The Cattle Dog always notices the rabbits and squirrels, but unless they are on the run, she rarely cares, and even then it's just a half-hearted attempt. She might rush them and bark, but can't be bothered to chase. She prefers to remain vigilant while laying in her dirt hole.
The Golden mix thinks it's her job to alert to prey that she detects from inside the house, and is more than happy to chase the crap out of any poor rabbit or inattentive squirrel that thinks nuts in our back yard are worth the effort. She will continue to 'hunt' them, nose to the ground, until I make her come inside.
The Rat Terrier is a whole different story. She runs them down in a split second with no hesitation. She will grab, bite and shake them to death and then trot around the yard with her prize. Unfortunately for her - and fortunately for the squirrel or rabbit - the Golden usually messes things up by making all sorts of racket and running willy-nilly about the yard, giving escape a good chance.
My dogs are well fed and a honed prey drive is not necessary for their survival, but it is clear that some predatory instinct has been preserved to some extent in our canine pets.
Let's look at some typical examples of prey drive in dogs by breed:
Pointers sniff out and "point" to game.
Retrievers find and retrieve (shot) prey.
Spaniels locate and flush out quarry.
Border Collies creep, run and nip their charges.
Anatolian Shepherds form an attachment to their charges and aggressively repel predators.
You can also see the prey drive at work in other ways.
- Chasing children running
- Chasing cars, bicyclists, skateboarders
- Biting or nipping people in the heels or calves as they run or move away
- Shaking "to death" a stuffed toy
- Chasing tennis balls and Frisbees
- Digging in the back yard
- Herding people to stop them from leaving
So, what does this mean, really?
- The predatory sequence goes something like this:
- Eye, Stalk, Chase, Grab/Bite - Kill/Bite, Consume.
- Some dogs retain parts of this sequence but most dogs don't actually kill or eat the prey.
Terriers and Sight hounds retain the full sequence up to and including eating their prey. For these dogs, it's part of their nature. Herding dogs like border collies and my Cattle Dog still have the eye, stalk, chase sequence but have been selectively bred to eliminate the "grab/bite - kill/bite" sequence. Livestock Guardian Dogs certainly have the main sequence in tact and will drive away or injure/kill any animals that are a direct threat to their charges, but not eat them.
How the Prey Drive applies to other domestic animals like dogs, cats, rodents and birds is complicated and not always just breed or instinct. Sometimes social experience and training - even inadvertent training - can influence drive and how it is expressed in the home environment. Basically, this means that high prey drive dogs, even dogs experienced at the chase and kill with varmints, can live comfortably with small or tiny dogs, cats, rodents and birds.
- All of my dogs do - the Cattle Dog, the Golden Retriever mix and the Rat Terrier.
- On the other hand, I have personally experienced dogs that definitely view cats as prey, especially cats with 'prey-like' behaviors - sneaky, flighty, running and fleeing cats. In some cases, it was all about managing the dog's drive by redirecting it to more appropriate things like toys and balls. A proper introduction to a cat along with supervision and targeted training worked well in most cases, as did setting up the living space to allow for co-habitation with safety zones for the cats.
I have had dogs, however, that despite good introductions, positive training and behavior modification, remained intent on viewing cats and even little dogs as prey and no amount of training or supervision made a difference. These dogs would never be safe with a cat or smaller dogs.
So, it seems clear that prey drive isn't changeable, but manageable. For the dog that expresses their drive in negative ways (to us) - chasing cars, nipping children, herding people - training is possible. The key is knowing your dog, understanding their breed and learning how to train and manage the behaviors.