I find it funny how most working dog breeds are pretty cut-and-dry, they do exactly what it says on the label, but with hunting dogs it gets all No Such Thing As A Fish.
Like herding dogs herd, right? And shepherd dogs herd sheep. They make the flocks move where you want them to go. Some nip at their heels, some just use scare tactics, but their whole job is to make the flocks move. They run around them going hehe get relocated, idiots.
Guard dogs guard. Sure there's the patrolling alarm dogs whose whole job is to go around and supervise that nothing is out of place, and there's the four-legged security guard type that make sure that either the intruder leaves the premises on their own or with several limbs removed, but the principle is still pretty simple. This Is My House, My People, Our Livestock, And You Can Fuck Off.
But hunting dogs? Are we talking about the mushy temperament eager-to-please soft-mouthed retriever who can hold an egg in their teeth without breaking it? A bear dog that fucks off into the woods to find big game the size of a truck and then barks to keep it in place until the hunter with a gun can get there and deal with it? The noble dachshund that is specifically tube-shaped and audacious-natured in order to bolt into tunnels to go badger a badger in its own damn house? Or a pointer, who points.
My boyfriend's family's dogs are a very rare seal hunting breed, that are no longer used to hunt seals. They make pretty good alarm dogs, though, and for breaking your ear drums.
Or do you mean greyhounds, who seem to do very little, unless you turn you back on them for 2 seconds and they see a rabbit. By the time you look back, they are gone
Or setters, which on smelling prey... Sit down.
