasnt for all that.He hunts pretty good & will show you a squirell but will not steady bark on the tree.Temperments & hunting abilities are a big difference in the cur line of dogs.I am a cur man & have owned hunting dogs all my life from hound to cur.I have had good coon dogs,squirell dogs,hog dogs,junk dogs & some ok yard dogs through life.I only have kemmer hunting(yard) dogs now except for the one demon I described above.Yes,my best hunting dog is my family yard dog.It blows peoples minds when they come to go hunt with me & I load him up in the truck.I have had more than one say to me after we go out & get game with him.That they would have never of believed it if they hadnt of seen it with their own two eyes.My wife & kids love this dog to death & you can tell that he really loves all of us back even more.I have always let him run freely about since he was small but the rest of my kemmers I keep penned up.Not because I want to but just the fact that they are hunting dogs & it would look bad with a yard full of dogs.All my kemmer dogs are very loving,highly intelligent,hard driven big hearted game dogs.If you pet them up & show them love they would absolutly give their life for you or your familly.Kemmers are very couragious dogs that are used on a varity of big & small game.Bear,hog,couger,squirell,coon,coyote & even what I prefer, that being hogs.One big difference in the cur line is treeing abilities & getting out from under you feet hunting abilities.I squirell hunted this dog untill he was 1 1/2 yrs old & shot squirell,coon out that he had treed.I  then got into hog hunting & swaped him over/been doing it ever since.He is now about 9-10 yrs old & still going stronger than ever.Im telling you if you want an all pupose yard/hunting dog than get you a kemmer they aim to please.I always heard stories about these dogs but never new how true they actually were until I got one myself.Do the research on kemmer dogs & try one for yourself.I bet you wont be dissapointed at all with what you learn & discover about them on your own.You mentioned labs,alot of people mistake mine for labs.I will try & post you some pics of them.Good luck with whatever dog you decide to go with.Hope this may have helped you some on the differencies between the cur dogs.


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## Hog

*kemmers at work*


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## Hog

*My old yard dog Rowdy tired after a hard moring hunt*


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## Hog




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## cobb

wow they do look alot like a lab! great pics and info!


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## Twenty five ought six

You might want to look at the Rhodesian Ridgeback.


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## Nga.

My advice would be to find owners of the interested Breeds, lines and go see them in their own environment. Make sure they will fit what your intent for them are.

My dogs bond very well with all family members. They will let you know when something isn't right. I hunt most every weekend season goes out Feb 28th. I'll be glad to let you see my Feist go.


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## BMKClemens

Thanks for all the responses.  I like your cur Hog; so does my kid. I guess with these breeds the best thing to do is look at the parents to see what they have in their bloodlines.  I definitely will investigate the Kemmers some more.  We are hoping to get a female, I can't afford to have a destructive dog and it seems like the males may be more prone to that type of behavior.


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## silverfox

Log onto OMCBA.com for detail info on currs


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