What can I do for dogs with high prey drives?
by admin on Sunday, December 11th, 2011 | 4 Comments
Well, I say that because my dachshund has tracked down a couple of rats and bunnies while on walks in the mountain trail, and it took all of my strength to pull her back and stop her from trying to kill it. She isn’t like this towards anything else. I know hunting rodents is in her breed, so I want to use it. I want to do this because its great mental simulation. So what can I do for her?
~Also if this isn’t called prey drive, I’m sorry. Its just the first thing that came to mind.
Also she isnt like this towards any other animal.
I’m not doing this for killing. Who even said that I want my dog to kill. I meant like competitions. Or fun games. Maybe shows. Dude do you even KNOW about dogs
They have competitions for terriers and digging hounds, you might even have a competition group in your area. It’s called Earth Dog.
The AKC has a page on it.
So does wikipedia. It has links at the bottom of the page.
This is a really good basic site -
You can google ‘Earth dog competition’ and get a lot of info on it. It’s like lure coarsing for sight hounds, groups come together and it’s a lot of fun to let the dogs do what they are bred to. No ‘prey’ animals are hurt, they’re in cages at the back of the tunnels.
Nice to see your dog desires to do the work she was bred to do!
Starring for WyrDachsie, they show and work their dogs and do everything under the sun with them – earthdog, tracking, etc.
@ Munchkin – what a bunch of nonsense! She has a DACHSHUND – BRED specifically to track and fight BADGERS. WAAAYY bigger than a rat – except perhaps a New York City sewer rat. Or Splinter. But anyways – why would you EVER say to not channel your dog’s energy for his NATURAL, IN-BORN instinct in a constructive way?? You CAN’T “train” out instinct – but you can DIRECT it.
My friend has a little terrier and she holds the leash and lets the dog chase them. The dog isn’t fast enough and she’s holding the leash, so the squirrels always get away. it gives the dog a sense of pride, I guess, because she’s always happy after scaring off the squirrels. I’m an animal lover and I don’t find this mean to the squirrels, because in reality it saves them. They are afraid of dogs, so they will always get up the tree before a dog can get them. See? It’s a win-win situation.
and exactly why do you want your dog to kill random animals ??? what happens when your dog goes after a rat that tears your little dog up cuz wild rats are fighters ??? you should be training that out of the dog and entertaining the dog in other ways … i have a dog with high prey drive and before i got her all the research i read was the number one killers of my breed was being hit by a car chasing prey … you do not want to encourage this in your dog, you want to train it out of the dog … otherwise you are just setting your dog up to get hurt … and how do you know these animals your dog is killing are healthy ??? my dog is 12 years old and has never required the mental stimulation of killing animals … and you say your dog is not like this with any other animal but who knows what will happen if you encourage the behaviour … not to mention it is inhumane to kill animals for sport … use your imagination to come up with better ways to entertain your wiener dog …
“Rats do carry a number of organisms, some of which are transmissible to us and/or our pets. These bacteria, viruses, and parasites are shed via urine, shed via aerosol, can be found in their feces, can be found in their saliva, and can be found in their blood. Our concern is how their fluids and leavings come into contact with us in such a way that they can make us ill.”