Understanding Drive Behavior

Understanding Drive Behavior

By Robert Forto, PhD

Understanding Drive Behavior in Dogs

Instinctive behaviors, those our dogs have inherited from their ancestors and that are useful in the training process, can be grouped into three categories-Prey, Pack and Defense-collectively called Drives. Each one of these is governed by a basic trait. Every dog is an individual who comes into the world with a specific grouping of genetically inherited, predetermined behaviors. How those behaviors are arranged, their intensity and how many component parts of each drive the dog has will determine temperament, personality, suitability for the task required and how the dog perceives the world.

Behaviors in Each Drive

Prey Drive includes those inherited behaviors associated with hunting, killing and feeding on prey. It is activated by motion, sound and smell. Behaviors associated with prey drive are seeing, hearing, scenting, tracking, stalking, chasing, pouncing, high-pitched barking, jumping up, biting, killing, pulling down, shaking, tearing and ripping apart, carrying, eating, digging and burying.

You see these behaviors when a dog is chasing a cat or gets excited and barks in a high-pitched tone as the cat runs up a tree. Your dog may also shake and rip apart soft toys and bury dog biscuits in the couch.

Pack Drive consists of behaviors associated with being part of a pack, including reproduction. Our dogs are social animals that evolved from the wolf. To hunt prey mostly larger than themselves, wolves have to live in a pack, which means adhering to a social hierarchy governed by strict rules of behavior to assure order. An ability to be part of a group and fit in is important, and in the dog translates itself into a willingness to work with humans as part of a team.

Pack Drive is stimulated by rank order in the social hierarchy. Physical contact, playing and behaviors associated with social interaction with another dog, such as reading body language, and reproductive behaviors such as licking, mounting, washing ears and all courting gestures are part of pack drive. The ability to breed and to be a good parent is also part of the pack drive.

A dog with many of these behaviors is one that follows you around the house, is happiest with you, loves to be petted and groomed and likes to work with you. The dog may be unhappy when left alone, which can express itself as separation anxiety.

Defense Drive is governed by survival and self-preservation and consists of both Fight and Flight behaviors. It is more complex because the same stimulus that can make a dog aggressive (Fight) can also elicit avoidance (Flight) behaviors, especially in the young dog.

Fight behaviors tend to not be fully developed until the dog is over two years of age, although tendencies toward these behaviors will be seen at an earlier age. They can be observed in Bully, the dog that “stands tall,” stares at other dogs and likes to “strut his stuff.” Bully will stand his ground or go toward unfamiliar things, guard his food, toys or territory from other dogs or people and make dislike being petted or groomed. Bully is the one that will lie in front of doorways or cupboards, and his owner walks around Bully because he would not move on his own. These are all Defense Drive (Fight) behaviors.

Flight behaviors demonstrate that the dog is unsure. Hackles that go up the full length of the body-not just the neck-hiding or running away from a new situation, a dislike of being touched by strangers or general lack of confidence are all Flight behaviors. Freezing (not going forward or backward) can be interpreted as inhibited Flight behavior.

Personality Profile for Dogs

To help us understand how to approach each individual dog’s training, we cataloged ten behaviors in each Drive that influences the dog’s responses useful to us in training, and created the Personality Profile. The ten behaviors chosen are those that most closely represent the strengths of the dog in each of the Drives. The Profile does not pretend to include all behaviors seen in a dog nor the complexity of their interaction.

The results of the profile, will tell you about your dogs drives, this will in turn give you a good starting point for tailoring a training program to your dog’s needs. You can then make the use of the dog’s strengths, avoiding needless confusion and greatly reduce the time it takes to train the dog.

Evaluating the Profile

When completing the profile, keep in mind that it was devised from a house dog or pet with an enriched environment, perhaps even a little training, and not a dog tied out in the back yard, or kept solely in a kennel. Such dogs have fewer opportunities to express as many behaviors as a house dog.

Answers should indicate those behaviors your dog would exhibit if he had not already been trained to do otherwise. For example, did he jump on people or the counter to steal food before he was trained not to do so? Other behaviors are, in turn, only seen in a training context (for example during distraction training).

The Fight part of the Defense Drive does not fully express itself until the dog is mature, around two to four years of age, depending on the breed, although tendencies toward those behaviors may be seen earlier. Young dogs tend to exhibit more Flight behaviors than older dogs.

Of course this is just an introduction to the subject of Drive behaviors in dogs. At Denver Dog Works we use a balanced/natural approach to dog training. This is different than most of the big-box-corporate –store-training schools that so many are used to. In the balanced/natural method we spend a lot of time with the client and their dog before we even start training. We conduct a complete evaluation of the dog. In this evaluation we compile a complete history, give the dog the temperament/personality profile, figure out what the training goals are for the handler/owner and write down (realistic) expectations. We then tailor a training program to the individual dog, not some cookie cutter training program where every dog is trained the same way. We are so confident in our evaluation process that it is considered “intellectual property” by the State of Colorado.

If you would like to have your dog one of the best trained dogs in the world or if you would just like to talk about any of our programs please give Denver Dog Works a call at 303-578-9881 or send us an email at train@denverdogworks.com

Citation: Jack Volhard’s Personality Profile for Dogs

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Dr. Robert Forto is the training director of Denver Dog Works and The Ineka Project. Dr. Forto is the host of a weekly program, The Dog Doctor Radio Show, every Saturday. Dr. Forto can be reached through his website at http://www.denverdogworks.com