Stubborn dogs with high prey drive!

[KYS]

Rocky has a very high prey drive and drives me nuts.
It breaks my heart when he catches squirrels and possums.
Last night Rocky was not feeling well, so he stayed
outside after his bed time.
When I opened the door to let him in,
I heard a loud bang on the back fence.
Rocky caught another possum.
I yelled at the top of my lungs for him to "leave it" and
get in the house. I could see him looking at me,
than looking at the possum playing dead.
Finally after a few minutes he slowly came to me,
and I put him inside the house.
I probably woke up the whole neighborhood
with my yelling, and my throat is now sore.)
But the Great news, the possum is ok.

He is my first dog, that has been able to catch anything
other than rats and birds.

[lovemyshiba]

OH--I understand!! Kito is the same way--Rocky is an Akita, right? Kito is a Shiba Inu, and it's like having a miniature Akita--stubborn!! He also has a high prey drive, but we are in an apartment right now. But if he sees a bunny outside, he goes crazy--there's no way he can get to it, but he stares at it, and barks and whines--he sounds crazy!! last night he hit his head off of the door downstairs because there was one right outside of the door and he saw it. It's tough at night sometimes, because when I am walking him, he sees them first, and pulls me towards them. I've gotten better at watching for bunnies, but he's usually quicker than me.
I can't imagine having him kill a possum or something, but I understand where you are with the high prey drive!!

[Dixieland Dancer]

My Dixie is the exact same way. I worked on reinforcing a really good come with her and instead of my voice I use a whistle. She knows when she hears the whistle she has to come or she would be reeled in on the long line. Of course when I have her out now she is not on the line but she is conditioned that when she hears the whistle to come.

It's interesting to see the turmoil in her eyes, should I go to mom or continue going after the bunny. Usually mom wins but not always!

[wolfsoul]

i never really thought of it before, but none of my dogs have a high prey drive
timber does love to chase birds though lol, ecspecially ducks...and she does love to chase squirrels, but not to eat them, just to play lol...she loves small animals...even my rats...she even chases marmots lol...its actually very funny to see her scrambling for something that she could never catch lol...shes so funny...just loves to mother everything! she cries when she sees the rats in their cage...she licks the cage and then frisco bites her tongue and she bleeds everywhere! but she never stops, shes hilarious!

[tikeyas_mom]

I know how you feel Tikey my siberian is the same way. She kills small animals like, Kittens and hamsters and mice and birds ect... She doesnt kill cats though?? She is affraind of them! Did you have any other small animals when your dogs was first brought home? If you did, did you let you dog get to know them? Did you get your dog as a puppy? I made the mistake of not getting a kitten or a small animal like a guinea pig or a rabbit when I got Tikeya (my siberian) because now she has a high prey drive.. This can be fixed though .. Phone your local trainer and talk to them about your situation they wilkl explain it without haveing to write a chapter book .. Godd luck .. (ps) I trained Tikeya on my own with no help .. I never took her to a triainer for group trianing .. *like I should have* .. I am taking Tikeya to group traning soon when i rais 50 extra bucks lol good luck though ..

(pps) but just know you are not the only one

[KYS]

lovemyshiba, I new you would understand. lol

Dixie the long line is a great idea.
That helped tremendously in his training.
(but unfortunately not so great, when it comes to Prey)

He is very good with the "leave it command" but
not the "come" command once he is Prey drive mode.
(he has tunnel vision)
WHen it warms up again, I will brush up on that light long line and tabs training again. I will start the whistle training tomarrow if it doesn't rain. (I still have the old whistle from Sheba's training days)

Not that this is any better, but Rocky does not eat
what he kills. He just likes the chase.

Thanks for the suggestions and the support.

[Cheshirekatt]

Both Wilma and Buford have high prey drives. Burford is good with the inside critters, but heaven help the crow, squirrel or bunny that comes into our yard! He'll fence fight with the dog next door, too.

Wilma will chase kitties inside. She wants to chase critters outside too, but she's too well trained. I got both dogs from the shelter as strays so at this point I don't let either of them off leash except in the yard.

[wolf_Q]

Everyone says that siberian huskies have a high prey drive and are very stubborn. Stubborn? YES!! I have not experienced the prey drive first hand with Nebo....yet. He's never allowed off leash except in our yard, and hasn't really come in contact with any small animals yet. Well, he met Milo the cat once, but he just wanted to play with him!

Reggie and Smokey will chance any small animals...especially Reggie, he goes nuts for them! Whenever we go camping the first thing he does is wander all around looking for squirrels...he puts his head in all of the holes, sometimes he digs in them too, lol. If he sees an animal, he'll bark and run after it. So far, he's never even come CLOSE to catching one. Not that talented I guess. Well, we did find a dead bird in the yard once.....never able to determine what happened to it though...could have been Reggie.

[AdoreMyDogs]

I know what you mean about the hunt drive. It is pretty impressive that you could actually call Rocky off that possum, though. If he's stubborn, that was very impressive. I can tell that you have him very well trained.

Graham has a really strong prey drive. I can call him off a chase and he'll come, as long as the chase just started, but once he catches an animal, or he gets out of site, his training goes out the window. He no longer cares about me, or my screaming, or whistling. He will come when, and only when, the animal is dead. By then his face has blood on it, and he usually has at least one bite and/or bloody scratches. When I take him into an area where there is lots of wildlife I have to keep an eye on him if he's off lead. He has a very good recall, like I said, when he just starts a chase, but if I am not paying attention to him, he'll get far away, quickly, and eventually, probablly catch whatever it is that he's chasing (unless it's a herd of deer, if that's the case, then he'll be gone in no time.

Kersey has a hunt drive but it's not as strong as Graham's. She'll chase stuff, but sofar, has not caught anything except for a bird, and when she caught it, she didn't try to kill it, she simply kept tossing it up in the air and catching it, and tossing it and catching it. She played with it rather then intentially kill it. She promptly dropped it when I called her, and it ran away chirping in pain and I could never find it. I should have let her kill it because I fear it suffered with probablly puncture wounds and possibly broken bones. She will also follow Graham when he makes chase, so I don't very often take them on woodland adventues together anymore. Graham is a bad role model in this case. I don't want him turning Kersey into the hunter that he is.

I have taken both Kersey and Graham into the aquarium shop that I used to work at and they sell baby ferrets. Graham wants to kill the ferrets, I can tell by the look in his eyes, and Kersey wants to play with them.

[KYS]

posted by AdoreMyDogs: It is pretty impressive that you could actually call Rocky off that possum, though.

To tell you the truth I was flabergasted and impressed
myself that he did come. (though very slowly I might add ) lol

Once Rocky gets into the chase mode, no way will he
come to me. (It's like he doesn't even hear me)
So I am very impressed that Graham will come to you
in chase mode.
Rocky is never off lead outside of his property.
He catches his prey in the back yard.
He has unbelievable patience when it comes
to catching prey.
I know what you mean about the animal suffering.
I have cried many of times and felt the helplessness.