Dog Instincts

BritChaser

BritChaser

Well-known member
What has a dog done that seemed unusual and based on instinct? Here is perhaps an example. Was grouse hunting in CO and camping with my brittany at about 10,000 feet. The tent was a three-person nylon dome-type. Crawled into the sleeping bag at 10 p.m. with the temp getting chilly. Being a three-person tent, there was plenty of room for the dog to pick a spot to curl up on. Here's the weird part and something he'd never done before: he curled up on top of my bony size 12 feet. Was that his instinct to keep his master warm?
 
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This may not be what you mean but I've always heard that a female with pups will nose out a pup to die if it is ever so slightly cooler than the rest. presumably to protect the rest of the litter. I have also heard that barking is always a communication/warning to humans and not a communication to other dogs like a wolf or coyote. Also, almost all dogs are born with a love for human contact, form a Chiwawa to the Mastiff. It's fascinating to me that we can go to the pound and get a dog that will be your best friend until death.
 
This has really piqued my interest.

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Sixteen-ish years ago, my cousin had two labs that were HIGHLY trained, amazing gun dogs. When the dogs were around 4 and 2 years old, he met his future wife. Drake and Avery didn't much care for the newest resident of their home. They were not aggressive towards her, they just gave her the "cold shoulder", in a big way. The only times those dogs were friendly to Abbie, was when she was within a day of delivering their first two children. It was like a light switch went off. He said they would sit at her feet and whine constantly, and follow her, right on her heels everywhere she went.
 
My dad used to talk about a stray that came to the house back in the 50's. It was a collie. My two older brothers were in grade school. You can imagine that my brothers fell in love with the dog. That dog would sit beside the highway and wait for my brothers to get off the school bus. Then she would take their sleeve in her mouth and pull them away from the highway. And yes, they called her Lasie!! Another collie story... One of my friends had a male collie. I knew the dog pretty well. I stopped at his house and the dog met me at the truck. I took a couple steps toward the house, and he promptly jumped in front of me and with snarling snapping teeth an inch from the family jewels backed me back to the truck. I called my buddy latter and told him about it. He said that his 12-year-old, only child daughter was home alone and that the dog would not let a man anywhere near the house when she was alone.
 
So the smartest dog I have ever owned was a Border Collie/ Blue Healer Named Lucy. When she was about two we bought half of my in-law’s property and built a house. Our properties together was about 7 acres. She learned quickly that they were part of her tribe and she would patrol the property protecting us. When any of us came home she would immediately go to the center and sit, watching for any dangers. Only after we were parked would she release and come great us. She was fierce and attacked anything that did not belong there. One my in-laws passed and we sold their house, she quit worry about the new owners and wouldn’t go down there. I miss her a great deal. She would have walked through fire for her people. It was great having her home when I was out of town working as I knew she had it covered.
 
carptom1 said:
So the smartest dog I have ever owned was a Border Collie/ Blue Healer Named Lucy. When she was about two we bought half of my in-law’s property and built a house. Our properties together was about 7 acres. She learned quickly that they were part of her tribe and she would patrol the property protecting us. When any of us came home she would immediately go to the center and sit, watching for any dangers. Only after we were parked would she release and come great us. She was fierce and attacked anything that did not belong there. One my in-laws passed and we sold their house, she quit worry about the new owners and wouldn’t go down there. I miss her a great deal. She would have walked through fire for her people. It was great having her home when I was out of town working as I knew she had it covered.
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awesome dog
 
Went out coon hunting with a friend who had a young Walker. Ran my female Weim also. My dog had been fighting coons in the fields/sloughs before and I wanted to see if she would run them. His young dog was comical because he would let out a bawl and it would startle him. We treed a couple that night in a few short hours. 1 up a tree and 1 in a hole. My female wouldn't bawl but she would howl whine bark when treed.
 
I was fishing at the local lake. When I arrived, there was a black and white border collie at the ramp. Came back to the ramp for lunch and it was still there. Shared my lunch with it and went back out for a few more hours. Came back and he was still there, so I was pretty sure someone dumped him. Loaded up the boat and drove off. A couple hundred yards and I looked in my rear view and he was chasing me down the road. I couldn't help it. He came home with me. He was the smartest dog I've ever seen. Learned to heel in one session. One day the neighbor kids came over and he nipped one as they were leaving. I couldn't believe it as he loved them. Next time they came over I watched closely as they were leaving. He positioned himself in front of them and was nipping at the bicycle tires. That's when I realized that he was trying to herd them back to the house.
 
My sister had a Chesapeake, he was a big old farm dog. Killed a lot of coons in the chicken house and a few coyotes in his day. Type of dog you didn’t want to get out of the truck if no one was home. When the kids were out in the yard I guess he’d kill snakes. Never heard of him killing one when no one was home or not outside, I guess they didn’t pose a threat to him.

The Chesapeake I have now is the smartest dog I’ve ever had. I always say she has a vocabulary of a thousand words and my Boykin knows two.
A couple or three years ago we were out hunting chickens and some cows were following us. I don’t know or like cows but it seemed like they had some bad intentions. I couldn’t get them to back down we retreated. I’d try to hold them off yelling and shaking my shotgun above my head sideways like an Indian war party. Until we could get to the fence she would run back and forth down the line keeping the bold ones at bay.
 
birddude said:
I was fishing at the local lake. When I arrived, there was a black and white border collie at the ramp. Came back to the ramp for lunch and it was still there. Shared my lunch with it and went back out for a few more hours. Came back and he was still there, so I was pretty sure someone dumped him. Loaded up the boat and drove off. A couple hundred yards and I looked in my rear view and he was chasing me down the road. I couldn't help it. He came home with me. He was the smartest dog I've ever seen. Learned to heel in one session. One day the neighbor kids came over and he nipped one as they were leaving. I couldn't believe it as he loved them. Next time they came over I watched closely as they were leaving. He positioned himself in front of them and was nipping at the bicycle tires. That's when I realized that he was trying to herd them back to the house.
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I think nipping is natural to border collies and herding breeds - how they manage non-compliant livestock
 
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birddude said:
I was fishing at the local lake. When I arrived, there was a black and white border collie at the ramp. Came back to the ramp for lunch and it was still there. Shared my lunch with it and went back out for a few more hours. Came back and he was still there, so I was pretty sure someone dumped him. Loaded up the boat and drove off. A couple hundred yards and I looked in my rear view and he was chasing me down the road. I couldn't help it. He came home with me. He was the smartest dog I've ever seen. Learned to heel in one session. One day the neighbor kids came over and he nipped one as they were leaving. I couldn't believe it as he loved them. Next time they came over I watched closely as they were leaving. He positioned himself in front of them and was nipping at the bicycle tires. That's when I realized that he was trying to herd them back to the house.
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The herding instinct was strong in mine too. She would do it to pretty much anyone that came over. She was also fairly protective of the homestead. This was before my wife had Amazon here everyday. I wouldn’t be able to leave her out now. Funny thing she had none of those characteristics when I would take out to a dog park. She was everyone’s friend there. It was like the park was not her responsibility and she didn’t care what happened there.
 
Carptom1: "This was before my wife had Amazon here every day." Can't stop laughing.
 
Have a friend who has a young Brittany. She is about 9 months old.His first pointing dog. Last night I saw him just after they came out of the field.He is walking her in some crp in a area that has quite a few pheasants. She is figuring out the pointing game and he is thrilled. He was just giddy telling me about her pointing birds. He says it's all Instinct and that seems crazy.
 
Weimdogman said:
Have a friend who has a young Brittany. She is about 9 months old.His first pointing dog. Last night I saw him just after they came out of the field.He is walking her in some crp in a area that has quite a few pheasants. She is figuring out the pointing game and he is thrilled. He was just giddy telling me about her pointing birds. He says it's all Instinct and that seems crazy.
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yep. the only training my Brits have needed for hunting is whoa and hand signals so as to facilitate quiet while afield.
 
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