Will it be an Outlet or Make it Worse???? (sillysally)

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Will it be an Outlet or Make it Worse???? (sillysally)

Posted : 7/17/2010 6:52:32 AM

Sally has high prey drive. She has killed small wild critters in the yard before (and "hunts" in the yard a lot) and gets *super* excited when we are walking and she sees a critter that runs from her. It is truly hard to get her focus back on us after a critter makes an appearance. She has gotten better since we have been doing the reactive dog stuff, but still acts like a twit around wild critters.

Anyhoo, I have been wondering about getting her an interactive toy to help provide an outlet for some of the prey drive. I was thinking "fox on a stick" like on "It's me or the Dog," but DH is worried that it will make her worse.

For those that own or have dealt with dogs with high prey drive--what so you think?

stardog85

Posted : 7/17/2010 7:39:27 AM

I think it could be quite helpful, but only if you use it to work on impulse control skills in addition to just play. You want to make sure Sally can follow your directions even when something as exciting as prey is around and this would be good, safe way to start working on that.

Liesje

Posted : 7/17/2010 7:28:04 PM

sillysally
For those that own or have dealt with dogs with high prey drive--what so you think?

I think prey drive just is what it is. It's a genetic thing, and I don't think it can ever been completely controlled unless you just squash it out of the dog to the point of shutting her down. By "control" I mean the dog looks at a prey object and does not go into drive. You can certainly train and expect high level of obedience and compliance even with prey objects in sight, but if the dog truly has prey drive, then it's always going to be there and you can't "control" it in the sense of turning it off because that's just how the dog's head works, they can't control it any better than you can.

I don't see anything wrong with giving the dog an outlet and learning to use the drive to your advantage. This is how a lot of SchH, ring sport, police dog work, etc is trained - using prey drive.