Understanding Prey Drive

 Discussions on dealing with aggressive dogs usually turns in the direction of how to deal with these situations when they occur but should be directed to prevention. People speak of correction and control in training when they should speak of refocusing and promoting correct behavior. As a long term Flyball team member, captain of a consistent top ten team, owner of several successful Flyball dogs, and mostly as a professional trainer who has a large amount of experience in solving aggression cases; I am going to put my two cents in.
First of all, let's clarify prey-drive versus chase drive. A prey driven dog will chase with a great deal of focus on the object it is pursuing and a definite goal of attaining access to its target. A chase driven dog will also chase but usually not with the same intensity or absolute drive to reach its target as the end goal. Many of you have done chase games with both types of dogs. The prey driven dog will drive as hard as it can until it reaches you and when it does you or your toy usually gets hit like a ton of bricks. The chase driven dog can be somewhat frustrating as it will chase you, but not with the drive or intense targeting behavior of the prey driven dog. This dog will often pursue the handler in chase games, but will run on by and not follow through to actually catch the handler. The chase driven dog usually does not exhibit the sudden increased burst of speed that a prey driven dog will when the handler increases their speed. Unfortunately, either tendency can lead to dog chasing and/or aggression (more so in the prey driven dog).

Secondly, let's apply this to Flyball training. All are born with different levels of pre-dispositions towards movement fixation. The funny thing here is that the dogs with strong prey-drive can potentially be some of the best Flyball dogs. Dogs very much learn what to fixate on. Unfortunately, many dogs learn to fixate on other dogs very early in their training. Practices such as letting the dog watch, or tying them to walls during practices, or running with a pack too much early in their career can be a major culprit. It is a known fact that a restrained dog watching movement go by will usually begin to fixate on the moving object. Everyone in Flyball knows this or why else would we build speed and drive through "restraint" recalls. Eventually through frustration, the restrained observing dog may become aggressive towards the moving dog. When a dog does not know the game and is watching, the most interesting thing is the dogs running by. So, those leaping, barking restrained dogs are not keen to play the game, but are keen to chase the dogs. Therefore, we must make these tendencies work for us and not against us. Do not let green dogs spend their time learning to develop a moving dog fixation; and certainly do not let already problematic dogs feed their fixation. In order to do this you may loose ten pounds, but the bottom line is the handler needs to get physical. My basic rule with a new dog or an already problematic dog is he is always playing chase games with me when he is around moving dogs. If a pre-existing severe focus problem exists then we begin around one non-moving dog and gradually build up. The idea is to develop a mind-set in the dog that the movement going on around him is insignificant and never involves him, and that you are the only interesting target . This takes a great deal of effort on the owners part as it is physical, and hard work to run around focusing your dog on your movement only(Tug games are excellent for this). It is certainly much easier to establish in a new puppy with no pre-conceived ideas. It can be a bigger project when you are trying to solve a pre-existing problem, but it is do-able. I am not saying that you would not use correction at all, but it is much more reliable to have a dog with this altered owner driven mind set than to rely on a negative consequence to make the dog restrain himself. I am also concerned over comments that the dog prey drives to get the ball and brings it due to the control you have on him. What all the top teams know is that the retrieve of the ball is only an activity en route to the drive to pursue and catch the handler. If the chase or prey drive is harnessed toward the handler; the other movement around is of little interest to the dog. One last note on this issue; I do not use the rest of my pack to exercise a new puppy. I go out one-on-one and play all those fun doggy games with him. He will be with the pack or other dogs enough to be properly socialized, but the majority of play time is with me. As I stated at the beginning, dogs learn what is fun to focus on; make sure that it is you. By, the way; for those of you worrying about having enough time to treat a new dog as an individual, I recently raised #12 of a pack of 12.
A final word: There are many roads to the same destination, I have just outlined one of them. These ideas are meant for a dog who has chase or prey driven problems; not for dogs with generalized offensive or defensive dog aggression problems which would also present other factors to be dealt with. I hope this helps some of you, or at least gives you some food for thoug

Prey drive | Dogs

Whether you realize it or not, your dog playing with a squeaker toy could be them expressing prey drive. The same goes for them chasing a ball or fetching a stick. When a dog is staring down a squirrel or sniffing along the path where a cat has just been, that is many generations of carnivorous predatory behavior at work.
Prey drive is what motivates carnivores to continue to hunt for their next meal. While pet dogs rarely need to hunt for food, the silent staring, the stalking, the chasing, and the biting (whether to grab or kill) are all part of the prey drive. The prey is usually a small animal, such as a cat, frog, squirrel or bird, but some dogs will hunt deer or even other dogs.
Sometimes these normal prey drive instincts cross into behavior that is not appropriate for modern dog life. When your dog is chasing cats, deer, squirrels, or other small dogs, their strong sense of prey drive poses safety concerns. People, pets, and wildlife can be in danger if a dog’s prey drive escalates and causes them to bite or attack. The good news is, prey drive is quite manageable through safety precautions and training.

What causes prey drive?

Some dogs are more prone to stubborn and intense prey drive, but it’s logical. For example, Border Collies were bred to have a strong drive to spot, stalk, and chase sheep but stop before they bite. On the other hand, Terriers were bred to chase and kill rodents. Greyhounds, Pit Bulls, Hounds, and Retrievers have all been bred and trained to strengthen their prey drive over many generations to help people with various tasks and activities, such as hunting.

A high level of prey drive can be hard for the average pet parent to manage, but a dog with high prey drive may be well suited as a working dog.

Does prey drive mean my dog is aggressive?

Prey drive is not the same as aggression. While a dog with strong prey drive may also have aggressive behaviors, dogs with high prey drive are not necessarily aggressive. Aggressive behavior is when a dog acts violently due to emotion, such as fear or protectiveness. A dog guarding his food from the cat is acting aggressively. A dog chasing the cat to bite or kill it is displaying prey drive.

Normally, an aggressive dog is trying to get away from the thing that is causing the negative emotion or may try to scare it off by barking or growling. Prey drive is causing a dog to head towards their prey.

Is prey drive dangerous?

Dogs with low prey drive normally don’t pose a risk to those around them, but if you see signs of prey drive (stalking, chasing, or biting other animals) you should use extra caution. Consult with a positive reinforcement trainer to discuss training methods to help your dog moderate their prey drive. If your dog has shown any indication that they may bite, they should be muzzled when around other animals and never permitted to run off-leash. Be especially careful around small children in the home and outside on bikes or skateboards as they can be quite triggering for dogs with prey drive.

Nearly all dogs show some signs of prey drive and normally can satisfy their urges with a game of fetch or tug of war. However, if your dog is showing intense prey drive, it’s time to talk to a professional about remedying this potentially dangerous behavior.

How to build the forever dog | Forever dog training Part III

 

On one side, the dogs ate the traditional diet of kibble the dry food in the bowl. Here's what's really cool. On the other side, they replicated that same bowl, but they just didn't cook it. It's the same bowl and cooked with fresh vegetables and fresh meat. And so what kind of impact would that have on animals under a microscope, the results were unbelievable. The animals that ate the bowl uncooked, not only had a better microbiome, but a more diverse microbiome. So when I traveled to the university in London King's College, Dr. Tim Spector, one of the most cited scientists in the entire world microbiologist, he told me, my friend, the more diverse that your dog and cat's bellies are, the longer they'll live. And if there's ever a time to add a little bit of fresh food at the good Lord put on this planet for all of us to share, share with your pets. Okay, the last tip of the day for you guys, what would it be? environmental factors. Now, this is a tough category to cover. This could be toxins, lawn pesticides, floor cleaners, candles. I wanted to pick one easy that you could all do. And what was that? exercise? It's an environmental factor. Some of you say, what's the big deal? If we took two of some of the oldest living dogs in the world, the 31 year old dog Maggie who just passed away a couple years ago God loved her and the 25 year old v talk named Bramble. What did these two dogs have in common? You see, if you asked an heritage brambles mother, she taught said the one thing that she did that was critical was exercise. Well, I like to walk my dogs 20 minutes around the neighborhood. That's a joke. She gave her dog two hours of exercise every single day plus women. My 20 minute walk is a joke. And she says even crazier. When they asked Brian McLaren, the man who put together the oldest dog in the world, and they said to him, Brian, how much exercise Did you give your animal? I remember exercise, lowers stress, lowers blood sugars, lowers insulin. It's the cheapest form of therapy today. Ryan McLean said, Well, I didn't really exercise my dog. You see, I would drive my tractor my dog would follow me from one end of the farm, it was only 10 kilometers, and then I would drive all the way back to the other side of the farm. It was only 10 kilometers, maybe about 20 kilometers a day, every single day.

Exercise is critical. Here's the thing. We need more tiggers on this planet. This list that I share with you, my friends, is not for those people who say