What is your dog’s prey drive?

[lovespandp]

I don’t think a thread has ever been started on this. I think it is such an interesting subject because we do have Terriers!

Peanut doesn't really hunt or stalk anything. However Peanut loves to chase ducks and bunnies- in the morning the birds will land on his dog run and he will zoom out there and bark at them till they leave.. I’m able to egg him on, I will say “ Go get those birdies” and will get all excited and do a little stance till I open his doggy door. Then he will pounce out there and bark.. I see him do that in more of a playful way, so I don’t think he has any “drive” to kill or hunt..

I’m not sure what he would do if he caught something, I’m not sure he would catch something with his mouth even LOL, so I don’t think he would know what to do with something if he cornered it LOL. He is my sweetie baby, he would rather play than hunt. However I wouldn't keep my mind shut about it because he is a Terrier!

[Britster]

Lol, you may be surprised by Peanut one day! Never know! He sounds so cute though.

As I said in the other thread, but I'll add on to it, but Jackson has insane prey drive when it comes to bunnies, squirrels, etc. He's been hunting/stalking a bunny for days over at my dads house. It's living under our pool shed, and the other day he literally spent 3 hours standing around STARING at the pool deck, and he would change positions every so often. He stalks and walks quietly. He and my dads JRT mix would each take a side and cover each other, it was hilarious. They finally got it to come out and I watched the poor rabbit run like 10 laps around the yard- Jackson was RIGHT on its tail, and he was shrieking with excitement, he almost got it but it got out of the fence. In one way I was really sad, because I feel bad for the bunny, lol, but I was also laughing, it's kind of cool to see the dogs doing what they were bred to do and funny to see the dogs working together. Though I'd prefer him NOT to be eating a bunny or anything, so I'm kind of glad he did not catch it. But damn he came close a few times now.

I am not sure what he would do if he actually did catch it. I can't decide if it would freak him out or if he would shake and kill. I think it's more for the thrill of the chase for him. But my dads JRT mix isn't as intense with stalking and watching the area, but she did kill a baby bunny. Shook it, broke it's neck, and then was carrying it around. It took us forever to get it away from her.

Jackson also is really into butterflies- anything that flies, really. He stalks butterflies. You know when you see a butterfly peacefully sitting on a long string of grass? Yeah, Jax sees those, and he walks like a cat, very stalky, and then he will stand there like a Pointer with one paw up, and gets slower, slower, slower and then POUNCE! Luckily the butterflies usually get away. He has eaten a few of those moth-type looking butterfly things (like not the pretty monarchs or anything).

He's iffy with cats. Strange cats, or strays, etc, he gets very over-excited and will begin whining to get to it, and if he were off leash, he would go in for it. Not sure about killing but he's way too overly stimulated around most cats. Now at my dads house, we have 2 cats up stairs. He sleeps overnight with my door open with the cats free roaming and is fine. He will walk up next to them, let them smell him, etc, but sometimes something clicks in his brain and you can just see it, and will start barking and chase them. Usually it's if they move a certain way or run too fast. I can't ever see him actually wanting to kill them though.

[P-Nut Mom]

P-Nut has crazy prey drive. He freaks about birds and squirrels and actually managed to catch a squirrel by the tail the other day. Aggggghhh! On the other h and, Pickles has no prey drive at all. They're such interesting critters!

[Maximo]

Very interesting topic. Teddy is a sweetheart, but I think he is very prey driven. He would go for the kill. Not even flies are safe around him.

Max gives the impression that he is fearless, but I think he would only chase and bark at the target. I don't know how much is fear and how much is he doesn't believe in harming anything.

[lovespandp]

Originally Posted by Britster

Lol, you may be surprised by Peanut one day! Never know! He sounds so cute though.

As I said in the other thread, but I'll add on to it, but Jackson has insane prey drive when it comes to bunnies, squirrels, etc. He's been hunting/stalking a bunny for days over at my dads house. It's living under our pool shed, and the other day he literally spent 3 hours standing around STARING at the pool deck, and he would change positions every so often. He stalks and walks quietly. He and my dads JRT mix would each take a side and cover each other, it was hilarious. They finally got it to come out and I watched the poor rabbit run like 10 laps around the yard- Jackson was RIGHT on its tail, and he was shrieking with excitement, he almost got it but it got out of the fence. In one way I was really sad, because I feel bad for the bunny, lol, but I was also laughing, it's kind of cool to see the dogs doing what they were bred to do and funny to see the dogs working together. Though I'd prefer him NOT to be eating a bunny or anything, so I'm kind of glad he did not catch it. But damn he came close a few times now.

I am not sure what he would do if he actually did catch it. I can't decide if it would freak him out or if he would shake and kill. I think it's more for the thrill of the chase for him. But my dads JRT mix isn't as intense with stalking and watching the area, but she did kill a baby bunny. Shook it, broke it's neck, and then was carrying it around. It took us forever to get it away from her.

Jackson also is really into butterflies- anything that flies, really. He stalks butterflies. You know when you see a butterfly peacefully sitting on a long string of grass? Yeah, Jax sees those, and he walks like a cat, very stalky, and then he will stand there like a Pointer with one paw up, and gets slower, slower, slower and then POUNCE! Luckily the butterflies usually get away. He has eaten a few of those moth-type looking butterfly things (like not the pretty monarchs or anything).

He's iffy with cats. Strange cats, or strays, etc, he gets very over-excited and will begin whining to get to it, and if he were off leash, he would go in for it. Not sure about killing but he's way too overly stimulated around most cats. Now at my dads house, we have 2 cats up stairs. He sleeps overnight with my door open with the cats free roaming and is fine. He will walk up next to them, let them smell him, etc, but sometimes something clicks in his brain and you can just see it, and will start barking and chase them. Usually it's if they move a certain way or run too fast. I can't ever see him actually wanting to kill them though.

LOL You think? I don’t know if Peanut would be interested in that sort of activity! LOL

LOL I think Jackson would kill it, he would shake it! The way you describe him, he sounds so serious so I’m going to say Yes, he would kill what he caught LOL. OMG Your Dad’s JRT sounds like a nut ball! LOL That is so funny she wouldn't bring you guys the bunny, how did you guys get it from her?

Have you ever done those races with Jackson where they have a fake bunny or something and they pull it around the track? Not sure what that activity is called, but I think Jackson would love that!!

Peanut loves cats, however all the cats he meets don’t want anything to do with him!

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by P-Nut Mom

P-Nut has crazy prey drive. He freaks about birds and squirrels and actually managed to catch a squirrel by the tail the other day. Aggggghhh! On the other h and, Pickles has no prey drive at all. They're such interesting critters!

P-Nut!! What did he do when he caught the squirrel?? He is a good hunter.

[lovespandp]

Originally Posted by P-Nut Mom

P-Nut has crazy prey drive. He freaks about birds and squirrels and actually managed to catch a squirrel by the tail the other day. Aggggghhh! On the other h and, Pickles has no prey drive at all. They're such interesting critters!

Our Pnuts are very different!! LOL OMG what did he do with it? Pickles sounds more like my Pnut!!

[lovespandp]

Originally Posted by Maximo

Very interesting topic. Teddy is a sweetheart, but I think he is very prey driven. He would go for the kill. Not even flies are safe around him.

Max gives the impression that he is fearless, but I think he would only chase and bark at the target. I don't know how much is fear and how much is he doesn't believe in harming anything.

LOL! I remember when we would get flies in the house my Siamese would look all cross eyed and track them. She would always get them.

Have Max or Teddy ever stalked anything?

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by lovespandp

LOL! I remember when we would get flies in the house my Siamese would look all cross eyed and track them. She would always get them.

Have Max or Teddy ever stalked anything?

They haven't had a chance off leash, but they will stalk things from the deck. Max acts like a cat when he sees a bunny in the yard.

They both pull on their leashes when birds or squirrels are crossing our path.

Teddy loves when a fly or a bug gets in the house. He has great fun chasing them and swatting at them. This makes me nervous because we have an occasional hornet get in.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by lovespandp

LOL You think? I don’t know if Peanut would be interested in that sort of activity! LOL

LOL I think Jackson would kill it, he would shake it! The way you describe him, he sounds so serious so I’m going to say Yes, he would kill what he caught LOL. OMG Your Dad’s JRT sounds like a nut ball! LOL That is so funny she wouldn't bring you guys the bunny, how did you guys get it from her?

Have you ever done those races with Jackson where they have a fake bunny or something and they pull it around the track? Not sure what that activity is called, but I think Jackson would love that!!

Peanut loves cats, however all the cats he meets don’t want anything to do with him!

Lol yeah I dunno, my step-moms Dachshund mix is pretty docile and lazy but when a baby bunny ended up in the bottom of the pool (when it was empty-no water), we couldn't find him, and then we saw him down there trying to eat it! So gross! He had blood all over him. My step-mom bathed him right away and brushed his teeth LOL.. it was horrible. I would've never imagined Buddy to do it, but I guess since he didn't have to do the work of catching it, he figured what the hey.

Oh and lure coursing? Yes I've been wanting to try it. I went and watched an event, but the off leash thing made me nervous, only because it was in a strange environment, and I wasn't sure a fake thing would be like the real, I am not sure how into he would be, but I do kinda wanna try it next time.

I taped this, this is my friends dog doing it- Jax starts barking around the 20 second mark lol, he was really amped up from all the other dogs:

Cricket practicing lure coursing on a short...

[lovespandp]

Originally Posted by Maximo

They haven't had a chance off leash, but they will stalk things from the deck. Max acts like a cat when he sees a bunny in the yard.

They both pull on their leashes when birds or squirrels are crossing our path.

Teddy loves when a fly or a bug gets in the house. He has great fun chasing them and swatting at them. This makes me nervous because we have an occasional hornet get in.

Does Max bark or anything when he sees the cat? Or just quietly stalk it? I think anytime they see something small and run their instinct is to chase it.. Sometimes Peanut doesn't even notice things! One day we were coming up from our walk and we had a pile of ducks next to our lawn.. he walked right by them! I was going to say something, but it was late in the evening and we have coyotes that hide in the bushes where they were, I didn’t want to let him off leash for that. I know if I said something he would have chased them.

LOL Peanut loves to hunt for bugs too. That is crazy we have had a bee in the house.. How the heck do they get in? So random.

[P-Nut Mom]

Originally Posted by Maximo

P-Nut!! What did he do when he caught the squirrel?? He is a good hunter.

Um, I was censoring that part, but... he tore about half the tail off and the squirrel ran away. The tail stuck to his chin. OMG! I practically sterilized P-Nut once I caught him because I'm so paranoid about germs.

That's funny about flies and bugs guys!

[lovespandp]

Originally Posted by Britster

Lol yeah I dunno, my step-moms Dachshund mix is pretty docile and lazy but when a baby bunny ended up in the bottom of the pool (when it was empty-no water), we couldn't find him, and then we saw him down there trying to eat it! So gross! He had blood all over him. My step-mom bathed him right away and brushed his teeth LOL.. it was horrible. I would've never imagined Buddy to do it, but I guess since he didn't have to do the work of catching it, he figured what the hey.

Oh and lure coursing? Yes I've been wanting to try it. I went and watched an event, but the off leash thing made me nervous, only because it was in a strange environment, and I wasn't sure a fake thing would be like the real, I am not sure how into he would be, but I do kinda wanna try it next time.

I taped this, this is my friends dog doing it- Jax starts barking around the 20 second mark lol, he was really amped up from all the other dogs: Cricket practicing lure coursing on a short course - YouTube

OMG!! LOL That is crazy.. Did he eat the whole thing? That is crazy!!

Not sure if that is what they call it, but it is I think how they train the Greyhounds to race? Seems like Jackson would do great at that and really enjoy it.

[lovespandp]

I taped this, this is my friends dog doing it- Jax starts barking around the 20 second mark lol, he was really amped up from all the other dogs:

Cricket practicing lure coursing on a short...

[/QUOTE]

Oh wow that's cool!!! I guess what I was thinking of was the track where they race the Greyhounds.. so if you are not racing it is just on a man made course like that?

[TxVicki]

OMG It's those darn SQUIRRELS.