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Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi
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To: Ilaine who wrote (23468)4/27/1999 8:26:00 PM
From: nihil  Read Replies (1) of 71178
 
Dogs have powerful, perhaps immutable instincts, that can be shaped by selective breeding. The wolf pack, which most experts think played a dominant role in the genetics of the domestic dog has a well-established pattern of behavior. The alpha male and female breed and no one else. All pack members feed the pups. Hunting instinct is the search for small game, like rats and mice. Pointing and honoring the point is instinctive wolf bird catching behavior. Fetching is running after game and biting it. Retrieving instinct is to return the catch to the den for the cubs or dominant alphas who eat first. Herding instinct is the pattern of wolves spacing themselves evenly around a pack of reindeer -- if there is only one dog he will move to the alternative points of the compass and keep the herd collected. Digging is digging out game and preparing the den. Dominance seeking is to establish order in the pack. Coming and Heeling to the Alpha Male is needed for hunting and discipline. All of these instincts are powerful in the wolf pack and in feral dogs. Emphasis on one single trait in breeding leads to expert specialization. A pointer rarely is a good herding dog -- he instinctively pins down the game. A collie is rarely a good hunter, he instinctively tries to round up game. A spaniel instinctively flushes game (and snaps at it) so hunters can get a shot at birds in the air (only sporting, you know!).
The big fierce dogs like mastiffs and wolf hounds are bred to run down big dangerous game (like wolves and man). All these traits are balanced in a wolf and contribute to it survival in the wild. Many are nuisances in dogs. And when bred out you get the King Charles Spaniel. Ugh!
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