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What Is Dog Prey Drive?

February 20, 2024

There are a lot of misconceptions about dog prey drive and how to “fix” it. In this 4 part blog series I’m going to cover:

I also created a comprehensive Youtube video that explains EVERYTHING you need to know to understand prey drive and train your dog to stop chasing animals. You can watch that tutorial here:

What IS dog prey drive?

Put simply, prey drive is a dog’s natural instinct to find, chase, and catch prey.

In it’s entirety, the dog predatory sequence looks like this:

dog predatory sequence

Let’s take a closer look at the dog predatory sequence:

dog prey drive
Dog prey drive

Dog prey drive is NOT bad!

All dogs have some level of prey drive, but some dogs certainly have an elevated drive.

Humans have purposely bred specific parts of the predatory sequence into dog breeds for purposes that benefit us.

In the next blog post in this series, we’ll discuss how breed affects prey drive!

I also created a low-cost guide that explains everything you need to know to understand & train your dogs prey drive. If interested, click here!

Disclosure: Happy Hounds uses affiliate links. Purchasing with these links will not cost you any extra, but I get commissions for purchases made through these links. Affiliate links help me to continue to offer free resources & blog posts. I would love if you used them!

What Is Dog Prey Drive?

About the author:

Stephanie Rombough, DBTMc, is a force-free dog trainer in Edmonton, Alberta. She owns Happy Hounds Dog Training, offering private in-person or virtual dog training services. 

Whether your dog is brand new to leash training OR they have a long history of pulling on leash, this program will teach you what you need to know!

Dog chases squirrels, rabbits, cats, or more? Learn how to train your dog to stop chasing animals.

Training Guides:

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My mission at Happy Hounds is to help owners train their dogs using positive, force-free methods. A trained dog is less likely to end up in a shelter, and a dog trained with positive methods is more likely to be confident & happy. Everyone wins!


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