Does your dog like to chase things? While this strong prey drive is natural in dogs and can be channelled into games of fetch, it’s not so good when you’re out for a walk and your pup tries to tear after everything that wanders into his peripheral vision
Most dogs love a chase
Gus froze. His whiskers twitched – once.
He was staring out of the window and had presumably seen a cat – he doesn’t react that way to anything else. He was laser focused. As I approached to see what was going on, he trembled with anticipation – would I open the door?
Sorry Gus, not a chance.
I knew he would shoot out and disappear straight under the bush on the trail of that tantalising tabby. I was pretty sure the cat was easily agile enough not to be in any danger, but although I’m not fond of cats, I didn’t want to risk a possible problem.
While dogs have evolved away from being predators in the same way that wolves are, most have retained the ability and desire to hunt. This is called the prey drive and shows itself in five main different ways in different breeds.
Different breeds have different chasing instincts
Herding breeds, like Gus, have a strong chase instinct. Terriers prefer to hunt and kill. Hounds love to stalk. And so on.
A strong prey drive in dogs can be a problem if it means the dog chases anything that moves. It can be a particular concern around livestock. It’s a crime to allow your dog to injure or kill a farm animal, and it could lead to severe penalties.
While prey drive can be channelled into games of fetch, it’s not so good when you’re out for a walk and your pup tries to tear after every squirrel, rabbit or cat that wanders into his peripheral vision.
Join us for a free dog behaviour advice session online
Which is why prey drive and how to manage it is the subject of this week’s free Doggy Doctor Discusses session – the recording will be available on our online page.
Learn more about prey drive and how it might manifest itself and the ways to train your dog to respond to you instead of following their instincts.
Keep training and stay safe,
Carol
