Oh I forgot to say: this morning on the way back from our walk, a fox ran across the road in front of us. (It’s an unmade up road and there were no cars.) Raffles the beagle immediately started to bay loudly and had to be restrained from chasing the fox. That’s instinct bred in over 100s of years. It was quite astonishing.
Yes friends of mine used to have a whippet. She was the sweetest natured animal you could ever meet and wonderful with kids BUT if she saw a squirrel; that was it, she was off like a bullet and 9 times out of ten she would catch the squirrel, take it by the head and shake it until she broke its neck.
With foxes she was likewise merciless. She would chase them at full speed (about 40 MPH). At the very last moment, she would somehow turn sideways and slam broadside into her prey which would knock the wind out of the fox and bowl it over, then she would start tearing the poor creature to pieces.
She was fine with cats, rabbits, hares but for some reason squirrels and foxes were her sworn enemies!
She was a household pet; no one ever taught her her how to run down prey. Somehow, she knew instinctively what to do!
In fact it was an embarrassment to everyone when she went after a squirrel but unless she was on a lead, there was no stopping her and even if she was on a lead she would often slip her collar.
@Paulos_the_fog They are pets but they are breeds for a reason.
@Paulos_the_fog Wow. That’s quite some description. It’s very easy to forget the centuries of breeding for work that some of our dogs have as their instincts.