Hunting and predation dogs

Ancient and primordial instinct that of predatory aggression leads our hunting dog to locate, chase, immobilize its prey. To distinguish the good hunting dog its ability to resist the instinct of killing and eating the prey. All thanks to centuries-old selections and training.

In recent decades there has been a tendency to forget that the dog, the faithful companion and friend of man, is after all nothing but a carnivorous predator that in some particular situations can feel a series of dormant instinctive attitudes awakening, especially if we speak of dogs used for hunting.

No dog is exempt from an instinctive and natural aggression, and among the many types found, one above all has been better studied and exploited by man over the centuries. We refer to the territorial one that allows the dog to become an excellent guard for houses, gardens, land, companies, etc. This instinctive aggression of the dog is malleable and predictable, man has managed to use it to his liking, but today we will be interested above all in predatory aggression and the speech to be made is of a completely different kind. When we talk about predatory aggression we are referring to a primordial instinct fundamental for the survival of the breed, which has led the dog for millennia to locate, chase, immobilize and kill its prey, and then feed on it. Even in the case of this kind of instinct, man has managed to get a grip on it, and through training and selections over centuries he has managed to exponentially develop some phases of natural predation, limiting or even eliminating the others, above all, it is good to underline it. consumption by the hunting dog of the captured prey. Thus, according to the terrain, the technique, the game to be chased, today particular breeds of hunting dogs are available that accompany the hunter with elegance and efficiency. or to the Irish greyhound, very quick in reaching the prey or to the brave and tenacious dachshunds and terriers. These attitudes, of course, have developed at the expense of others. As a rule, the excellent hunting dog has in fact totally lost the instinct to guard or defend the territory, or even the tendency to aggression between dogs.

This is because hunters need reliable, docile four-legged friends, which are well suited to training or hunting in packs, and in this field there is no room for instinctive aggression. Rightly there are exceptions, just think of the German Hound, an excellent hunting dog and excellent guard both for the territory and for the owner.

In any case, it is good to understand that predation is innate in the dog, and is often stimulated by reflex to the movement of the prey or even more simply by the vague perception of the wild by our four-legged friend. To attest to the fact that it is entirely a primordial and uncontrollable instinct is enough the behavior of many dogs that have a predatory tendency towards any moving object, be it a ball or a car.

Stimulating the predatory instinct in an unnatural way is strongly discouraged for the owner who cares about the health, both mental and physical, of his dog. Subject to this kind of stimuli are the dogs that closed in fences, are placed in front of a comings and goings of people and cars. L'predatory instinct of the animal will lead him to chase the prey as far as he can, triggering a situation of intense stress given the frequent repetition of chases and shots, certainly unlikely in nature. The advice is therefore to arrange your dogs in sheltered places away from the chaos of the city and the daily comings and goings and to give them the opportunity to fully satisfy their predatory instinct. What's better for a hound than following the tracks left by a wild rabbit?