High Prey Drive

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

I let Draker out this afternoon and then he started barking and barking. He was in the woods behind the house. I went outside to get him to come in because it was so hot, then I saw why Drake was barking and wouldn't come up.

It was a possum! The possum was hissing at Drake. I tried everything to get him to come up including bringing the car over and offer to take him for a ride.

Finally, I went down the trail to get him and found that he had killed the possum and was tearing into it like something you would see on the discovery channel. He had killed a bunny 10 days ago. And a bird on Sunday

Drake was hyperventelating coz of the heat and he was covered in blood. I had to pull him away from the dead possum and took him to the tool shed and gave him a nice cold bath. I dried him off and brought him inside. He got lots of water and ice packs to cool him down. He is fine now but he had me freaked out!

I know that he is part wolf, but this high prey drive is very sudden.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Hey Drake ~

Are you up to date with your Rabies Shot?

Smokey and I getz stuck every year with a Rabies shot, even though Ohio only requires it every 3 years. Dad duzint like to take any chances.

When the Rabies problem happened in Ohio a couple years ago, the Gurl Vet who gave us the rabies shot at the Fire Station Clinic said if we ever tangled with a wild critter, Dad should get us an Extra Rabies Booster if our regular shot was six months or more old. She said the extra shot should be given within 12 hours or so of the possible infection.

Possums aren't supposed to get sick with rabies, but they can be a carrier of the desease and infect any dogs that bite or get bitten by a carrier.

Might wanna have yer Mom call your White Coat and ask if anything should be done special to protect you.

[lizbud]

Souraya,

Isn't that the most scarey thing to see out of our
"Furkids"?

Buddy cornered a possom after dark in his own yard
once, while I did not want to watch Buddy tear it to
pieces, I was more afraid of him catching some disease
from the critter
I keep a "short leash" around for cases like that, I hide
it in my pocket so Buddy never sees it coming. Once he's
on leash, I can lead him anywhere. Did Drake get scratched
or bitten by the opossom ?

[sabies]

yuck, Sadie only wants to have a high prey drive, she stalks squirrels like crazy but yesterday there were 2 chances that I know if she took after the squirrels she would have caught them. I'm glad she's forgotten the purpose of her stalking instinct.

Checking on a rabies shot sounds like a good idea, you don't want to take any chances.

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

Oh, don't worry. I called the Vet as soon as I saw Drake tear through the possum. He said that possums don't carry rabies. And Drake is up tp date on his shots. He gets his Rabies shot every year.

[RachelJ]

Why the bunners want to come into our yard I do not know, but now that spring is here there has been more chasing going on. I have purposely engineered an escape hole in the fence to hopefully prevent the horrid disaster of last year (you don't want to know).

[Logan]

Possums don't carry rabies?? That is news to me!! I have heard exactly the opposite!! Thank goodness, we have only had one possum incident, and it was more a "roll him around" thing, than kill him. The others, and there have been many, have been viewed from afar....the possums were up in a tree, with no chance of Honey and Lilly getting to them. But I understand that possums are viscious....claws and teeth are dangerous. Please don't take this too lightly.

I'm glad Drake was on the winning side this time, but please, please be careful.

Logan

[Karen]

My very first, best, smartest dog ever, Sheba, had a high prey drive. Fortunately, by the time I was old enough to realize this, evolution had taken it's course, and we only had very fast squirrels, no woodchucks within miles of us, and the other "catchable creatures" had either gotten faster or moved away. She was smart smart though - only tangled with a porcupine once.

But instinct is instinct, and probably the only way she survived as a stray, which she was before my family got her.

[4 feline house]

Opossums are extremely resistant to rabies, but not immune!

Also, opossums are crepuscular, meaning that they come out at dawn and/or dusk. Since opossums are very adaptable, the ones in urban areas have a tendency to be nocturnal.

The fact that this one was out in the afternoon (or did you really mean dusk?) does not bode well. Generally only sick animals forage during their burrowing period.

I'm sure Drake's been vaccinated for rabies, but you might want to keep an eye on him just in case (that li'l 'possum may have had something else, after all).

[carrie]

If it is a mammal then it can carry rabies.
End of story - take no chances.

Drake's prey drive is not a huge surprise - I said that this was something you had to prepare for. He is now well past the age when he would be learning to hunt as part of the pack and will soon be looking for signals from you, as pack leader, to begin the planned hunt.

You need to restamp dominance with Drake and be aware of your body language. Stop any games where he sometimes wins ( tug of war) and stop giving squeeky toys. (If you ever did these things...it is a lot better if you don't.)

Drake will continue to follow his instinctive drives unless he has a pack leader with him or he is shut in a cage where he can do no harm to others. (In case you are wondering I have not suddenly converted to crate training and do not think that caging this animal is an option!!!)

The best thing you can do is to channel this behaviour - find a club that trains tracking dogs, mountain rescue, missing persons....anything that will let him hunt, get a result and make him feel satisfied with the result.

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

Carrie,

OK, so possums can carry rabies. What do I need to do with Drake? His is up to date on all his shots.

Drake is not into squeeky toys anymore but he does get chew bones. I do not play games like tug of war with him either. Our last behaviorist suggested that too. He is always supervised. This past week was crazy for me and broke Drake's routine.

We are back on schedule. I will try and look up a "hunting" activity he can be involved it. I bet he would love it.

[jennifert]

Souraya,

Duncan is the same way with the prey drive but the "Mighty Hunter" has yet to catch anything! He did get a cat once in his teeth but thank God it escaped. I don't know how badly he hurt it because I could never find it again...
Yesterday on our walk through the woods we discovered a new path. I noticed that the dogs were spending a lot more time than usual thrashing through the undergrowth rather than running along the path as they usually do. When I came around a corner, there was a couple standing there with their poodle in their arms. They said that my dogs were chasing a deer through the woods!! I wasn't too concerned that they would catch the deer (Jack is so NOT a hunter!!!! He would want to lick the deer to death!)but that the deer would hurt them...And the fact that it's illegal I think!!

Anyway, they came back to me when called and we left. Duncan does feel that anything smaller than him that moves is food! It's very disconcerting. I think that is how he survived as a stray and I don't think we can "break" them of the habit/instinct.

As long as Drake is up-to-date on his shots, I guess we'll just have to hope all other animals stay out of his way, as they would a wolf in the the wild....
Here in NY, distemper is not mandatory but there have been some cases in a nearby county of some raccoons having it so they are advising pet owners to have them vaccinated. Since Drake was adopted, he may already have this but you may want to look into it. I honestly don't know much about it or how it's transmitted.