Hunt drive - Page 1

One of the most important aspects of a German Shepherd that has strong "natural" hunt drive. Most narcotic work, explosives work, and patrol work requires good nose work from the dog. (patrol / police dogs use their nose far more often than their teeth). Even single purpose patrol dogs use their nose more often in searches, trailing, tracking, etc. so it would seem to me this is a very important part of the traits we wish to preserve in the breed. Should breeders today be concerned about keeping this strong? Is prey drive taught to track = hunt drive? Is this part of the balance we should be seeking with prey,defense, fight, drives. How about some insights?

Should breeders today be concerned about keeping this strong? YES
Is prey drive taught to track = hunt drive? No, this is genetic.
Is this part of the balance we should be seeking with prey,defense, fight, drives? YES
How about some insights?
Gustav, I think for most of the people on here they don't really know what hunt drive is or even how to do a basic test for it. In my opinion this may be one of the most important drives, if not the most important drive, for a working dog to have. As you wrote biting and fighting is rarely something that working dogs do in their careers compared to their other duties. Maybe you could go in to more detail to explain what you mean by hunt drive and how having it is a benefit in a working dog.

Noticed that with my pup at a few months old - he would track me down using his nose, footprint by footprint.  It was amazing to watch at a young age!

My male did not track til he was about 2 years old, then one day he put his nose down and never stopped since. To this day he uses his nose in building, areal, man hunting and other venues. I do article searches (scented byt whoever plants them) and he finds them all, covered in dirt, put up on tall trees, hidden in dithes) a must in the breed. Without it no SAR (urban tracking and such) dogs would be available. and that would be shame.

Wanted to add, most of the offspring I have seen out of him do the same, good innitial potential and then they wait  to the mental part to kick in too. My female had a 7 month break, refused to track, now she is an amazing tracker, box searches were figured out in one session, building searches are a combo of nose, ears and eye site, very nicely used resources.

It seems to me that true prey drive cannot exist without hunt drive. Without hunt drive the dog could only be an AMBUSHER of prey. Yesterday I was out with a Body daughter of mine (1 1/2 yr old). We were near a pear tree with a lot of brush and weeds under foot. She LOVES pears. She had her nose deep, quartering back and forth over about a eight or ten foot area. As I watched her, I spoke to her, she glanced over in acknowledgement without lifting her head, and continued her search. Did not dawn on me what she was hunting for until she pounced and came up with a beautiful pear! She carried it back down the hill to the house and ate it. That was natural procuring of rations and pure instinct. After all, that is the purpose of hunt drive, and finding food that isn't moving is invaluable. Might sound insignificant, but I like to see things like this.

Oh boy, think someone needs to define hunt drive.

dont be mean to me!

If you're talking to me, never! ;)

@ GSDpack.....good point about SAR dogs, another example of how important this trait is.
@OBGS.....I like all your answers and flushing out what Hunt drive is, may shorten the thread....lol I hope more people that know what it is weigh in, so that aspects arent missed, good examples will help others. I will say, imo, a dog that does sport tracking may or maynot have strong hunt drive.
@Joanro.....Certainly I think hunt drive can work in conjunction with prey, but I also think many strong prey dogs do not have hunt drive.
I think this can be very insightful for many people helping them look at their dogs perform.
I think Hunt drive is genetic as OBGS said, but in its natural form can be demonstrated through tracking, trailing, or a combination of both.

Domestication has the tendency to diminish instinct in an animal, so maintaining useful instincts, such as hunt (which has it's base in procuring food) is absolutely desirable. Like Gustav said, high prey drive dogs don't necessarily have hunt drive as well. So, that same female hunting for a pear for her own pleasure does also go into briars searching and also in the creek searching and finding submerged ball without prompting or quitting. I've seen dogs that would turn flips for the ball and as soon as it's out of sight, turn around and wait for someone to throw another.