Instincts - does your dog have them?

My new German Shorthaired Pointer Shamus shows all signs of having been just kennelled most of his life. He`s certainly never been trained or worked.
So today when we walked over the Country Park and he flushed 10 pheasants in the space of 15 minutes I wondered...
how does he know what he`s supposed to do?
He points, quarters, flushes...ok he doesn`t retrieve but 3 out of 4 aint bad for a dopey rescue dog!
Does anyone else`s dog surprise them with its pre-programmed behaviour?

Murphy has good herding instincts, despite him being a Boxer....

When off lead in an open space, he acts like a herding Border Collie. He crouches, waiting, then will shoot off, and herd people or other dogs towards me. He darts left and right, pushing them closer...

We've not even met lots of Border Collies, so I have no idea where the instinct has come from....

Although I'm fairly sure that if he got anywhere near a sheep he'd go over and "box" it on the head

Dallies have been used for a lot in the past... mainly carriage dogs although they have been known to be used as gundogs (I assume for flushing out because I wouldn't trust a dally to retrieve something that tasted good) and seeing eye dogs (rofl ).

Takara has never been trained with horses, and not really socialised with them all that well but when we're walking down the woods and a horse and rider comes up I have to get her attention and distract her otherwise I look back to watch her trotting along at the hind leg of the horse with that silly bum wiggle that tells you she's really pleased with herself As you can imagine the first time this happened, I fell about laughing - she's in the right position and everything.

She also flushes really well but never attempts to catch anything she chases off - just likes to see them fly/run.

Yes - my Lab fetches, my Collie chases and my Malamutes all pull

Alfie, my border collie, has quite strong herding instincts and is pretty intelligent considering he's from show lines, which some people consider the herding instinct to be bred out of He certainly has the 'collie eye' and tries to herd our other dog/us if we wander too far apart on a walk.

yep my mallys pull to- they also snuggle up to OH when he takes them out on a cold night, he lay down on the beach- apparently looking at the stars,(as you do esp after a couple of beers) and the dogs came and lay next to him to keep him warm! 2 mins earlier they had been running round ignoring him lol

Not sure if it's counts as instinct but my fox hound x would sniff, chase, bay.....run with tail right up like a flag etc etc.

My mum's GSDxcolliexlurcher is ball obsesed .....but that's all the herding instinct he shows. He doesn't like it when we walk in a group and split up or one person goes off to do something else. He also doesn't like to be left with someone else, e.g. if i had to pop back to the car to get something, he will fret then find someone else to latch on to........... i think this one personness comes from the GSD in him.

I think most dogs bred for a purpose over a period of time will show some kind of inherent instinct ... or the breeders have failed! It always impresses me how our working collie pups show real style, interest and even eye from a very young age on sheep.

ben has strong herding instincts.think he should of been worked when he was younger. now hes just a lump LOL

Dale's never been near a sheep but he has a very strong eye and he knows exactly how to herd.
Chip doesn't seem to have nearly such strong instincts. He moves in a straight line where Dale would go in a wide arc and he'd rather chew balls than eye them