Blue Lacy Breed Dates Back To Frontier Days

Blue Lacy Breed Dates Back To Frontier Days LIVESTOCK DOGS Marlo Ondrej’s great-great-grandfather Frank Lacy and his three brothers developed the Blue Lacy breed in the 1800’s Since 1997 she has maintained the registry for the breed and she is a board member of the Texas Lacy Game Dog Association “The breed was developed to meet the needs of frontier life and be an all around working dog ” Ondrej says Those needs included everything from driving cattle and hogs to the stockyards to hunting for game to feed the family Research indicates that Blue Lacy dogs were bred from greyhounds scent hounds and wild dogs They are 18 to 22 in tall at the shoulder with very short hair The coat colors vary from a bluish light grey to dark red They often have white markings on the toes and chest “They are good family dogs with training and lots of exercise not as hyper as a bird dog They are more like a border collie in personality – without all the hair ” Ondrej says “They are so intelligent and need interaction and training starting at a young age You need to give them something to do ” People who don’t hunt or use them to herd livestock often give them agility training and they do well in competitions The Blue Lacy breed is also popular with trappers who use them as decoy dogs or to find where coyotes travel by watching where the dog marks his territory when it smells a coyote marking “I’ve always loved hunting and it’s important not to lose a wounded animal so recovery is important ” she says Though the breed’s numbers dropped when herding dogs were replaced by ATV’s they are coming back Currently about 5 600 dogs are in the registry The breed is hardy and average lifespan is 16 to 17 years Registered pups range from $350 to $800 depending on the breeder Ondrej says Trained adult dogs range from $1 500 to $8 500 To see the dogs in action she suggests attending a Lacy Fun Day event with exercises in treeing herding baying and blood trailing One is held in Georgia in the spring and three others are held in Texas The next one is Sept 6 at Bay City Fairgrounds in Bay City Texas Check out the website www lacydog com for more information Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Marlo Ondrej P O Box 999 Helotes Texas 78023 ph 210 288-0553; bluelacydogs@sbcglobal net; www lacyregistry com

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