18/10/2025
Borrowed from the Working cocker spaniel
The Science behind why working cockers LOVE hunting!
1. Hard-wired reward circuitry.
Hunting behaviour in dogs, particularly in working breeds like cockers, is governed by the mesolimbic dopamine system, the same neural pathway that governs pleasure and motivation in humans.
When a cocker uses its nose, finds scent, or flushes game, the dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens fire.
This releases dopamine, the brain’s “feel-good” neurotransmitter, which reinforces the behaviour.
The anticipation of finding something (the search phase) is actually more rewarding neurochemically than the capture or retrieve — a concept known as seeking behaviour (Panksepp, 1998).
So, for a working cocker, the act of hunting itself, not the outcome, triggers the brain’s reward system.
2. Genetic selection for the SEEKING system.
Over generations, breeders of working cockers selected dogs with enhanced activity in the dopaminergic SEEKING system (as described by affective neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp).
These dogs showed persistence, curiosity, and intrinsic motivation to search and explore.
That means the neural pathways that govern “motivated search behaviour” are unusually strong in the working line, it’s not just training, it’s neurobiological inheritance.
3. Olfactory and sensory stimulation.
A working cocker’s olfactory bulb is proportionally far larger than a human’s, and its brain devotes extensive cortical real estate to scent processing.
Using their nose activates not just the olfactory cortex, but also the amygdala (emotion) and hippocampus (spatial memory).
That multisensory engagement is mentally enriching and satisfying, it’s a full-brain workout that feels good.
4. Endorphin release and the flow state.
When in sustained, purposeful activity like hunting, dogs experience a flow-like state similar to that seen in athletes.
Physical exertion releases endorphins, natural opioids that reduce pain and elevate mood.
Combined with dopamine and serotonin from successful searches or retrieves, this produces a powerful neurochemical reward loop.
5. Social bonding and oxytocin.
Hunting isn’t solitary, working cockers were bred to hunt with humans.
Cooperative work with the handler releases oxytocin, the “bonding hormone,” in both dog and person.
That mutual reward strengthens teamwork and makes the act of hunting socially and emotionally satisfying.
6. Cognitive satisfaction: instinct expression.
Finally, behavioural science shows that performing instinctive, species-typical behaviours (like hunting for spaniels, herding for collies) reduces stress and increases well-being.
Preventing those behaviours leads to frustration or displacement (like chewing or hyperactivity).
Expressing them provides intrinsic reinforcement, it simply feels right to the animal.
To summarise:
Working cockers find hunting so rewarding because it activates:
The dopamine-based SEEKING system (motivation and pleasure)
Endorphin and oxytocin release (physical and social satisfaction)
Deeply ingrained instinctive neural pathways selected over generations
Hunting isn’t just something they like, it’s something their brains are designed to find pleasurable and fulfilling!
Non “science nerd” version of this topic to be posted next 💪🏻
