Feist, originally bred to hunt squirrels, were separated into several breeds, often crossed with rat terriers.

Several Appalachian breeders chose black Feists and bred smaller to tree, 'ring' and retrieve squirrels.

In the 19th century a small type of dog developed in the mountainous regions of the Southeastern United States.

[1] Both the Treeing and Mountain Feist breeds are used to hunt small game, particularly squirrel and rodents, as well as raccoons, opossums, rabbits and for flushing birds.

[1][2] Originally they could be found in a very broad size range, being anywhere between 10 and 22 inches (25 and 56 cm) in height and 10 to 35 pounds (4.5 to 15.9 kg) in weight.