I'm going to catch flack for this but I prefer the Original Mountain Cur, a mixed up breed (or rather strain) whose origins are somewhat shady. I'll do the best I can to accurately give a brief history, though I could be slightly off. Before WWII, many southern mountain families had "all-purpose dogs," that is, dogs that were of mixed blood, but performed well in hunting (particularly treeing game), cattle work, and protection. These dogs often had natural bobbed tails and dewclaws. After WWII, when society became less dependent on the rural life and started forming, as the book Squirrel Dog Basics calls it, a plastic world, the need for these old cur dogs became less. Plastic world meaning that natural necessary functions (ex: hunting, fishing, wide-scale farming, etc) were no longer necessary, so that most kids think an egg comes from Homeland and not a chicken coop. Anyway, the need for such dogs, therefore, lessoned. That is until a few men who remembered the old dogs of the southern mountains decided to collect a foundation stock and keep the dogs around. There have managed to be a few successful breeders associations and registries, and therefore, the Original Mountain Cur (as well as several other strains) has managed to stick around. Of course, since they are not needed as much for the "all purpose" lifestyle, breeding has generally focused on treeing ability and physical standards of conformation. Technically, these dogs still have a rounded gene pool, as there is no telling what type of dogs went into the old time curs that rested under the porches of the pioneers. For example, my mountain cur will point quail and bark treed on squirrels, possums, barn cats, and I assume coon and bobcat, though we've not had that chance, yet. They do not hunt like a hound, though, as they handle a little easier (SUPPOSEDLY, though I've never had to handle a hound to know...this is just the word from other men who've handled both dogs in the woods) and instead of the melodious howl, they have a choppy bark. Most are brindle, tan, red, black, blue, blonde, etc with varying white and spotted markings and short coats...anywhere from 30 to 60 pounds. The natural bob tails and dewclaws are still common and even favored sometimes.
Now here is the part I'll probably get flack for...but I also here that, though there is really no distinguishing factor in hunting ability, males just might handle better than females (opinion, of course). The reason I have heard is that males tend to be more conscious of the pecking order and territorial behavior, and therefore conform better to the pack and understand more clearly that you are the dominant leader. They are therefore, "sweeter" dogs in that they want to submissively and boldy please you. I've heard that females can be less aware of this and therefore bond less in their independence. You've maybe heard the term they don't call the the B word for nothin'. Though this is not proven, I've noticed in my experience of having a handful of different dogs over the years that this rings true. Could be coincidence. Now, they say the problem with males is they feel the need to pee on everything when they hop out of the box while your female already has one treed (or pointed out). . . Now I guess with retreiver only type dogs, the ability to find game on its very own means nothing, so I guess the male/female theory may mean nothing as well. Sorry this is long, but hey...it's a discussion board where opinions lead to more refined opinions, eh?