DuckTales, Dogs and Drive: A brief comparison of dogs and children
I saw this question to Frank Angones “What will it be like teaching the kids drive?” And I wanted to make a dog joke because I have been learning how to train in the different drives that dogs have. So, if you are interested in dog drives and what dogs drives I think each of the four main kids would have in relation to dogs, please continue…
When speaking of drive in dogs we are talking about instinct. These are traits that dogs naturally have and every dog has different levels of the four types of drive. The four types of drive are:
Prey
Hunt
Pack
Fight
Prey drive (which both of my dogs have a tone of) is the drive of chasing prey and eating. Dogs with a high prey drive chases anything that moves, a leaf or a plastic bag blowing in the wind, a rabbit or a squirrel, a toy, a person, a bike, any thing that moves is fair game when dogs are in prey drive. Dewey, like my dogs has a tone of prey drive. He chases adventure, doesn’t matter what it is, he wants it and he is going to get it! Just like a Belgium Malinois (used in military, police and SAR work) Dewey is going to get the thing even if it means jumping out of a two story window to get it (or I don’t know, climb out onto a plane suspended in air on the top of a mountain, you know where I am going with this).
Hunt drive (also highly present in both of my dogs) is also a drive for eating, but it is a drive where the dog uses their nose and strategy to hunt. In this drive there is a lot of thinking involved and dogs tires faster in this drive than they do in the prey drive because a lot more brain work is going on. I would assign this drive to Louie, because he “hunts” and pursues wealth. Louie doesn’t run in crazy like Dewey does, he thinks things through (even if it’s not a great idea) and he is on the lazier side. Think of Louie like a blood hound, when a blood hound gets a scent they will follow it to the ends of the earth, but if there is no scent that interest them, then they are really happy to just lay around and ignore the world around them. For Louie, if there is treasure or money to be found then he will go for it, but if not, he would rather just watch Ottoman Empire enjoying those first sips of pep over and over again.
Pack drive (one of my dogs has more of this drive than the other) this is the drive of survival in a pack. Dogs with a high pack drive love to be with their people (and sometimes other dogs) and are willing to do anything to please their human. Dogs with high pack drive are great team players and work well with their handlers (any dog will make a great handler/dog team with proper engagement training). Huey has a lot of pack drive, he loves being a triplet and being a part of the Jr. Woodchucks. Huey would rather take on challenges as a team. I think of him as the border collie who needs everyone to be in the same room and stresses if this is not happening “keep the pack together, keep the pack together”.
Fight drive (both of my dogs have medium fight drive) this is the drive of fight or flight. This is the drive of taking on an adversary, most likely to protect territory and it is measured by how fast a dog will back down if they will back down at all in a fight scenario. Webby has fight drive, I mean come on, she totally kicks butt and doesn’t back down, but she does know when to pick her battles. I would relate Webby to a German Shepherd, they can have that fight drive to take on anything that comes their way, but also a bit of a cooler head (not always, I live with one).
I am such a dog and DuckTales nerd and I was way to excited to share this insight. Both my worlds collided for more than just watching DuckTales with my two doggos.
Author’s note:
My dog with the higher pack drive I named Huey, so…thesis proven.
