Hello, I am looking for advice from those who have fostered a dog and/or placed a dog in a good home.

It is not a German Shepherd but there is no forum for other breeds on here.

I have a 16-month male Louisiana Catahoula that i am fostering for a national USA organization. I have had this dog for 7.5 months and I want to place him in a really good home.

This breed of dog is used for baying (long-range hunting, treeing) and herding tough cattle. There are ONLY working lines of this breed. They are bred specifically to be tough working dogs. That being said he has a lot of energy and drive, but due to complete lack of socialization, he is still spooky/skittish. No food aggression or possession issues. He needs to be run every day with no exceptions.

Considerations: Was a neglect case, raised in a back yard with some of his littermates until 8 months old. As a result he's somewhat "doggy" and has no early socialisation. Very easily spooked by strange noises or objects out of place. Is afraid of humans carrying strange objects.

Gets along with and seems to like all adult humans. No experience with kids. Currently lives with another dog (female) and a cat.

Has great prey drive. Medium food drive (only if there are no distractions).

With all of this what kind of home should I try to place him in? A working home (but he's skittish) or a pet home (but he needs lots of exercise and work). In your experience how should I try to place him? I'm kind of leery of putting an ad in the paper.

Suggestions needed and welcomed!!

I wish I had more knowledge on this ,I hope you find a great home for him, good luck Angela, I'm sure help is coming..

Hi Angela, I'm not personally familiar with this breed, or with herding/placing dogs bred for that. I got a nice response while looking for holistic vets from this woman (Karen) at http://www.dancinghearts.org who is obviously into herding, in addition to holistic animal care.

I don't know her personally, but she might be a resource for helpful information. When I e-mailed her out of the blue for local raw feeding supportive vet info, she responded right away.

Best Wishes,

Beth

Angela:

I would highly recommend a home that has experience with this breed. As you know, I have 2 registered Catahoula's and they were bred by someone who did the same thing. Kept them with the litter training them on hogs until they were 6 months old when we got them.

They (not brother and sister) were very skittish and doggy. We do go hog hunting with them, but they also come inside.

Exercise is REALLY important for these dogs. And someone without experience with this or other working breeds won't be able to handle their level of energy.

I may be able to find someone in Cali if you're having trouble with placement. PM me and I'll see if I can help.

Jen

Thank you for the replies. I would like him to go to a breed-experienced home, but Catahoulas are extremely rare where I live (Ontario). The rescue that I am fostering for, will place him anywhere in the US or Canada but I'm kind of hoping that he will stay reasonably close to me. (Sadly for my dog, he will probably never see a hog. We don't have wild ones here - but he does hunt - and catch - rabbits and coons)

That being said, I assume someone with working dog breed experience (Bouvier? Boxer? hounds?) would be good.

I really need advice on how to get "the word out" on this dog. How do breeders get their puppies into really good, appropriate homes? I know this issue is important to ethical breeders. I want the same thing for this boy. He is an indoor dog, housebroken, has FANTASTIC house manners and he's really come a long way. I really feel he is ready for a new home with a permanent owner. But it needs to be people who know how to provide appropriate outlets for energy! I hope there is such a home out there!

How do breeders place THEIR puppies with good homes? How do you all advertise?

Just a little trivia for you Catahoula fans: Mel Gibson had a few Catahoulas - I don't know if he still does though. It was a good breed for his big, energetic family.

those dogs would be great in the Ozarks! Razorback country!! Maybe check with some of the Arkansas dog forums and locate some hunters or farmers...my relatives all hunted(still do)and many raised their own animals for slaughter including hogs. I spent a memorable summer castrating hogs with cousins! yikes

I know many hunters that would go crazy for dogs like that...good luck.