RuffCoast & Meliora

When the breed was first recognized in the 1940’s, the Vereniging de Drentsche Patrijshond (“Drentsche Patrijshond Association”) founded the breed on three pillars: hunting, watch dog, and companionship. Now that I am coming up on 2 years with Iris, continually learning about the breed, and have met many other Drents and spoke with their owners, the depth of my understanding of these qualities has grown significantly. Drents are wonderfully versatile and complex, and could not possibly be summarized in one blog post, but for those who may be interested in the breed I hope to provide some insights into the breed’s temperament as I understand and have experienced it thus far.

Hunting

I don’t hunt with Iris – let me get that fact out of the way. But this first quality is hugely influential to what Drents are like as beloved pets, active companions, and/or performance partners, as well as field dogs.

Drents love to search and use their noses. Channeled appropriately, this skill can be utilized just as well in detection or enrichment games around the house, as it can be used to pursue game. I’ll have to write an entirely separate post on the various scent games we use to fulfill Iris’s biological hunting drives.

Like most sporting breeds, Drents are naturally fairly good off-leash. A bird dog wants to stay ahead of the hunter and wants to stay in touch with the hunter, as that makes it much more likely the dog will end up with a bird in its mouth. Drents seem to have a naturally medium range. They will stay in sight and often look over their shoulder to check-in. With Iris, I can silently pull a 180° turn on the trail and within a few seconds, she’s noticed and comes sprinting back to run ahead of me again. I never have to worry about “losing” her, and while it’s something I’ve heavily reinforced, it’s clearly innate for these dogs to stick with their handler.

That said, they still require plenty of training to have a reliable recall off of birds, critters, and of course, other trail users. They are a hunting dog after all. But again, even if Iris were to chase a bird off into the bushes, I’m certain she would swiftly return even without prompting. The recall training is not so much to prevent the dog from never being seen again, but to keep them safe and be polite to other trail users and critters.

Another thing about a hunting dog – what are they doing in the field as they search for birds? Running. Often back and forth in front of the hunter, sniffing, aware of their environment in their pursuit of finding game. Walking nicely on a leash is NOT going to come naturally to these dogs. To be honest, I got Iris’s civilian leash-walking skills to a place where I felt she was manageable, and haven’t really focused on making it much better. You certainly can and should train a Drent to mind the leash, but you’ll have to be patient and make it worth their while because it goes against so much of their innate behavior.

It’s also important to realize that off-leash running time is likely going to be important for a Drent to be fulfilled. This isn’t necessarily about exhausting them such that a “tired dog is a good dog”. In my opinion, it’s a FULFILLED dog that’s a good dog (and a happy one!). Fulfilling a dog often means allowing them opportunities to do what their natural instincts push them to do, else they find other ways to let those behaviors out that aren’t as desirable to you as the owner. It also will lead to a happier dog who has a better relationship with their owner/handler, and this is particularly true with a Drent.

Watch Dog

Historically, the Drent was expected to alert bark to visitors on the property. While on the surface this trait seems straightforward, I’ve found quite a bit of complexity to it that makes the Drent different than a lot of otherwise similar breeds.

However, the first point of this section is simple. If you like a dog who can act as a deterrent, a Drent is a surprisingly good choice. They will bark at anyone who comes to your door or property, friend or foe. A Drent should never show any actual aggression – that is severely atypical and faulty for the breed – but you never have to worry about being snuck up on. And the bark, especially from males, is surprisingly loud and deep. Once introduced or called off, a Drent should quickly quiet the barking. But I would not count on being able to “train out” the initial alert barking entirely.

It’s my opinion that this tendency to alert bark has its basis in some level of innate suspicion and environmental awareness, in a way that isn’t present in a lot of other bird dogs. It vaguely reminds me of dogs bred for protection work – unlike those breeds, there’s no “teeth” behind it in a Drent, but there is the similar element of “strangers on my property are suspicious until proven otherwise”. Drents shouldn’t be fearful per se, but for dogs who provide such loving companionship to the people in their circle, it can be surprising just how aloof a Drent can be with a stranger. Very unlike the prototypical bird dog (think, lab or golden) that would leave you for a stranger with a treat.

That said, once you are in a Drent’s circle (which usually takes only a couple minutes), they’re your best friend. It seems a Drent will almost always have their favorite people – typically their handler/owner and a few other select individuals – but they can have a wide circle of friends, too.

This trait certainly isn’t for everyone, but I overall like it. Sure it can make some things a little bit more difficult – for example, Iris isn’t a big fan of conformation because of the strange judge touching her without time to warm up to them. But selfishly, her trust and affection mean more to me because I know that I had to earn it – it wasn’t given freely.

I don’t have much experience with this beyond the dogs I have met and what I have heard anecdotally, but it seems that in general young female Drents are most prone to shyness/suspicion. Males tend to be more outwardly friendly. I’ve heard most Drents, given positive experiences, largely mellow out in this area as they reach 3 years of age. Iris for example seems to be on that trajectory, only growing more confidently neutral to strangers as she nears 2 years old.

Companionship

Besides being useful to put meat in the pot and alert to visitors, Drents were historically also family companions. They were the common folks’ one dog they could afford, so it served many purposes, including being a playmate for children.

Iris hasn’t been around many children, so I can’t speak to that from any personal experience, but many Drent owners select and stick with the breed for their love of and gentleness with children. Drents should show NO aggression towards humans or other dogs. The only time I’ve ever heard of posturing from a Drent is between two intact males. Even then, it should remain at just posturing. Supposedly, Drents who are raised with cats should be fine with cats, but being a prey-driven dog it may be difficult to safely keep a Drent and small critters or birds.

In my opinion, Drents are the perfect level of affectionate without being annoyingly velcro. Iris usually prefers to be in the same room as me, but doesn’t have any separation anxiety, and also doesn’t always need to be “inside my skin”. She will join us on the couch for cuddles, and likes to be scratched and petted (particularly by people she knows). She also loves to play, and will carry toys (which sometimes includes loose shoes and dish towels) around the house to present to us as an invitation to play with her. She’ll also roughhouse without a toy! But has learned to respond very well to the cue “all done”.

These dogs want to be doing what you’re doing. They seem to believe they are “helping”, usually, whether that’s helping you dig out your weeds, presenting you with a shoe when you walk in the door, or climbing on you while you’re practicing yoga. If you want (or need) them out of your way for something, it’s usually best to train them to sit and wait, or go to their bed and wait – because they are probably going to “help” and if you get frustrated, they are prone to taking it personally. Otherwise, I find it really nice to have a dog who is just my little buddy in everything I do.

Drents are also just hilarious. They seem to all have a wonderful “joie de vivre”. For as smart as they can be, they can also be very silly, goofy dogs. I’ve met some dogs who are goofy because they really have nothing going on behind those eyes, but that’s not what’s going on with most Drents. Their silliness seems to come from just being happy, joyful, playful dogs. Iris makes me laugh every day with her antics.

Conclusion

All in all, the Drent is a uniquely versatile breed. There is so much more to say about their temperament and abilities, particularly how they can vary based on the individual. But in general, a Drent would be a good fit for an active, sporty family looking for an all-around dog that is willing to put in the training and consistency to guide a Drent to being their best.