Southern Indiana man: It took community to train dog champ

BUDDHA, Ind. (AP) - A southern Indiana man says it took a community effort to train a champion mountain cur hunting dog.

Raccoon hunter Darren Allgood said a half-dozen people ranging from grade-school kids to retired men helped him train T.R. Big Daddy Rip, which he bought from a friend in May, into the winner of the Original Mountain Cur Breeders Association's championship in Jamestown, Tennessee, on Dec. 4.

"He has been in the woods at least six nights a week since May," Allgood told The (Bedford) Times-Mail (http://bit.ly/1Yu3XxF )." If I couldn't do it, there was someone around who would do it."

The T.R. in the dog's name stands for Taylor Ridge, as in Taylor Ridge Mountain Kennel, which Allgood and his 19-year-old son Taylor operate on a limited basis at their home in Buddha, located about 85 miles south of Indianapolis. The Allgoods have about half a dozen dogs, raising two or three litters a year.

The 52-year-old Allgood said he bought the dog with the goal of winning the world coon hunting title championship.

"Kind of a bucket list type thing for me," he said.

He said the title came about because of the dog's prowess in the woods at night.

Allgood had two other dogs in the competition, but neither of them made it out of the first eliminations round.

He said while the hunting season for raccoons runs only for a couple of months in the winter, hunters have to train the dogs from mid-February until the middle of October.

Allgood's interest in mountain curs and coon hunting has been passed down from his mother's side of the family. His great-grandfather, his grandfather and his uncles hunted with mountain curs.

"None of them went as far with it as I have," he said.

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Information from: The Times-Mail, http://www.tmnews.com