Ain’t Nothing Like a Hound Dog

I’ve always preferred the company of dogs—and the old timers they tend to hang around. As a child, I loved hearing my Uncle Cecil Plott recall his days bear hunting in the Great Smokies with the legendary Mark Cathey, and how Cathey’s loyal Plott hounds would not leave their master’s side, even after his death. 

Hundred-year-old Granville Calhoun shared tales of his days fishing and hunting on Hazel Creek. His stories of the colorful bear-hunting moonshiner, Quill Rose, and his incredible Plott dogs—which were so well trained they did not require leashes—never ceased to amaze me. 

The chance to go to Plott Creek and visit with family members Henry “Von” Plott and his renowned Plott dogs, or over to Maggie Valley to see Herbert “Hub” Plott and his legendary hounds, felt like a trip to Disneyland. Even today, more than 40 years later, their stories (and those dogs of theirs) remain vivid in my memory.

I still laugh at the folksy wisdom of Von Plott in describing his dog-training techniques and the proper age to begin hunting a dog on big game:

“Our dogs have it bred in them. It’s instinct. They pretty much train themselves. The first bear he smells, he’ll take after it! He’ll know what to do when he is big enough. You just have to help them along, put them in the right place at the right time—but not too early. Let me ask you something, son. You wouldn’t send a boy your age out to fight a full grown man, would you? Hell, no. You ain’t a man yet, you ain’t ready. It’s the same with a dog—he needs to be at least a year old before I put him on a bear.”

I remember Hub Plott gently warning me to avoid petting one of his dogs, Leroy, who was bad to bite. Or as Hub put it: “Old Leroy is a one-man dog. No one can handle him but me, and he will not let anyone else touch me or anything I own. Leroy will take the fight to a bear or hog!” 

Uncle Cecil Plott valued the breed’s intelligence, saying, “Plott hounds are just plain smart. These dogs have a head full of sense.”

What boy wouldn’t want one of these dogs? Even better than the stories was actually getting to lead my uncle’s own Plott dogs on childhood hunts, and later owning and breeding my own hunting dogs whose lineage can be traced back to the original family stock. 

EVEN AS A CHILD, I understood that the Plott hound originated with our family. It was our dog from the start. The tale of the breed’s Germanic origins and 18th-century migration to the North Carolina frontier is a story like no other. Here in the Great Smoky Mountains, the Plott hound established its reputation as a multipurpose dog. 

The Plott hound has been the official state dog of North Carolina since 1989, and for decades all the major kennel clubs have recognized the breed. Yet this unique canine remains somewhat of an obscurity even among avid dog lovers. Plott dog enthusiasts debate the exact origins of the animal and the correct breed standard.

The story I was raised on—the one that has been passed down in the Plott family for almost three centuries—is also the version most widely accepted by breed historians. My third-great grandfather, clan patriarch (Johannes) George Plott, arrived in North Carolina from Germany sometime around 1750 with five of his father’s prized hunting dogs. George’s son, Henry Plott, first brought the dogs to the Great Smoky Mountains region when he settled in Haywood County about 1800. Subsequent generations of Plott family members, friends, and supporters have continually raised and hunted with the dogs in and beyond the Old North state ever since.

Breed icon and Plott family member Henry “Von” Plott (1896-1979) briefly explained the origins of the dog like this in 1976:

“They (the Plott family) first developed the dogs in Germany. I don’t know what their name for the Plott dog was in German or exactly what they came from. I wasn’t there. But when the old man (Johannes George Plott) brought them here, they named them after him—they called them Plotts. They used the dogs to hunt big game over there. So these dogs have been here more than 200 years. But the old man surely had some idea of what he had. He figured they’d be worth something to him—and they sure as hell have been worth something to him, and us too!” 

Some historians, however, adamantly argue that the Plott family brought no dogs with them at all to America, and instead used their superb hunting and animal husbandry skills to originate and develop the breed entirely on the American frontier after their arrival. 

But there is one thing on which all Plott enthusiasts can agree: The Plott bear hound was an integral part of survival on the early American frontier. These remarkably athletic, brindle-colored hounds quickly proved themselves invaluable to their owners. Hunter, herder, protector and—the Plott hound did it all.

Led by contemporary breeders such as Ira Jones, Gerald Jones, Mike Mehaffey, Floyd West, Andy Blankenship, Doug West, Roy Clark, Spanky Holt, Clydeth Brown, Jerry Gosnell, and others, the Plott hound still reigns as the world’s premier big-game hunting dog. 

Since 2007 at least five books have been published about, or related to, the Plott hound, and the story of the dog is now included as part of the fourth-grade curriculum in North Carolina’s public schools. In 2009 the Plott hound received a state historical marker in Haywood County—only the second marker devoted to an animal in the 75-year history of the monuments. That same year the History Channel featured the hound on a nationally televised show.

The breed also claims a nationally recognized festival, held each June at the festival grounds in Maggie Valley, North Carolina (see “Dog Days of Summer,” at right). PlottFest has grown leaps and bounds since its launch in 2012 and has raised nearly $50,000 for a local charity over the past two years alone. The Southeastern Tourism Association recognized the 2014 festival as one of the region’s top 20 events in June.

The 2015 Plott hound is a service dog, a trained police canine, a search-and-rescue animal, and an award-winning purebred that competes at the prestigious Westminster Dog Show. All the while the Plott hound perpetuates its global standing as a hunter, including at nationally sanctioned hunting competitions and bench shows held regularly across the country. Western North Carolina claims an AKC agility champion Plott hound, owned by Landen Gailey of Hendersonville. Plott dogs recently appeared in the movie The World Made Straight based on the novel by Ron Rash.   

Never in their wildest dreams could my ancestors have imagined that their family dogs would achieve the worldwide fame that the Plott breed enjoys today. I think they would be proud of that acclaim—but prouder still that their dogs, and their family legacy, remain synonymous with these mountains more than two centuries later. 

The next generation of mountaineer Plott enthusiasts seem equally committed to carrying on the breed’s heritage. In the words of Ira Jones of Whittier, North Carolina: “We inherited something very special. Something nearly perfect in every way. We don’t need to change it. Our responsibility is to carry it forward into the future and not mess it up. If it’s not broken, there is no need to fix it.”

Dog’s Best Friend: An Oral History

After returning home from World War II, Taylor Crockett (1908-1996) devoted his life to breeding Plott hounds and big-game hunting in Western North Carolina. Crockett, also a respected breed historian, recalled that the early mountain settlers valued their dogs as herders, hunters, trackers, and ferocious family protectors. Stories abound of these heroic hounds defending the lives of their frontier masters. Crockett shared a tale of his own:

“When my brother was just a toddler I had an old Plott female that would take care of him. We lived on this farm and had big old turkey gobblers and geese and chickens running around, and big old sow or bull might get out too. You had to really watch kids, you know? My brother would get out of sight, but I didn’t have to worry, because that old Plott female would stay right with him. And if a chicken, bull, man, or anything else got near him, why, she’d put it in high gear!”

It takes an equal amount of grit to hunt bear or big game of any kind, and according to “Big” George Plott, the Plott dog and their owners had no shortage of that:

“Our dogs had to stay with the bear at the tree. This breed of dog won’t quit, he may get clawed and chewed but he will be back next week. It is one with plenty of guts. The man who isn’t game isn’t fit to have him.”

Modern-day hunter and dog breeder C.E “Bud” Lyon was close friends and hunted often with Von Plott, Gola Ferguson, and Taylor Crockett. Lyon has raised and hunted Plott hounds for more than half a century. Fierce tenacity is what makes the dogs special, in his words:

“One thing you could always count on with a Von Plott–bred Plott hound, was that it would strike a bear trail and stay on it. And stay and stay and stay. There was just no quit in his dogs.”

Graham County native Dewey Sharp (1909-2008) hunted bear with Plott hounds in Western North Carolina for 80 years. Here’s how he described his tenacious Plott dogs:  

“The Plotts were aggressive; there was no back-up in them. They were real bad to fight a bear to the death and they would not stop until either the dog or the bear was dead. Yet they were gentle with kids, protective of them, and as loyal as the day is long. Back then we had fences to keep livestock out of fields. You used dogs to herd animals back home from free-range grazing. They could do it all.” 

John Jackson has raised and hunted Plotts originating from the Taylor Crockett kennels for over 25 years. Like many experts, Jackson believes that the dog’s keen intellect is their primary advantage:

“The most impressive quality of these outstanding dogs however, was not their ability to readily and fiercely mix it up with large and dangerous animals, but rather their intelligence. The dogs seemed to have an innate ability to bond with their owners and seemed to possess the unusual capability of knowing what the hunter was thinking or needed. There was a unique bond between these dogs and their masters that few other breeds had.”

Jake Waldroop was another notable bear hunter and Plott dog man who lived in Nantahala, North Carolina. His family obtained their first Plott hounds in the late 1800s. He summarized the multifaceted talents of the old-time Plott dog:

“They was good for hunting just about anything. If there wasn’t no bear for them to go after, why, they’d curl up a coon. They’d run wildcats some and they could find right where a wolf was. Them Plott hounds was just jacks of all trades!”

Dog Days of Summer

Held annually at the Maggie Valley festival grounds, PlottFest promises juried crafts, trout fishing, fine food, great music, and even greater dogs. Festival goers can watch officially sanctioned dog shows and a hound agility demonstration, learn about the rescue organization Wayward Plotts, and meet this article’s author, Bob Plott, who will be on hand signing books and sharing Plott history. Day passes available; $25 for both days. www.plottfest.org

Traits of a Leader

The American Kennel Club describes the Plott hound as a “hunting hound of striking color that traditionally brings big game to bay or tree,” noting that “the powerful, well-muscled, streamlined Plott combines courage with athletic ability.”

Personality: Intelligent, alert, confident.

Noted for: Stamina, endurance, agility, determination, and aggressiveness when hunting.

Size: Males weigh about 55 to 65 pounds; females 55 pounds. 

Looks like: Ears are rounder and set higher on the head than a traditional hound, with hazel or brown eyes. Athletic in build without the droopy ears or folds of loose skin often associated with bloodhounds, the Plott hound is renowned for its glossy, brindle-colored coat, which in some cases gives the dog an almost tiger-striped appearance.