HOW WE CAME TO BE ORGANIZED AS THE KSBA
On the last weekend of September, 1991, a group of men and women gathered at the home of Robert and Lou Ella Kemmer. Previous to this, letters were written to interested persons which told them what was going to be done. Mr. Ira Kirby and friends furnished a wonderful catfish dinner. Dave Glazebrook called the meeting to order. A Board of Directors was selected and officers elected. All this was done through the luck of the draw.
A Constitution had been written by Dave Glazebrook. All of the officers and directors went over the Constitution, and the revision was adopted.
Money was needed and a hunt was set for November 16, 1991, at the home of Robert Kemmer. There were many donations both at the September meeting and at the November Hunt. Not only was the hunt a great success, but without the many donations, we would not have been able to make the great progress we made.
A registration was set up by Jesse Zimple and Anita Boutte. We want to thank Jesse and Anita for the terrific job they did while serving as Registrar. The KSBA owns the Registry and the Progams.
Even though this is a new club, we are old in experience. The preservation of the Kemmer Stock Mt. Curs along with good fellowship and fair dealings being utmost in the minds of all concerned. If it isn't, then they don't need to be a member.
HISTORY OF THE KSBA
These great dogs we call Kemmers.
Written by Dave Glazebrook - Authorized by Robert Kemmer
Since September 26, 1991, when the KSBA came to be, we have had a lot of questions about our history.
This is an attempt to answer some of those questions. Because we were formed from members of the Original Mountain Cur Breeders Association, their history is our history in the beginning. There are many good histories of the beginning of the OMCBA and their dogs. One of the best is a book written by Verda Ledbetter. She took the materials her husband, A.D. Ledbetter started and finished his book to make great reading, and excellent information. Mr. Ledbetter was one of the founders of the OMCBA. He was a leader in finding and preserving the old Mt. Cur. I don't know if the book is still in print, but you can find out by contacting the OMBCA.
The Southern Mountains are thought of as being the home of the Mt. Cur dog. From there, these dogs were scattered across the country. These dogs came from European settlers as they made their way from the sea.
In a book printed in Crossville, TN, called, "Cumberland County's First One Hundred Years", there is a story about the first settlers in Grassy Cove.
They were probably passing through going west, but had a wagon wreck and killed all their mules but one. They had to settle in Grassy Cove.They had with them a short tail brindle dog called Dinwiddie, after the Governor of Virginia at the time. This was about 1800. The first Kemmer came to Grassy Cove about 1803-1805.
The dogs of the pioneers were as valuable as their farm animals. They protected the family from wild animals and intruders. They caught and killed varmints. They herded the family stock. They provided meat for the table and furs for money.
To show how valuable the dogs were, they were carried with the family if they moved. Family members would carry them or they were carried in a wagon or on a pack horse. There have been many children baby sat by an old cur dog. The Mt. Cur of the Southern Mtn.'s was a multi-purpose dog. Today they are used mainly as hunting dogs but there are some people that have discovered the many things you can teach a Kemmer Stock Mt. Cur.
Robert Kemmer grew up in Grassy Cove, south of Crossville, TN. His father was a farmer, and had bred Mt. Curs for years. They were farm dogs that did what was described earlier. Robert's dad made most of his living catching wild hogs out of the mountains. Robert has a picture of himself and a red and white trim cur dog. Robert was three years old when the picture was taken. The dog lived to be 14 years old.
He didn't think much about the Mt. Curs until he was grown. He remembered when he was drafted into the Army in 1965, his family had four good dogs. They stayed treed most of the time. Several people tried to buy them, but they were not for sale. Finally they were stolen off the tree. They always kept their animals vaccinated for rabies. They had a lot of rabies problems. His younger brother was bitten by a rabid bobcat, and most of the farm animals were bitten. In spite of the shots, one cow had rabies. Another time a bull had rabies. Several of the neighbors dogs had rabies along with other animals.
When Robert returned home and went to work at Renegade Hunting Range for Ben Burton as a guide, hunting wild boar everyday,he had to have some good dogs. Some would be resting or recovering from hog cuts while others were hunting. This is the main reason he developed these dogs, although he was a hard coon hunter. People who knew him said he would hog hunt all day and coon hunt all night. He also started farming and needed a dog to help with stock.
In the early 70's, he obtained Rough. He was from the yellow dogs of A.D. Ledbetter. It wasn't known what Rough's breeding was until Robert discovered how smart and useful Rough was. Dean Young lived in and grew up near Crossville, TN. He was a close friend to Robert and a member of the OMBCA. He and Robert traced Rough's ancestry. He was out of Dan Boone and Yellow Queen. They were both out of Tenn. Blackie.
Robert knew dogs. He had been breeding and raising outstanding Walker Tree dogs and grade curs, along with fiest for many years. Because he could remember how good they were when he was a boy, and how good Rough was at the time, he decided to try and raise some true Old Time Mt. Curs. Robert set out to get the best stock that could be found. He got a yellow female from Ariel Baker of Sparta, TN. Mr. Baker had been raising Mt. Curs for years. This dog was Becky. He bought a male out of Tenn. Blackie and Baker's Black Brindle Bob. Tenn. Blackie was out of Catoosa Tiger that A.D. Ledbetter said was one of the best and truest Mt. Curs. Blackie was the sister of Dan Boone and Queen. They were a full brother-sister cross. Another female he got was out of Baker's Jane. She and Becky were out of Tug.
When Robert went to breed Blondie to Walker's Buck, he was actually looking for Baker's Bandit. Bandit was out of Tug but died, so he bred her to Bandit's son. Walker's Buck was the sire of Gold Nugget, Yellow Bob, and Blondie II. The reason he was looking for the Tug blood was because the pups out of Jane and Becky treed at 4 months old, and were all tree dogs. This is where the yellow Blondie strain got its start. Tug was out of Tenn. Bob and Bob was owned by Clarence Wilson. Clarence has been responsible for many good Mt. Curs and has not received the recognition which he deserved. We certainly want to thank Clarence for all he has and is doing for the Mt. Curs and the KSBA.
Tenn. Mt. Blondie was out of Baker's Brindle Bob and Lawson's Sue. Sue was out of Rough and Screak. Screak was borrowed from Kenneth Jones. Blondie was bred to several males and she always produced outstanding pups. Besides Rough and Walker's Buck, she was bred to Frostie Joe which produced Blondie III. She was bred several times to Yellow Jack. Jack was a small yellow dog out of Dozer and Smokie. Dozer was out of Rough and Baker's Black Jewel. Champ got only a few litters of pups. He was castrated by a wild boar. Frostie Joe wasn't even born when this happened. Frostie Joe's mother was the female out of Baker's Jane and Brindle Bob. That made Frostie Joe old Tug's grandson. He looked a lot like old Tug. Cos Walker owned Tug in his later years.
Robert likes any color dog as long as it will perform. He has always looked at performance first when considering to breed a dog. Tenn. Mt Poncho was a brindle dog. He was out of Tenn. Mt. Blondie and Rough. Midnight Sally was black and a littermate to Tenn. Mt. Blondie. You will also see Kemmer's Blondie on a lot of pedigrees. She also was a sister to Tenn. Mt. Blondie and Midnight Sally. She was an older dog when Robert got her from a friend that was a professional hog hunter. In her day she was one of the best in the country. There was also a big red dog called Big Red. He was a littermate to the two Blondies and Sally. He was used as a stud dog.
Robert bred Midnight Sally to Jeff, and these two reproduced many outstanding pups. Jeff was black with brindle trim. Rick Patterson, Violet Atkinson and Oliver Passmore are fond of these black dogs. There are many brindles from all crosses that people are still partial to. Robert bred some Blue dogs, In one night his Blue male,female and their eight pups died. This ended his Blue dog production.
This could go on for many pages, but we just wanted you to see how Robert took the same dogs, all OMCBA registered, and bred them to get what he has now. In the first two yearbooks of this association, you can see pictures of all the dogs talked about here. It is easy to see how a Kemmer Stock Mt. Cur can be any color.
The main thing Robert did was to breed these different dogs in such a way as to get what he has today. Other people have taken what he has produced and raised good dogs. Most people think of Kemmer Stock as Yellow, but there are many colored dogs that qualify to be Kemmer Stock. It is a proven fact that the Blondie strain of dogs is one of the best. They will excel at about anything if treated properly and fairly.
The Kemmer Stock Mt. Cur Breeders Association is made up of interested persons wanting to breed and work for the betterment and preservation of the Kemmer Stock Mt. Cur in general. We hold no ill will towards anyone. We want to cooperate with all, and be treated with respect by all. We will treat and have always treated others with respect. We will not be "put upon" and do whatever is necessary to uphold our good name and to keep that good name.
When I started writing this we aimed to end it here. After consideration of the many questions asked of us, we have decided to incorporate some of the answers we have given. We hope this will help you breed and understand better KSMC dogs. The three basic colors are yellow, black and brindle. There are many color variations of this, such as blue, or chocolate and almost white. There is and will continue to be a lot of debate about color. Color doesn't tree a thing. About all it does is add to the interest one has in a particular animal. I don't breed for color. I do have my color preference. In this section we will deal with the pros and cons of particular variations.
There can be a rainbow of colors in a litter. To breed for a color can cause one to do a lot graying and hair loss. The early pioneers really didn't breed for color, performance was the only consideration. As the Mt. Cur evolved, and the different organizations evolved, some colors were chosen over others. Robert Kemmer's Tenn. Mt. Blondie was yellow, as was Gold Nugget and Yellow Bob. This is one reason why there are so many Kemmer Stock Mt. Curs that are yellow. Many think that a KSMC must be yellow.
Robert bred all colors as you have seen in the previous writings. One of his best stud dogs was Poncho. He was brindle out of Blondie and Rough. Jeff was black and brindle trim. He was bred to Midnight Sally several times. They raised several black daughters that Robert kept. Because of untimely deaths, none lived very long. A male, Bandit, was used by several people for a stud dog. Robert had a pair of blue brindles. Both died at an early age. During all this, there were many brindles. Cooner was a black brindle but would throw yellows. Brindle remains a popular color and is the easiest to breed for, but many times in the KSMC dogs, there will be brindle trim on many blacks.
There has been much said about the white trim on many KSMC's. There will usually be some white. There are, and always will be some that don't like white, and some that do like the white. It is usually said that a dog shouldn't have more than 1/3 of the body white. We don't have this in our breed standard. We just say "a small amount of white is not objectionable". You will see many with white chest and white feet. Again it can vary from small amounts to much. White can go halfway up the legs or more with ring necks and blazed faces.
When breeding the yellow dogs, there have been some that were almost white. Some have only a small amount of darker hair on their ears and down the back. A.D. Ledbetter called these "Buttermilk Buckskin". This is simply a color phase of yellow in the Mt.Curs. We have pictures of Chester Clark and his two sons, Ted and Mike, with two of these Buttermilk Buckskins that they produced from Clarence Wilson in the early 70's. These two dogs were true Mt. Curs from one of the premier breeders. These dogs color phases are a true part of our history and heritage.
Again, performance must be kept first in mind when breeding. There is a strain of Mt. Curs that have a lot of white. A lot of hunters call it chrome and like it. Their performance is excellent and that is their main consideration. These dogs seem to have a rough disposition. You must let them know who is the boss at an early age. The only way you will get blue is to be sure both parents have the blue recessive gene. It is an impressive and unusual color. Again, you must breed for hunting ability first.
There is no one word of caution when breeding for short tails or dew claws. If you consistently breed for short tails, you will eventually get dogs with no tails. If you breed two of these, you will get some pups with part of their vertabrae missing and they will be deformed. Dew claws can be bred for, but you end up with a foot full of dew claws. It will make it hard for them to walk. Even if you breed for dew claws, use caution. Too much of anything can be bad. You always breed for ability first.
The bottom line is, you must breed for ability first. This is the only reason to ever breed dogs. We must always try to reproduce better dogs than the generation before. If you can't breed better than old so-and-so then we had better re-evaluate our breeding program.
On the last weekend of September, 1991, a group of men and women gathered at the home of Robert and Lou Ella Kemmer. Previous to this, letters were written to interested persons which told them what was going to be done. Mr. Ira Kirby and friends furnished a wonderful catfish dinner. Dave Glazebrook called the meeting to order. A Board of Directors was selected and officers elected. All this was done through the luck of the draw.
A Constitution had been written by Dave Glazebrook. All of the officers and directors went over the Constitution, and the revision was adopted.
Money was needed and a hunt was set for November 16, 1991, at the home of Robert Kemmer. There were many donations both at the September meeting and at the November Hunt. Not only was the hunt a great success, but without the many donations, we would not have been able to make the great progress we made.
A registration was set up by Jesse Zimple and Anita Boutte. We want to thank Jesse and Anita for the terrific job they did while serving as Registrar. The KSBA owns the Registry and the Progams.
Even though this is a new club, we are old in experience. The preservation of the Kemmer Stock Mt. Curs along with good fellowship and fair dealings being utmost in the minds of all concerned. If it isn't, then they don't need to be a member.
HISTORY OF THE KSBA
These great dogs we call Kemmers.
Written by Dave Glazebrook - Authorized by Robert Kemmer
Since September 26, 1991, when the KSBA came to be, we have had a lot of questions about our history.
This is an attempt to answer some of those questions. Because we were formed from members of the Original Mountain Cur Breeders Association, their history is our history in the beginning. There are many good histories of the beginning of the OMCBA and their dogs. One of the best is a book written by Verda Ledbetter. She took the materials her husband, A.D. Ledbetter started and finished his book to make great reading, and excellent information. Mr. Ledbetter was one of the founders of the OMCBA. He was a leader in finding and preserving the old Mt. Cur. I don't know if the book is still in print, but you can find out by contacting the OMBCA.
The Southern Mountains are thought of as being the home of the Mt. Cur dog. From there, these dogs were scattered across the country. These dogs came from European settlers as they made their way from the sea.
In a book printed in Crossville, TN, called, "Cumberland County's First One Hundred Years", there is a story about the first settlers in Grassy Cove.
They were probably passing through going west, but had a wagon wreck and killed all their mules but one. They had to settle in Grassy Cove.They had with them a short tail brindle dog called Dinwiddie, after the Governor of Virginia at the time. This was about 1800. The first Kemmer came to Grassy Cove about 1803-1805.
The dogs of the pioneers were as valuable as their farm animals. They protected the family from wild animals and intruders. They caught and killed varmints. They herded the family stock. They provided meat for the table and furs for money.
To show how valuable the dogs were, they were carried with the family if they moved. Family members would carry them or they were carried in a wagon or on a pack horse. There have been many children baby sat by an old cur dog. The Mt. Cur of the Southern Mtn.'s was a multi-purpose dog. Today they are used mainly as hunting dogs but there are some people that have discovered the many things you can teach a Kemmer Stock Mt. Cur.
Robert Kemmer grew up in Grassy Cove, south of Crossville, TN. His father was a farmer, and had bred Mt. Curs for years. They were farm dogs that did what was described earlier. Robert's dad made most of his living catching wild hogs out of the mountains. Robert has a picture of himself and a red and white trim cur dog. Robert was three years old when the picture was taken. The dog lived to be 14 years old.
He didn't think much about the Mt. Curs until he was grown. He remembered when he was drafted into the Army in 1965, his family had four good dogs. They stayed treed most of the time. Several people tried to buy them, but they were not for sale. Finally they were stolen off the tree. They always kept their animals vaccinated for rabies. They had a lot of rabies problems. His younger brother was bitten by a rabid bobcat, and most of the farm animals were bitten. In spite of the shots, one cow had rabies. Another time a bull had rabies. Several of the neighbors dogs had rabies along with other animals.
When Robert returned home and went to work at Renegade Hunting Range for Ben Burton as a guide, hunting wild boar everyday,he had to have some good dogs. Some would be resting or recovering from hog cuts while others were hunting. This is the main reason he developed these dogs, although he was a hard coon hunter. People who knew him said he would hog hunt all day and coon hunt all night. He also started farming and needed a dog to help with stock.
In the early 70's, he obtained Rough. He was from the yellow dogs of A.D. Ledbetter. It wasn't known what Rough's breeding was until Robert discovered how smart and useful Rough was. Dean Young lived in and grew up near Crossville, TN. He was a close friend to Robert and a member of the OMBCA. He and Robert traced Rough's ancestry. He was out of Dan Boone and Yellow Queen. They were both out of Tenn. Blackie.
Robert knew dogs. He had been breeding and raising outstanding Walker Tree dogs and grade curs, along with fiest for many years. Because he could remember how good they were when he was a boy, and how good Rough was at the time, he decided to try and raise some true Old Time Mt. Curs. Robert set out to get the best stock that could be found. He got a yellow female from Ariel Baker of Sparta, TN. Mr. Baker had been raising Mt. Curs for years. This dog was Becky. He bought a male out of Tenn. Blackie and Baker's Black Brindle Bob. Tenn. Blackie was out of Catoosa Tiger that A.D. Ledbetter said was one of the best and truest Mt. Curs. Blackie was the sister of Dan Boone and Queen. They were a full brother-sister cross. Another female he got was out of Baker's Jane. She and Becky were out of Tug.
When Robert went to breed Blondie to Walker's Buck, he was actually looking for Baker's Bandit. Bandit was out of Tug but died, so he bred her to Bandit's son. Walker's Buck was the sire of Gold Nugget, Yellow Bob, and Blondie II. The reason he was looking for the Tug blood was because the pups out of Jane and Becky treed at 4 months old, and were all tree dogs. This is where the yellow Blondie strain got its start. Tug was out of Tenn. Bob and Bob was owned by Clarence Wilson. Clarence has been responsible for many good Mt. Curs and has not received the recognition which he deserved. We certainly want to thank Clarence for all he has and is doing for the Mt. Curs and the KSBA.
Tenn. Mt. Blondie was out of Baker's Brindle Bob and Lawson's Sue. Sue was out of Rough and Screak. Screak was borrowed from Kenneth Jones. Blondie was bred to several males and she always produced outstanding pups. Besides Rough and Walker's Buck, she was bred to Frostie Joe which produced Blondie III. She was bred several times to Yellow Jack. Jack was a small yellow dog out of Dozer and Smokie. Dozer was out of Rough and Baker's Black Jewel. Champ got only a few litters of pups. He was castrated by a wild boar. Frostie Joe wasn't even born when this happened. Frostie Joe's mother was the female out of Baker's Jane and Brindle Bob. That made Frostie Joe old Tug's grandson. He looked a lot like old Tug. Cos Walker owned Tug in his later years.
Robert likes any color dog as long as it will perform. He has always looked at performance first when considering to breed a dog. Tenn. Mt Poncho was a brindle dog. He was out of Tenn. Mt. Blondie and Rough. Midnight Sally was black and a littermate to Tenn. Mt. Blondie. You will also see Kemmer's Blondie on a lot of pedigrees. She also was a sister to Tenn. Mt. Blondie and Midnight Sally. She was an older dog when Robert got her from a friend that was a professional hog hunter. In her day she was one of the best in the country. There was also a big red dog called Big Red. He was a littermate to the two Blondies and Sally. He was used as a stud dog.
Robert bred Midnight Sally to Jeff, and these two reproduced many outstanding pups. Jeff was black with brindle trim. Rick Patterson, Violet Atkinson and Oliver Passmore are fond of these black dogs. There are many brindles from all crosses that people are still partial to. Robert bred some Blue dogs, In one night his Blue male,female and their eight pups died. This ended his Blue dog production.
This could go on for many pages, but we just wanted you to see how Robert took the same dogs, all OMCBA registered, and bred them to get what he has now. In the first two yearbooks of this association, you can see pictures of all the dogs talked about here. It is easy to see how a Kemmer Stock Mt. Cur can be any color.
The main thing Robert did was to breed these different dogs in such a way as to get what he has today. Other people have taken what he has produced and raised good dogs. Most people think of Kemmer Stock as Yellow, but there are many colored dogs that qualify to be Kemmer Stock. It is a proven fact that the Blondie strain of dogs is one of the best. They will excel at about anything if treated properly and fairly.
The Kemmer Stock Mt. Cur Breeders Association is made up of interested persons wanting to breed and work for the betterment and preservation of the Kemmer Stock Mt. Cur in general. We hold no ill will towards anyone. We want to cooperate with all, and be treated with respect by all. We will treat and have always treated others with respect. We will not be "put upon" and do whatever is necessary to uphold our good name and to keep that good name.
When I started writing this we aimed to end it here. After consideration of the many questions asked of us, we have decided to incorporate some of the answers we have given. We hope this will help you breed and understand better KSMC dogs. The three basic colors are yellow, black and brindle. There are many color variations of this, such as blue, or chocolate and almost white. There is and will continue to be a lot of debate about color. Color doesn't tree a thing. About all it does is add to the interest one has in a particular animal. I don't breed for color. I do have my color preference. In this section we will deal with the pros and cons of particular variations.
There can be a rainbow of colors in a litter. To breed for a color can cause one to do a lot graying and hair loss. The early pioneers really didn't breed for color, performance was the only consideration. As the Mt. Cur evolved, and the different organizations evolved, some colors were chosen over others. Robert Kemmer's Tenn. Mt. Blondie was yellow, as was Gold Nugget and Yellow Bob. This is one reason why there are so many Kemmer Stock Mt. Curs that are yellow. Many think that a KSMC must be yellow.
Robert bred all colors as you have seen in the previous writings. One of his best stud dogs was Poncho. He was brindle out of Blondie and Rough. Jeff was black and brindle trim. He was bred to Midnight Sally several times. They raised several black daughters that Robert kept. Because of untimely deaths, none lived very long. A male, Bandit, was used by several people for a stud dog. Robert had a pair of blue brindles. Both died at an early age. During all this, there were many brindles. Cooner was a black brindle but would throw yellows. Brindle remains a popular color and is the easiest to breed for, but many times in the KSMC dogs, there will be brindle trim on many blacks.
There has been much said about the white trim on many KSMC's. There will usually be some white. There are, and always will be some that don't like white, and some that do like the white. It is usually said that a dog shouldn't have more than 1/3 of the body white. We don't have this in our breed standard. We just say "a small amount of white is not objectionable". You will see many with white chest and white feet. Again it can vary from small amounts to much. White can go halfway up the legs or more with ring necks and blazed faces.
When breeding the yellow dogs, there have been some that were almost white. Some have only a small amount of darker hair on their ears and down the back. A.D. Ledbetter called these "Buttermilk Buckskin". This is simply a color phase of yellow in the Mt.Curs. We have pictures of Chester Clark and his two sons, Ted and Mike, with two of these Buttermilk Buckskins that they produced from Clarence Wilson in the early 70's. These two dogs were true Mt. Curs from one of the premier breeders. These dogs color phases are a true part of our history and heritage.
Again, performance must be kept first in mind when breeding. There is a strain of Mt. Curs that have a lot of white. A lot of hunters call it chrome and like it. Their performance is excellent and that is their main consideration. These dogs seem to have a rough disposition. You must let them know who is the boss at an early age. The only way you will get blue is to be sure both parents have the blue recessive gene. It is an impressive and unusual color. Again, you must breed for hunting ability first.
There is no one word of caution when breeding for short tails or dew claws. If you consistently breed for short tails, you will eventually get dogs with no tails. If you breed two of these, you will get some pups with part of their vertabrae missing and they will be deformed. Dew claws can be bred for, but you end up with a foot full of dew claws. It will make it hard for them to walk. Even if you breed for dew claws, use caution. Too much of anything can be bad. You always breed for ability first.
The bottom line is, you must breed for ability first. This is the only reason to ever breed dogs. We must always try to reproduce better dogs than the generation before. If you can't breed better than old so-and-so then we had better re-evaluate our breeding program.