Was your dog's strain originally bred to be a working animal?
Rat or fox hunting, retrieving downed game birds, shepherding livestock etc?
My very first dog was a "Smooth haired Fox Terrier", a strain originally bred for ratting or digging out earthed foxes.
At thirteen years old she had never seen a rat.
One day looking into our rear garden, this large river rat started across the garden. I opened the door and the dog ran out, then turned round waiting for me to throw her ball. Rat gone.
A couple of days later it appeared again. This time I held her up to the window pointing at the rat to be sure she saw it.
Her ears went up and when I let her out she had the rat before it went ten yards. Grabbing it straight at the kneck and killing it with one shake of the head.
Another of my dogs was a "Golden Retriever", he also was an eight week old pup when I got him and had never shown any inclination towards his "retrieving" instincts, except his ball when I threw it.
When he was six years old a big hobby of mine was radio controlled gliders, flying them off hill-side slopes and then bringing them around to land.
I started to take him with me and was amazed when on the first launch he started to run back and fore across the slope, always watching the aircraft. On coming in to land he ran up to it and went to pick it up until I shouted at him not to. There after he would run to it and stand, smiling at me and wagging his tail.
Do you have a dog that has shown its inherent abilities with out any formal training?
