A little background on treeing fiests

[NCHillbilly]

When I was growing up, almost every yard around here had at least a couple of fiests running around. They would keep an eye on the place, and would generally tree just about anything, from squirrels to possums to coons to bears. Over the years, they have just disappeared. You hardly ever see one any more.

 

[mizzippi jb]

All my folks call em "fiestes" plural lol. The old timers always had a couple running around in SE ga too.

 

[stonecreek]

Jaybird was a good one. Prob the most famous. He had another one. Ole Tom. Was a road hunter pretty much. Cruising the roads on a golf cart and the dog wod work both sides of the road due to George and his buds getting older and not able to walk several miles

Reviving an old thread today but found some pics of Billy Jack that I have mentioned before . Strong Jaybird line top and bottom. A true fiest in every ounce of his body. These pics would have been early 90s . The kid in the pic is Jake who is a grown man now and his daddy was a fervent coon hunter.

 

[mizzippi jb]

Awesome! These are some of red bluff Tom's grandkids. Kinda thinking I'm gonna keep the Lil gyp on my left shoe.

 

[stonecreek]

Great looking pups right there.

 

[mizzippi jb]

Look close at their tails. Notice the little dark dot on the topside of all of em close to the base? I've never noticed it before. I'll have to ask my dad and uncle if it's an inherited trait

 

[NCHillbilly]

All my folks call em "fiestes" plural lol. The old timers always had a couple running around in SE ga too.

I can't post the name most folks around here called them. Fiestes was the last word of three, that signified male virility.

 

[stonecreek]

Found another pic of Billy. Just about every dog I got I use on deer and this is one Billy recovered gut shot up in Andersonville a long time ago.

 

[ucfireman]

I had rat terriers for a number of years. The 1st one I got I bought over in Collinsville Alabama. I remember there were lots of "Fiests" back up on the hill. Looked just like my rat terrier.
I wonder are they the same?
I had 6 total. Female would hunt anything that moved. Male that was a wild about ball playing. 2 females and a large male that were just dogs and a little female that loved chasing squirrels but never hunted them.
All between 13-30 lbs.

 

[stonecreek]

Back in the 80s I had several Jack Russels that were cross bred with true fiests. All were decent tree dogs. Opened on track but not very vocal on tree. Each had top level prey drive no reverse gear. Fun dogs. Had a wire haired gyp I got out of Webster County that was a really good blood tracking dog. I really liked them little dogs.

 

[gawildlife]

I had rat terriers for a number of years. The 1st one I got I bought over in Collinsville Alabama. I remember there were lots of "Fiests" back up on the hill. Looked just like my rat terrier.
I wonder are they the same?
I had 6 total. Female would hunt anything that moved. Male that was a wild about ball playing. 2 females and a large male that were just dogs and a little female that loved chasing squirrels but never hunted them.
All between 13-30 lbs.

Its been said that all rats are feist but not all feist are rats.

Historically feist is a type not a pure breed.
The type may be made up of several breeds such as cur, beagle, hound, bird dog, spitz, laika, small bull, and of course terriers to make up a type. Many old time breeders had their own secret recipes to make up dogs to fit local need. By this stage most feist bloodlines are pretty much fixed in type and performance so the process of closing the books as a breed has begun in the mountain feist and treeing feist as two different breeds. Though many still do a little mixing for their own use.

 

[SC Hunter]

@stonecreek I remember back late 90's early 2000's Thomas Holloway had a Jack Rat female that he bred with a true male Feist. I remember clear as day he sold those puppies and a guy in Terrell County bought 1, a little male. I later witnessed that male dog over in Terrell County tree a coon with the walker dogs and bay a 250 pound boar hog in the same night. I've never seen a dog so gritty and with a prey drive so strong.

 

[Thunder Head]

So whats the main differences between a Mountain and treeing Feist?

 

[gawildlife]

So whats the main differences between a Mountain and treeing Feist?

Inquiring minds want to know.
By UKC breed standards the ears. Mountain, erect preferred by any acceptable. Treeing, no preference.
Funny thing many mountain I look at have flop cur ears, can we say mullins.
But some reading between the lines some think their's are more pure or something. Some don't like cur in them and others don't like rat in them.
But I'm not party to any of it and wanting to know as well.

 

[gawildlife]

Personally I like tipped ears and am not fond of brindle.

 

[gawildlife]

Could care less on docked or full tail as long as it isn't a flag or curled spitz tail.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

Only difference between Mountain Feist and Treeing Feist is the words.

 

[stonecreek]

@stonecreek I remember back late 90's early 2000's Thomas Holloway had a Jack Rat female that he bred with a true male Feist. I remember clear as day he sold those puppies and a guy in Terrell County bought 1, a little male. I later witnessed that male dog over in Terrell County tree a coon with the walker dogs and bay a 250 pound boar hog in the same night. I've never seen a dog so gritty and with a prey drive so strong.

Thomas had a variety of rats most bench legged dogs that were gritty. I got a couple rats out of Preston from a lady that were real leggy and rough dogs. It’s funny that you mention Thomas just had a dog hauler from Tennessee here a couple weeks ago that hauled many a Gascon hound from Thomas place to up north.

 

[SC Hunter]

Thomas had a variety of rats most bench legged dogs that were gritty. I got a couple rats out of Preston from a lady that were real leggy and rough dogs. It’s funny that you mention Thomas just had a dog hauler from Tennessee here a couple weeks ago that hauled many a Gascon hound from Thomas place to up north.

I need to find some pictures of some of his dogs from way back when. I talked to him the other day about his dogs and that honest Abe dog he had that he sold to a fella and then the dog won a treeing contest the same day. ? Made him proud of his dogs for sure.