RedScorpion
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Aug 2011
Location: Northern Tier
Posts: 200 |
High Drive
What is your definition of high drive?
A few years ago, this topic was covered on the B&T boards and it brought out some very good thinking and intelligent responses, including those by L. Richard who contributes to Redbone threads from time to time (wanted to give credit where it is due). It really made me think about what we really are looking for in a good dog in the “drive” department. I think we all realized by the end of the thread that most of us were looking for a dog with characteristics somewhere in between what we have now and that hard going, “deep and lonely” dog that many use to describe a “top dog.” I think high drive = desire.
This topic has been brought up on numerous redbone threads many times and for a number of reasons, many very appropriate. Some redbones (as well as other breeds) are described as lacking drive and are lazy; I know that I have fought that kind in my litters and in purchased pups my whole life. If you have not had that problem and have found the answers, this thread is not for you. But before we can discuss drive in a dog, we must first settle in our minds what you are looking for; especially if you are a breeder.
Many things have become almost cliché in the coon dog world. High drive, for example, is sometimes described as “busting a hole in the dark,” “deep and alone” and “kicking dirt in your face.” I guess as long as the dog you are hunting does those things and still keeps hunting and tracking on his mind, these are OK and even desired, in some cases. I think that the geography where a person hunts has a lot to do with the definition that people use to describe “drive” and what kind and amount and type of drive they need. But you can breed these things in until that’s all that is done and the dog only will tree or chase game when it trips on it, usually very far from where turned loose.
In the terrain and geography that I hunt, “high drive” is witnessed in a dog that hustles and is always looking for game; treeing coon where and when you aren't used to and doing stuff the other dogs in the cast don't or can’t; being able to use all of that natural instinct to get after stuff and tree without it overwhelming them; being able to use their heads under situations where many dogs lose their heads; staying treed when three dogs burn a deer right past them because they know it is the right thing to do; staying treed when a screaming mouthed dog is treed right next to them; or treeing 4-6 coon on an average night when most guys are treeing 2-3, to me that's high drive. Or when a dog will take to water to continue tracking or because they smell one on the other side; or treeing coon at dawn after you hunted all night; or sticking with a track that other dogs quit; or it is a dog that is staying amped up and hustling all night. High drive is never in a lazy dog.
In my experience and in my geography and terrain, I don't see a lot of naturally high headed, wild running dogs that do those things ... I've done my share of chasing down dogs that run creeks, paths, and roads and eventually fall treed. Or those that will take an edge like a bird dog and won’t slow down until they are 800 yards away. That isn’t a useful kind of “drive” in my area.
What is your definition of “high drive?”
__________________
Home of the Red Solo Cup
Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged
|