The Heart of a Catahoulaa

By Janeen Jackson, Roundup Montana

JJ's Bluelace was some kind of Catahoula. She was one that would have been gritty enough to hunt hogs; yet she was a cattle dog from the get-go who just got better and better as the years moved on, she was like a whole pack herself when it came to working cattle. Some Catahoula owners will adamantly declare that a Catahoula won't heel. JJ would. She was a head dog like most Catahoulas but she would heel if necessary. She did whatever she had to do to get the job done and often she just set her own rules; became inventive. If you hadn’t known for sure that she was ONE single dog you would have thought there had to be three of her working the herd. This story is about a dog with so much grit, so much heart, so much love for her job and an extreme sense of loyalty too; for she was our protector. Let me put you into the scene that truly nestles you right into the heart of a Catahoula. This story is about JJ’s last roundup on our ranch before her retirement and death.

My Jimmy had been diagnosed with terminal cancer; it was a slow type so we had time; and time we needed. Changes on the ranch had to be made. We sold our cattle and began taking in other people’s cattle to summer graze our pastures. We did all the work with them; just Jimmy and I and our beloved JJ. Prior to the diagnosis my horse had lamed up and with all we had facing us we decided we would just go slowly about replacing him. We hardly knew what to do. We looked for horses but sort of half-heartedly. If the right one had been available we would have bought him, but that didn't happen and our ranch was for sale so we didn't even know if we needed another horse.

All cattle work I did on foot during the day while Jimmy worked to keep things going financially out in the rat race once more. I took my JJ with me and we got done all we could so he only had to deal with the bigger emergencies and then weekends we could work together on the even bigger stuff where two or three were needed. JJ loved it, and what pards we were. She was my right hand and everyone was amazed at what she and I could get done on foot and how much ground we covered in a week. I never had to ask her twice. We were both in mint shape and we were all over our 1600 acres; sort of like fleas we were.

So it was fall, and time to ship cattle home for the winter. Jimmy saddled his horse early that frosty morning. We had a light dusting of snow on the ground and it was cool enough that the cattle weren't coming in to water regularly. They were scattered to the tops of every hillside, chasing all the grass that was left exposed by wind and sun. That is the way it is in the fall usually. It was going to be some gather for JJ and I. I hoped we could hold up our end on foot. Jimmy went to the south end of the ranch as I loaded JJ into our 4x4 Explorer. Her head stuck out the window and tongue lolled, and the alive look in her eyes brought a smile to my heart. She was READY and anxious and her excitement was a vital thing. I couldn’t have left her behind even had I wanted to. We arrived at the far end and I groaned as I saw how scattered they really were. "Well girl, I tell her, we are in for a hard couple of days me thinks." If dogs could smile I swear I saw one on her face; she understood me, I know she did.

Opening the door we headed for the tiptop of a straight up hill in front of us where I saw cattle grazing. She beat me there of course and started baying the herd. She had them bunched and was baying her heart out by the time I topped the hill panting. I smiled and moved to the rear and called her to help me move them. We pushed them downhill where they scattered. A flying blue leopard blur reached the bottom long before I did, bunching and baying the herd again. When I reached her I told her "take them home J!" She moved them forward onto the home trail like silk and off they all went in a whir of motion, cattle bawling, JJ baying. I could hear her in the clear morning air and as always it was music to my ears. I knew she was heading straight for the corrals. I never doubted she would take them anywhere else for she had done it so many times before. Smiling to myself and into a glorious cold morning, I went up on top of a few hills and started moving cattle down to the bottomlands while I waited for her return. I wondered if she would return or if I would have to go get her. We hadn't done this part of it this way before. She seemed gone quite a while but soon I hear her baying and looking down from the top of a hill I see she has them bunched again and is baying the daylights out of them. Laughing I call to her and tell her again to "take them home." She looks my direction and off she goes again to take the second bunch. This time I knew she would return to finish the job. This went on all day and when one tired JJ and I returned home, my husband supplied some information about how things were when he arrived at the corrals. After JJ took the cattle to the corrals she would lie in the gate, holding the cattle inside, and wait for Jimmy to bring his gather in on horseback. That is why it took her so long. She helped him move them into inner corrals and then he said, like an arrow she deserted him and would be off, back to help me.

Now comes the amazing thing. Earlier we had noticed that JJ didn't seem to pay as much attention to marmots and flickertails crossing the road ahead of us in the car. It was strange for she loved to stalk and hunt them. Jimmy commented that maybe her eyes were getting bad. "NAH,” I said. ”can’t be, she just is getting lazy." But you see it wasn't long after this roundup that our JJ took very ill and was diagnosed with severe diabetes. We almost lost her. And it wasn't very long after that when I stood above her, treat in hand; I realized she was looking above my head. My heart lurched. I squatted down and she still was looking where my voice had been, where she expected me to be. JJ was blind, and I wept. Her last roundup that fall, she would have had very limited vision. JJ was more than half blind. How did she do it we asked ourselves? I can't answer that but I can tell you that JJ was Catahoula and they can do what most couldn't or wouldn't. The heart and drive, love and grit took her where only it could.