If your dog chases your kid while running around in the backyard, is the chasing an indication of prey drive? Same question regarding your dog chasing your other dog at the park, is that prey drive?
No.
What are the behaviors exhibited when prey drive is triggered? Well, let’s consult an actual expert:
“Actions such as chasing, scare-tactics, pointing, carrying, or retrieving, tracking, trailing, and a typical shaking-to-death that dogs do while playing with a rag-as well as pouncing upon, biting, and pulling down towards them-fall into the category known as prey drive behavior. In order to gain insight into what triggers this behavior, one must observe the actions and movements of a hunted prey animal. Prey always moves away from the dog; fleeing from him in panic; and it is always on the move. The instinctive reactions which have been triggered by the prey's behavior, are as follows: he hunts the prey down, pounces on it, bites into it, and pulls it down.” Helmut Raiser, Der Schutzhund
Is THAT what your dog is doing to your kid or that dog?
Dogs aren’t cannibals. They don’t hunt other dogs, and because they are domesticated and adopted by humans, they don’t hunt people as prey. Your other dog and kid aren’t on the menu tonight.
Plan accordingly.
No comments:
Post a Comment