Should we encourage hunting instincts in a family pet? Controversial

I know this could be slightly controversial and I may even be told countless times that I'm incredibly wrong but...

if a hound uses its hunting instincts to pull, run away and ignore their owner should we encourage it? I have no problem with my puppy sniffing the floor and following a scent, but i DO have a problem when it leads to her ignoring me and legging it because she can smell something.

She is never going to be used for hunting, she is solely a family pet but I am continuously told that if she is sniffing to just leave her and let her get on with it but it is dangerous as the field is near a road and if she is just following a scent is very likely to just run out into the road to get to where the scent leads.

what do you guys think? Not necessarily about my beagle, but about hounds using their hunting instincts in general.

what about teaching her Scent Games & tracking (WT Style)

Google "scent games for dogs" see what comes up, by doing this you will be letting her use her nmose , but it will be controlled & you will be involved.

working trials tracking

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=riqljzseIy0

Well, thats the thing about hounds/or any dog really..you cannot curb their instincts completly!!
You can train them to be obediant, but when their natural instinct kicks in, what do you do? IMO you cannot tell them off for it.

I think that giving dogs a job to do is fantastic for the more active ones, othrewise you have to be aware that they will try and follow a scent, or run after a rabbit or whatever it may be.
And be extra careful where you let them off lead.

Does a hound really want to be a pet or does it want to do what it is bred to do ?
Maybe it lies in the individual.

My parents beagles can never go off lead as when they get their nose to the ground they are off.

Poppy once became so obsessive with sniffing the ground on walks that she used to get back with a bleeding muzzle.

I personally think that dogs should be allowed to do what they are bred for in the home, so they are less likely to associate it and want to do it in the wild, if that makes sense.

Woody is only a puppy but we play lots of find and retrieve games with him and so far, despite wanting to chase birds, he hasn't shown any signs of anything "springer" like. Although I do worry one day that he will just sniff out a bird and go for it.

I would not allow that though and we work REALLY hard on training his obedience, not only to come when called but to be calm around exciting things.

I'm not really sure if that's at all helpful, just my opinion really. ;o)

dito, taking the instincts your dog has and moulding it to suit you is a win win sinario for you both

I agree with you, Shona and Mishflynn, I think that as far as possible we should use a dogs instincts in a way that suits us, chanel them, if you will, into an acceptable form. So with a beagle, I would be playing lots of 'find it' games with lots of praise, sausage bits and play at the end to keep him motivated, and also short tracks with a jackpot find at the end, and a game.

I agree, if the dog has an acceptable outlet for its instincts then with training, we can expect if to behave when faced with temptation and look to us for direction.

or you could just not let her use her instincts in the field near the road?

or do a bit of tracking on a line?

People who have hunting dogs or gundogs - even ones who are bred for pet or show not work are on a hiding to nothing if they try to stop their dog doing what every instinct in its tiny obsessive single track brain is telling it to do.
Why not get a trainer that understands hunting dogs to help you.

Hello there, not sure if i'm going to be very helpful but i think its a inbred instinct that you can never quell totally. I have a greyhound but she is an ex-racer so its twice as bad !! she killed my next door neighbours cat (the cat was in our garden) which was an awful experience. I do let her off lead but only where there are no roads around and she has run off a couple of times when she has seen a squirrel or rabbit which of course she would but they are totally focused on the prey and go deaf to your calls. Sometimes I get more of a run than she does !!!! You have to use your common sense and assess your surroundings and work on recall !

Hounds are hounds, they are trainable but not in a way you would train a BC or GRT. They will envitably do what they want and a scent hound is particularly obstinate when he has a great sniff. I have a Basset and know that his main purpose in life is to sniff every blade of grass and hanging bush, if I stopped him doing that he would be miserable and not living the life he was bred to do. I am lucky that he doesn't go off and will follow me after the third call back and will wait on command, however I wouldn't let any of my dogs off the lead near a road anyway, even my GRT. I prefer to be safe than sorry.

we have a coonhound and we are in the same boat as you regarding the training we try little scent games in the garden like hiding food and toys and hope that she will look to us when she gets a scent eventually. we have only tried her off the lead once and she did come back after a few minutes but we are deffinately going to work on that