Prey Drive

The prey drive is very similar to the hunting drive. Originally the prey drive grew out of the attempt not only to hunt game but also to catch and kill it to satisfy both the dogs’ own hunger and that of their young. This drive is also present in many pet dogs; however, it is now often focused on chasing toys. Chasing game is no longer taught to young dogs (except, of course, in trained hunting dogs), and the prey drive is now expressed most often in chasing, catching, and shaking articles to “death.”

Tracking Drive

The tracking drive is expressed in the willingness of the dog to follow a game track or pick up a human track (smelling with the nose on the soil), and in following that track with enthusiasm and perseverance. When the tracking drive, which can be directed to something hidden under the soil or snow, is decidedly present, then we speak of a passion for tracking.

Search Drive

By search drive we mean the dog’s interest in catching game (or missing people), not only by using its nose but also with the support of its eyes and ears. It follows the found odor enthusiastically by air scenting with a high nose in a determined way.

Figure 3.2 Dogs follow an odor by air scenting with their nose. They exhibit enthusiasm and great determination.

Bring Drive

In canines living in the wild, the bring drive is expressed, under the influence of the pack drive, by the dog picking up the prey or parts of it and bringing the prey to the lair, where the mother and young dogs are waiting.

Using the Bring Drive with Replacement Prey

The hunting, prey, tracking, search, and bring drives form a chain that takes care of getting the necessary food for the dog living in the wild. For our house pet, for which this problem of food acquisition no longer exists, these drives can show up independently of one another. Then we see, for example, that the hunting drive can be present without the prey drive, or that the bring drive has nothing to do with food.

The hunting drive of our dog, as well as the prey and bring drives, can be worked off by replacing prey with a toy, stick, ball, or, for Greyhounds, piece of rabbit skin. Given the prey and bring drives and some focused training, the dog can be trained to pick up and bring replacement prey to the handler, which is usually called retrieving.

Play Drive

The play drive is naturally present in the dog, particularly so in young dogs, but also in older dogs. This drive has a strong relationship with the motion and occupation drives. By play-skirmishing with pack mates or by playing with dead objects, the young dog learns to use and control its physical and mental skills and power. That way it can prepare itself without effort for the serious tasks of life. During play the dog learns all important forms of behavior for survival and pack life.

Pack Drive

Dogs striving for temporary or long-term group relationships demonstrate the pack drive. For most house pets, humans and human society become their pack. The human family replaces the pack and becomes the dog’s familiar social and family circle. In this pack the dog will then orient all its drives and instincts (in a somewhat altered form) toward living communally.