So does the training overcome the instinct? Anyone know?

Given that police dogs can be trained to find money and drugs and other dogs can be trained not to chase things I would guess so but dog behaviour is not my strong point. 😉

also the hounds are trained to chase and kill foxes hence cubbing ( don’t look it up unless you have a strong stomach)

So is it the same breed of dog they use trail hunting as drag hunting? Wouldnt it be better to use bloodhounds or beagles? Both arent known to be routinely aggressive to quarry in my experience and I ve had a few hounds.
I did meet a fella in Cornwall who had a Fen Hound? Like a foxhound but slighter.
Any evidence of drag hunts trying to use breeds other than foxhounds?

So does the training overcome the instinct? Anyone know?

The hunt sabs seem to think so. If those who are most motivated and involved in trying to stop illegal hunting consider the drag hunts to be okay it does indicate that, unlike the trail hunts, they are pretty successful at stopping them killing random things.

Some drag hunts use bloodhounds instead.

You can only get it from fox farms for fur and the only exporter is the US I believe and it needs specific licenses to import or something similar.

I can literally go on amazon and am offered various brands all claiming to be Red Fox Urine – apparently, hunters in the US put it on so deer don’t smell them (sounds lovely)! If it should have a license for import I’m pretty confident that a single bottle costing <£15 stands a good chance of getting through customs! I can’t imagine you need loads to be detected by highly trained dogs.

You’ve stimulated me to do a bit of digging and it looks like there’s more than one legitimate drag hunt, but there is one legit drag hunt “representative body” who have been doing it since before the ban (in fact for well over 100 years) and are keen to ensure their drag hunt name isn’t brought into disrepute. The drag hunt differs in that the drag is continuous whereas the trail hunt breaks the trail to make the dogs go looking for the trail again (like chasing a fox). I can see the logic, but that does make it more likely you find real trails even if you were doing it legitimately.

Interestingly the reason the trail hunters claim not to have switched their scents is they think the Hunting Act will be repealed and then they want to switch the dogs back to live quarry. Given the time to repeal an act of parliament, which has not been included in the queens speech or even a party manifesto that seems like a crazy plan!

Yes – drag hunts have existed for a long time and are legitimate

“trail hunting” is the smokescreen

I thought I had read that one killing hunt had converted to drag hunting ( not trail hunting) when the ban came in

Interestingly the reason the trail hunters claim not to have switched their scents is they think the Hunting Act will be repealed and then they want to switch the dogs back to live quarry.

Just more lies to allow them to keep killing foxes