Prey drive

 ( Dog Behavior ) 

Prey drive is the inclination of a carnivore to find, pursue, and capture prey; this instinct can be refined for industrial purposes such as herding dog livestock.

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Aspects The predatory motor sequence follows a sequence: search (orient, nose/ear/eye); stalk; chase; bite (grab-bite, kill-bite); dissect; and consume.

(2025). 9780684855301, University of Chicago Press. . ISBN 9780684855301

In different breeds of dogs, certain steps of these have been amplified or reduced by human-controlled selective breeding for various purposes. The "search" aspect of the prey drive is used in Detection dog such as and . The "eye-stalk" is for . The "chase" is seen in sighthounds such as Greyhounds and , while the "grab-bite" and "kill-bite" are for the training of . In most dogs, prey drive can occur without extrinsic reinforcement.

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Benefits In dog training, prey drive can be used as a performative advantage because dogs with strong prey drive are more willing to pursue moving objects such as toys, which can then be used to encourage certain kinds of behavior, such as that of greyhound racing or the speed required in dog agility. Prey drive can affect training in schutzhund as well.

are sometimes expected to chase prey and bring it back to the human hunter, but not bite or damage it. , such as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, have an amplified grab-bite as they were originally bred to bull-baiting (restrain bulls by hanging onto their noses), but never needed to find or stalk the prey.

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See also

• Working terrier

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