How Prey driven is your dog???

ORIGINAL: Mastiff

Chasing? Way too much work! What he really wants for Christmas is a pair of binoculars....

Ditto. He'd take the treat and watch the squirrel from a distance. THIS is his favorite passtime........

Heh, I can just see him using that shuffleboard that he's lying on! LOL

Houndlove, I'm interested to learn exactly how you got Marlowe to chill out when he sees squirrels? If I could even get Caesar to become just a lunatic instead of his current state of raging, uncontrollable lunatic while in the midst of a squirrel I would be happy.

 
Haha I know I've mentioned this before when we all get to jawin' about squirrels, but I live in Pittsburgh, in a neighborhood called Point Breeze. Point Breeze however is directly adjacent to a neighborhood called SQUIRREL HILL, and that's actually where we take most of our walks. And they didn't give it that name for no reason.
 
Your mileage for your dog may vary and I totally pulled this entire process out of my own posterior, but here's what I did for Marlowe. It took a lot of patience and at each step I sort of had the attitude of, Well even if we never get any farther than this, I'm happy. Anyway, it was a multi-stage process and I did use some special equipment. I started walking Marlowe in a tracking harness (just a regular attach-at-the-top body harness) with a one foot tab leash. It was just way too much for me to regain control of the situation if he had 4 or 6 feet of leash to get a head of steam worked up on. Since the leash is clipped to the top of the harness it was almost like I gave Marlowe a handle. I realized quickly that food treats, which he'd normally stand on his head and sing the national anthem to get, weren't going to distract him from a squirrel, so that option was sort of out.
 
I removed the option of ever actually chasing the squirrel and then introduced a new compromise option. Instead of chasing, we could sit quitely and watch the squirrel go on about it's squirrelly business. That I can live with. So I started training to stop whenever we saw a squirrel (I'd stop walking so we weren't still advancing on it) and put him into a sit. He could still watch for as long as he wanted. I thought this might frustrate him, but it actually seemed like a good compromise.
 
Once the squirrel had left the scene (and they're kind of manic, so they don't stay in one place for long) I would then redirect his attention to me and give a treat for that, and release him from his sit and start walking again. So, for every squirrel he noticed, rinse and repeat that process. I'd have to watch him carefully to catch that first initial ears-forward, tail-up squirrel red-alert posture and as soon as he did that I stopped walking. Sit, watch, refocus attention, treat, continue.
 
I was happy at that. Yes, walks took longer, but he wasn't pulling my arm off and barking his brains out and that was good. But as it turns out, the more we did that, the less he was interested in the squirrels. After a while, he'd sit more or less voluntarily to watch them. And then we started to be able to start walking again even if the squirrel was still there.  And then I started trying just walking by them with him, talking to him the whole time and rewarding as we got by, and that worked great. And now he's more or less immune. He still notices them, he still likes to bark at them in the back yard and he'll still track them when we go to the park on his 30 foot line. But when we're walking together on-leash it is rarely ever an issue anymore. Conrad, who has a very low prey drive, is more apt to get aggro at a squirrel while we're on a walk now than Marlowe is.

I ahve to say I am WAY more impressed at your training Marlowe to behave around squirrels, than I am at seeing bazillion Border Collies lying around quietly off leash at a sheepdog trial. Border Collies know if they behave they get the sheep. Marlowe never gets that satisfaction and still has developed patience! You go girl!!!

I'm really impressed, too! Thanks for the step-by-step process. I'm going to go out and by a 1 ft lead this weekend (I didn't even realize there was such a thing!). 
 
I've always liked the idea of using "chase the squirrel" as a reward for a dog doing something good (regarding finding what motivates your dog), but it's pretty unrealistic for me.  He has to learn that squirrels are not his to chase after (unless he's not on his leash).  I think C would probably figure out how to climb trees if I let him - he's got some pretty long paws, they almost look like hands.

I've done a similar thing with Bugsy - I stop and let him stare & point, I then say, 'I see it' and he will move on.  At most I have to say 'I see it' and tap him now.  Initially I would have to literally move his head off the target, which he would resist, try to shake off and go back to looking but I would tell him 'look' which means he has to look at me.  Which he would do, eventually.  Now he is pretty darn good at walking past them if I let him stare at it and then give him the 'I see it'.   He isn't one to make a sound, but he will stalk, stare, and point and then leap into action to pounce.  By the time he was 60lbs or so I was no match for his leap and lurch and had to do something.
What I can't do is say 'OK' as that is his release word and off he goes.  And for a reason I do not understand I cannot clap as he seems to thing that means OK.
We had a relapse last week and I wound up in someone's yard but we recovered []

hands down TREAT! The way he sees it why go after some thing when all I have to do is do a trick for mom?

ORIGINAL: brookcove

Dogs that have really wacked out prey drive would pass up the treat for odd things like spots of light, other dogs, birds in the sky, moving water, or a vacuum cleaner.

So you've met Bugsy............. He doesn't mind the vac though - he just likes to make sure its not eating me.  I thought he would grow out of it but he will go after anything that moves or has a scent.  Some things are higher priority but if it moves he wants it

Heh, I can just see him using that shuffleboard that he's lying on! LOL

 
I think we'd have to take the shuffleboard stick and gently push him to the side! 
 
Not sure why the previous owners had a shuffle board game put into the floor, but we've left it and now it's just a conversation piece.  Bizarre!

Russell loves food but it doesn't hold a candle to the delights of the outdoors. He'd go for the squirrel. I think he has a fairly high prey drive; in the house, he'll instinctively go after (at least with his eyes) a swiftly rolling tennis ball even if he's totally focused on something else way more appealing. Which is kind of handy for proofing stays and things like that... if I can kick the tennis ball right by and he doesn't blink I know he's got it! []

My three garbage disposals move for *nothing* when there's a chance they might get anything to eat.
 
Brown, Grey, and Tar have very little Prey drive. Brown loves small animals like our hamsters and guinea pigs. Grey really and truly doesn't care about our small animals, but he goes nuts when he sees the egrets (big white bird) that stay in the water by our house. And Tar just wants to get near the guinea pigs so he can eat their food.[]

The only way Yoshi would go for the treat would be if the treat WAS a squirrel. You know the saying; a squirrel in the hand is worth two up a tree. I would say the same for Nandi, but Milo might be swayed by a whole roast chicken perhaps.

Paula

Chyna- Chase, catch, kill the squirrel, then return with said squirrel to trade for treat.
Bevo- Sit & wait for treat, focusing on  the squirrel intently & hoping that the squirrel doesn't go to far before he is released. Focus, focus, focus...........
Brinxx- Who cares abouth the treat, I want squirrel.
Shooter- Take the treat & yap at the squirrel.
Schatzi- Cower nervously, the squirrel might attack at any time. (Improved 3 weeks ago she would have peed herself along with the cowering.)
Link- "Oh I want to be a good boy & I want that treat, but the squirrel looks like so much fun"
Beacon- Growling at squirrel while hiding behind me, oblivious to treat.  Hoping that one of the other dogs either kills the squirrel or runs it out of the yard.
 

Raja would go after the squirel for sure. Even though she is very food oriented she has an even higher Prey drive. the other dogs would all take the treat, except for Raja noone else has a high prey drive

If faced with a high value treat or a running squirrel which would your dog choose?

X: would chase the squirrel and find a way to take the treat along for the ride, or come back and steal the treat...only after chasing.

G: would take the treat and THEN chase the squirrel.

It depends on how close the treat is. If it's right near him, he'll grab it, swallow without chewing, and then chase the squirrel. If it was a bird however, I think he'll be on it first!

Squirrel first and drag me along with her