Blackmouth mountain cur?

Are these good dogs? My kids have been asking for a dog for a week now. I found a blackmouth mountain cur that is 4 years old. Obviously we are going to go meet the dog before we completely decide on getting him or not, but I wanted to see if anyone has had a dog like this before.

This is the picture that the guy sent me of him.

'cur' is a mutt... can't really determine whether it is a 'good' dog based on breed anyway, but that isn't honestly a breed anyway.

Quoting Kara-lynn:" 'cur' is a mutt... can't really determine whether it is a 'good' dog based on breed anyway, but that isn't honestly a breed anyway. "

This shows how much I know about dogs   I'm a cat person, but the kids and DH want a dog  

Curs are a type of dog of questionable lineage, but there ARE certain breeds. Black mouth cur and mountain cur are separate breeds so that dog is either one or the other or a mix. I have a catahoula cur and he's amazing! Old Yeller was a black mouth cur   But yeah even though there are breeds of cur, they aren't breeds like a yorkie or a lab or something.

Quoting Klaus:" Curs are a type of dog of questionable lineage, but there ARE certain breeds. Black mouth cur and mountain ... [snip!] ... was a black mouth cur   But yeah even though there are breeds of cur, they aren't breeds like a yorkie or a lab or something. "

Oh thank you! Maybe it's a mix of a black mouth and a mountain cur? I'm going to have DH ask more when we go to meet the dog lol.

Quoting Klaus:" Curs are a type of dog of questionable lineage, but there ARE certain breeds. Black mouth cur and mountain ... [snip!] ... was a black mouth cur   But yeah even though there are breeds of cur, they aren't breeds like a yorkie or a lab or something. "

a cur is a dog bred for function, not breed. They are not 'breeds', they are not registered as breeds. They are working dogs who were bred for certain traits. For example: you want a dog who can hunt and run for long periods of time. I have a dog who is a great hunter and you have a dog who has a lot of stamina. We breed them together for their qualities and hope for puppies with those traits. They are a 'type' of dog, but would have come from several 'breeds'.

note: you will find sites that list these dogs as a 'breed' but they are not a registered breed of dog, and most sites like that are made by the people who are breeding these dogs. They are not places such as the AKC, etc. A 'cur' is not a recognized breed by any recognized dog registry, and therefore not considered a 'breed'... just like a 'yorkie-poo' is not a breed, and a 'puggle' is not a breed... it is an over priced mutt LOL... that said mixed breed dogs often make WONDERFUL companions. I am not putting down the dog at all, but I surely wouldn't pay $300 for something without papers, if I could go to the local shelter and get a mutt for much less, and still end up with a wonderful dog!!!

Quoting Kara-lynn:" note: you will find sites that list these dogs as a 'breed' but they are not a registered breed of dog, ... [snip!] ... without papers, if I could go to the local shelter and get a mutt for much less, and still end up with a wonderful dog!!! "

I specifically described cur as a type of dog. But if you look it up, there are different breeds of cur.

Cur as slang refers to a type of random-bred, or mixed-breed dog. This article deals with Cur as a functional grouping of pure breeds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cur

And then there is a list of the breeds that belong to the cur group of dogs (catahoula, black mouth, mountain, etc). Just because a breed isn't recognized in kennel clubs doesn't mean it isn't a breed. Its because the lineage can't be traced back a certain number of years to determine how the breed was formed. If pugs and poodles are bred together for first generations and then the offspring are bred together over the next 100 years or so to the point that a standard can be determined, then poogles will become a recognized breed. AKC, CKC and other clubs define breeds as having a standard that they can compare to each other with certain ideals, basically so that they can have dog shows. They don't even recognize all of the same breeds. CKC recognizes breeds that AKC doesn't, so the argument that a dog breed isn't a breed unless it's recognized by a kennel club isn't valid, since they don't even recognize all the same breeds.

And just as a side note: pit bulls and american bulldogs are dog breeds recognized by CKC but not by AKC that most people would agree are actual breeds. Black mouth cur, catahoula cur, and mountain cur can also be registered through CKC.

Thank you both for all of the information. We were trying to fix a dog from a shelter to rescue but all they had were bigger dogs. This one is 4 years old and about medium sized. If the owner didn't find someone to take him (they can't have him in their new house) then they were going to take him to the shelter.