Shooting of hares

[masmiffy 82]

Stalemate!!

Mind went longer than we all thought!

[danw 1,748]

Ideation - fair comments. Constructive. I'll always listen to others but if i disagree i'll say so. Suppose i'll always stick up for the breed

 

Cheers, sorry for the rant earlier got out of bed on the wrong side today

 

Anyone fancy hare for tea?

 

 

 

OK I could have been somewhat more explanatory in my reply "prey drive " is only part of a group of drives that can be harnessed within a dog,There is a distinct difference in a dogs behaviour and demeanour when the prey or hunt drives are triggered

in its most simplistic imagine a pack of wolves tracking a prey item the prey drive is not engaged the hunt drive is as they are searching with their other senses for their meal and are receptive to outside influence once the meal is sighted though prey drive takes over smell/noise is irelevant sight alone will do, focus is held on the item in question and outside influence is ignored.

the hunt can take a long time so it would serve no purpose being in a heightened state such as when prey is engaged infact it would just waste energy so when hunting a more relaxed and calm attitude is taken this being the state we harness and use in gundogs the hunt drive not the prey drive.

 

if you look at the dogs demeanour a sight hound engaging prey will be head/up tail down and tense where as a gundog engaging hunt will be relaxed head down/tail up

 

gundogs do without doubt have prey drive but it is not as honed as in many other breeds hence my statement that they are well down the list, do they excel in their other drives well yes when it comes to the retrieve/hunt/play/ball and pack drives they are at the top of their game

 

As many will know on here I would defend gundogs to the last but when it comes to this the reality is they don't compare

 

its all the one drive, from the scenting aspect to finally the kill which will take a different form for a different breed, man has just manipulated the canine breeds to focus on certain elements of the hunt,

 

it goes from the scenting locating stalking chasing catching and killing , any and all of these elements have been increased or reduced according to man wishes,

 

to say that a labs drive is not as strong as a lurcher's is missing the point i feel, you ask a lurcher to retrieve game over and over from a sub zero lake in the middle of winter and do it with a smile on its face and he wont be long telling you to do it yourself, because its not what he's about,

 

try getting a dog to set, which is the beginning of the stalk, if not a gun dog ,if you think a setting dog is not in drive, he is very much in drive just because he can hold that frame of the hunt longer dont mean he is any less driven than a running dog,

 

The border collie a very driven dog , whom for the Shepard has disregarded the kill altogether, but i can see where your coming from because with sight hounds the chase and kill is paramount and the same as the kill for the terrier,

We have manipulated the dog for our needs but there are some highly driven dogs who can take their drive to such a level and still be able to reference their handler much like the gun dogs , protection dogs for example where no kill is involved at all,

, different strokes for different folks, but its all coming from the drive to make contact in one form or another,

 

 

nice thoughts but it would appear that they are at odds with the findings of every animal psychologist and professional trainer since Conrad Most, it is widely recognised that the drives are clearly defined not just one drive,and I don't' believe you took my point at all I didn't say a gundog was not driven I just disagree that it is driven by "Prey Drive" and since it is widely recognised that prey drive and hunt drive are two very different things then I stand by my statement.