A Prey Drive???

[Eric Vecc]

I am curious about prey driven dogs and would like to ask some questions.... Thanks in advance for any information or opinions offered!



I believe Bailey has a strong prey drive. He is 9 months old and we think he is a Lab / Shepherd mix. He has been chasing our cat for the entire 9 months. We had great success a couple months ago but quickly regressed back to the original state. He is getting more mature now and will sometimes let the cat walk by without going after him. But let me give you some scenarios... If the cat walks into the room and the dog is chewing on a bone or licking a Kong, his eyes will watch every movement of the cat. The second the cat turns his back or goes out of sight the dog is on the move. He HAS to investigate where the cat is going and what he is doing. He will usually try to jump onto the cat but has NEVER seriously tried to hurt the cat. It seems like fun to him. Bailey can be so sleepy that he can barely stand up, but if the cat walks by and he snaps out of sleep and sees him, he has to get up and go see. If the cat walks by and I distract Bailey with his favorite toy, he will stay by me until I am done and then go to where he saw the cat going. This can even be 10 minutes later and the second the game stops, he is off to see where the cat went. He has learned to come when we 'psst psst' (the cat call). Because he knows that sound usually means the cat is in the vicinity.



OK enough about my dog / cat situation. Bailey also chases birds, rabbits and squirrels. Now I know most dogs do this but Bailey is different. When he sees one on the other side of the fence he goes crazy. Running up and down the fence, barking, clawing at the ground and just acting like a nut; it is hard for me to even corral him when in this 'mode'.



OK, now onto ball chasing. When I roll a ball across the yard, Bailey will go after it and 'pounce' onto the ball. He 'grabs' it with his hands and tucks it under his body while grabbing it with his mouth. He does this so fast while running full speed he will sometimes rolls. I imagine it to be a bunny running away and this is how he would catch and kill it. It's like the natural instinct of an alligator to roll with it's pray in mouth. He gets on top of the object and hugs it while biting into it.



So, I would like to know if these are characteristic of a prey driven dog or just a hyper dog that loves cat a little too much. What are tell-tale signs of a prey driven dog? Bailey is excellent with kids (except for his standing up on people problem) and has never harmed our cat (just really scares him). So is there any harm in his actions? I imagine someday he will catch a trapped bunny or slow-to-act bird. He may play with it or he may kill it - but those will be few and far between times. Please offer insight into this.

[Lesly Stevens]

Hi Eric,

My Maddy has a high prey drive, and I use her drive to train her - works better than treats any day! She loves watching and going after squirrels, birds, and fruit rats! From the beginning, I always went outside with her, to redirect her when after a critter, and learn to stop and wait. I used a long line, so I always had control. I don't allow barking like a maniac, lunging at the fence, or any of those behaviors. The more the dog does this, the more the behavior is reinforced, and the harder it is to stop it.

Maddy wanted to chase the cats (indoor only cats), but they were old - over 20 yrs. old - so this was NOT an option. I worked with her, and it's never been a problem. Maddy is 4 yrs. old now, and has been with me since the age of 9 wks. I brought a feral cat ("Oliver") into the family about 5 months ago, and all is well (whew)! Oliver is usually seen under Maddy or Bo's chin at their food bowls, or stealing Bo's stuffie toy and running, or leaping up and hanging from Bo's neck!

I live in Florida, and after the hurricanes last year, we all had a problem with fruit rats, snakes, racoon, 'possums, and mice. YUK. In 3 wks., she brought me 7 fruit rats! I made her stop and drop and wait while I examined them - not a mark or any blood on any of them, but they were dead. whew!

Bailey sounds like a normal 9-mo. old lab/mix! He's entered adolescense now, so the sooner you start training him for the behavior you want, the better. Just like human teenagers who test the boundaries, so do dogs.

As for jumping up on people, NOW is the time to work on that. He's no wee puppy, and he needs to learn some manners. I love dogs - all dogs - but I can't stand that rude behavior. (Besides, it can hurt!)

You asked, "is there any harm in his actions?" Well, yes. Because allowing him to get away with it is teaching him it's ok, and will make it even harder for you to change his ways! (I know from experience!) My ex-husband has a little Schnauzer who is just adorable, but his manners are atrocious. Because of that, everyone hates having him around, and the kids ask that they keep Lucky at home on holidays. . .makes it sticky because my two are allowed to come with me, so makes for hard feelings! I take Maddy and Bo with me almost everywhere I go, so their manners have to be impeccable. (Maddy is my service dog, so of course she has to be well-behaved in public).

Lesly, Maddy, & Bo



I am curious about prey driven dogs and would like to ask some questions.... Thanks in advance for any information or opinions offered!



I believe Bailey has a strong prey drive. He is 9 months old and we think he is a Lab / Shepherd mix. He has been chasing our cat for the entire 9 months. We had great success a couple months ago but quickly regressed back to the original state. He is getting more mature now and will sometimes let the cat walk by without going after him. But let me give you some scenarios... If the cat walks into the room and the dog is chewing on a bone or licking a Kong, his eyes will watch every movement of the cat. The second the cat turns his back or goes out of sight the dog is on the move. He HAS to investigate where the cat is going and what he is doing. He will usually try to jump onto the cat but has NEVER seriously tried to hurt the cat. It seems like fun to him. Bailey can be so sleepy that he can barely stand up, but if the cat walks by and he snaps out of sleep and sees him, he has to get up and go see. If the cat walks by and I distract Bailey with his favorite toy, he will stay by me until I am done and then go to where he saw the cat going. This can even be 10 minutes later and the second the game stops, he is off to see where the cat went. He has learned to come when we 'psst psst' (the cat call). Because he knows that sound usually means the cat is in the vicinity.



OK enough about my dog / cat situation. Bailey also chases birds, rabbits and squirrels. Now I know most dogs do this but Bailey is different. When he sees one on the other side of the fence he goes crazy. Running up and down the fence, barking, clawing at the ground and just acting like a nut; it is hard for me to even corral him when in this 'mode'.



OK, now onto ball chasing. When I roll a ball across the yard, Bailey will go after it and 'pounce' onto the ball. He 'grabs' it with his hands and tucks it under his body while grabbing it with his mouth. He does this so fast while running full speed he will sometimes rolls. I imagine it to be a bunny running away and this is how he would catch and kill it. It's like the natural instinct of an alligator to roll with it's pray in mouth. He gets on top of the object and hugs it while biting into it.



So, I would like to know if these are characteristic of a prey driven dog or just a hyper dog that loves cat a little too much. What are tell-tale signs of a prey driven dog? Bailey is excellent with kids (except for his standing up on people problem) and has never harmed our cat (just really scares him). So is there any harm in his actions? I imagine someday he will catch a trapped bunny or slow-to-act bird. He may play with it or he may kill it - but those will be few and far between times. Please offer insight into this.

[Eric Vecc]

Well, my biggest problem is not being able to be around when he does this. We have a safely fenced-in yard and allow him to run free in the yard while we are at work. He usually spends 4 hours a day out there by himself. This is either in the morning or after lunch. We have chain link fence on all sides, so he can see what is going on on the other side. Our neighbors have an indoor cat that they bring outside on a daily basis. They are there to keep an eye on him at all times. Well, I know that Bailey goes crazy when the cat is out. He barks and runs back and fourth but I am not there to stop him. I do redirect him when I am home and he does it. I will pick up his toys and start playing but he will play with one eye on the cat. I throw the frisbee and he runs to catch it (usually misses it because he is distracted knowing the cat is sooo close. Then he'll head back over to the fence. It is like a fetish with him. He HAS to watch the cat even though he knows he can't get to him. This is why I feel it is a prey drive. And when that DRIVE kicks in, there is no distracting him. And don't get me wrong, I understand that the more he does it, the more it becomes an OK thing to do. So I never 'allow' him to do it. I just have troubles stopping him without putting him in the house.

As for the jumping, I do not know how to teach this. I never allow anyone to 'dance' with him. It may be fun but reinforces the behavior so much. I usually have to hold him down while the visitor greets him. It is just until he calms down. I never allow him to jump at me and he rarely does. Sometimes the occasional excitment burst occurs and he will try to put his paws up on me. Bailey is just a huge ball of excitement and happieness. He LOVES, I MEAN LOVES people. He just gets so excited when people come over he does the tear thing. I DO NOT allow this and ussually hold him when he does this. Or he gets a time out but will come out and do it again. He only does it for the first 3 minutes of the visitor being present and then calms down. But it is hard to stop, he has determination to do things that is uncontrollable. The only other thing that stops this behavior is a kong or compressed rawhide.

[Jill Ramsey]

OK, now onto ball chasing. When I roll a ball across the yard, Bailey will go after it and 'pounce' onto the ball. He 'grabs' it with his hands and tucks it under his body while grabbing it with his mouth. He does this so fast while running full speed he will sometimes rolls. I imagine it to be a bunny running away and this is how he would catch and kill it. It's like the natural instinct of an alligator to roll with it's pray in mouth. He gets on top of the object and hugs it while biting into it.

Eric,
Finnegan still does this with his large balls, at 19 months. And he actually did have a :bunny: in the pen one morning. It was dark, and I usually look to make sure that nothing is moving, but at 3:15 in the morning sometimes I'm not quite awake.
He started chasing it around the pen. The rabbits can only get in at the 2 gates, and he couldn't seem to find the opening to get back out. Finnegan pounced on it in the corner quite a few times, and then let it go so he could chase it again. :bunny: :dogrun: I finally grabbed Finn's leash, as I hadn't taken it off yet, and took him back into the house, leaving the gate open. When I came back out a few minutes later, the bunny was still cowering by the fence. I had to shoo him out the gate!
Finnegan likes to greet everybody, too. He has finally calmed down enough and learned not to jump, but he still does the wiggle the whole body while walking around greeting.
Keep working on the greetings. We had to hold Finnegan everytime anyone came near. Bailey sounds so much like Finn at times, that I really think when he matures some more that will help with many of these issues. Finn is becoming a really great dog, and I know eventually Bailey will too. :tup: