Catahoula Bulldog

The Catahoula Bulldog is an intelligent breed that will learn quickly and is eager to please. They do require a firm pack leader that exhibits consistency. It is necessary when walking your Catahoula Bulldog that they heel either behind or beside you. A dog allowed to lead is a dog who believes he is in charge. A Catahoula Bulldog is a large breed, and so it could be potentially dangerous for this breed to believe he's running the show.

The Catahoula Bulldog is not a purebred dog. It is a cross between the Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog and the American Bulldog. The best way to determine the temperament of a mixed breed is to look up all breeds in the cross and know you can get any combination of any of the characteristics found in either breed. Not all of these designer hybrid dogs being bred are 50% purebred to 50% purebred. It is very common for breeders to breed multi-generation crosses. The Catahoula Bulldog has tight skin and a very short, smooth coat. In most cases the Catahoula does not have an undercoat but may develop one if it is living in a seasonal or colder climate. Ears come in rose type or button over and are sometimes cropped for a noble look. Eye color can come in brown, ice blue, gold, emerald green or a combination of all of these. Coats come in a wide variety of colors from merle to pure white.

Though utilized as a hunting, working, and guard dog, Catahoula bulldogs are often companion animals. They are said to be loyal and devoted to their people and to have strong protective instincts; they are generally calm though also alert to their surroundings.

Catahoula bulldogs have been around for over 100 years, for the most part in the southern United States. It is reported that ranchers wanted a dual-purpose dog for herding and catching hogs as well as for hunting bears. While the Catahoula Leopard Dog was very skilled at luring a hog to a pen then escaping over the back of the pen, it was not large or rugged enough by itself to catch a hog. The American Bulldog had the extra size, weight, and strong jaw as well as being an excellent catch dog, while the Catahoula Leopard had the intelligence, speed, endurance and the instincts of hunting and herding. Catahoula bulldogs are one example among many of niche working crossbreeds (as opposed to "designer dogs" crossbred for appearance) that are in development. Others (often with pseudo-archaic names) have been dubbed the Olde English Bulldogge (recognized as a breed by UKC) and Perro de Presa Mallorquin ("saved" from extinction by extensive crossbreeding), among more experimental crosses.