# Tips how to deal with high prey drive



## Draiko (Mar 12, 2017)

TAKING HER BACK IS NOT AN OPTION.

Hi everyone we adopted a bait dog. I have my new doubts that she was a bait dog because shes really chill. She not scared of anything but sticks and when you toss a toy. (we dont do that). Shes house trained leash trained and fine in the car. Shes very good with other dogs. But my cats are meals on legs.

Im struggling. I feel so terrible. I really like her and shes perfect but she chases the cats. So now i have them separated and every night, my dad holds the cat and I walk past. When she looks at the cat or lunges i tug and she looks away. we do this like for 30 minutes then the cat has had enough. But as soon as we put the cat back in its safe place the dog goes crazy looking for her. sniffing everywhere. So it feels like one step forward 2 steps back. 

She plays REALLY rough but that well fix over time. but we're struggling with teaching "leave it". When she latches onto my clothes she does not let go at all. SHe doesnt shake her head like with a toy (yet). But i cant get her to leave. Ive used newspaper. I tapped her nose. Ive used the choke chain. 

Its just struggles. I know its very early since we've had her for 4 days and have no idea of her past. But any tips or motivation will be appreciated. 

Shes boerboel/pit/gsd/boxer. From what we can gather. (a squatter camp dog) Shes 3 years old.

thanks guys.


----------



## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

yes only 4 days. 
I am not sure what is all meant by "bait dog" and how that will effect the dog on it's training

I took in an older working dog 4.5, this month. the development of his prey drives is high and quick it's all he has know to get his titles since he was 7 months old . Have small farm animals. all I have done to start his training on the property is first be a care giver to him. orientate him to his new home, set him up an area that he will be safe from making mistakes kennel area and tie out in the yard. Feed, potty break and exercise, groom him on lead on property,to start. Start a daily routine to bond and work on communications skills.

good news is he was well loved, handled, trained . been easy to see that transfer over to me quickly. but that is for the easy every day things that *(HE) lets me have.*.. We have much work to develop between us for the future for me to be where we need to be.. So for know keeping him out of making mistakes is where I set him up. He sees the other animals daily being in his fenced area and the other animals in their fenced areas. And yes any situation I feel is going to be too much for him I tie him out or put him completely secure for right now.. He has gotten use to the horses and the llamas and able to watch what they do moving around playing and adjust to it, when he is in the house the cats are in their cat house has sat next to their house with each other getting to know one another and now falls asleep next to them. I just started taking him on lead into the bird barn for a small chore of filling water bowls mid day. Training kicks in to respect the lead and to heel.. that is what we will do for bird training daily for awhile for now and how ever long he needs it.

time , is what you need ,, you need to be a strong team first before you can reach them to even start the teaching and learning process , the end game will always be cat safe or not, the dog must be bonded and respected to you enough to over ride their own needs, wants and stuff to listen to leave it and come.

The only expectation of a new dog to our house hold is on me... to set them up to keep them safe from making mistakes while we are learning to learn together.


----------



## DaySleepers (Apr 9, 2011)

It's good that you're keeping them separated when you can't supervise, and you may have to do so indefinitely. Prey drive is a powerful instinct, and even dogs who grew up with cats and are friendly with them have been known to kill one they live with because something unexpected triggered their predatory instincts. For now, when you're not actively working with the dog and cats, make sure that your cats have safe places to go - high perches, baby gates the dog can't cross but the cats can, keeping the dog on a leash, etc. 

As for training your dog, I'd highly urge you to stop using punishment (leash corrections, newspaper, bopping her nose, etc.) for a couple reasons. One is, dogs aren't always great at making the connections we want them to; you know you're correcting her for her reaction to the cat, but she may be learning that cat = pain, and it could make her even more aggressive towards the cat. Another reason is that, for a very high-drive dog, minor corrections can actually amp them up and make them more keen on getting the object they want to go after. Both aren't great results when you're dealing with cat chasing.

Instead, you want to start with her in a separate room without cats. Teach her a command like 'focus' or 'watch me' by holding a valuable (to her) treat or toy close to your face, saying 'yes' (or any positive 'marker' word you'd like) when she looks in that direction, and giving her a little (pea-sized) treat. Commercial dog treats, cheese, bits of hotdog, boiled chicken breast - anything works so long as it's safe for dogs and she thinks it's delicious! When she's reliably looking towards your face for rewards, even without the lure, you can start adding the cue word (I use 'focus' but again, it could be anything).

Now you have a behavior you can ask her to do, that she's learned gives her great rewards and she has positive associations with, that can help you break the focus she has on cats! But don't expect her to be able to perform it perfectly right away when a cat's running two feet from her - again, this is a powerful drive you're trying to manage, and it'll take time for her to develop self-control. The best way to do this is, if possible, find a distance where she can see a cat (preferably one that's sitting or moving slowly, again, running around is much more difficult for her to ignore) but isn't trying to get at it. When she looks at the cat, ask for your 'focus' cue and reward - you're teaching her that it's much better to pay attention to you than it is to go after the cat! And this way, she'll learn that being around the cats is a good thing, not something that comes with uncomfortable leash pops. You can slowly practice this closer and closer to the cat, and add multiple cats, or cats who are moving faster, but not all at once! Work on one extra 'challenge' at a time, and if at any point she gets too worked up over the cat to listen to you, back up to the last step she was performing well at and stay there for a while longer. This process may take weeks or months, but it gets results. I believe the forum member in this thread used largely these methods, to great success - http://www.dogforums.com/dog-training-forum/310506-cat-chasing-feeling-overwhelmed.html

For the cats, try not to restrain them! Like with the dog, they'll learn that scary things happen when the dog's around (not being able to escape), and be more likely to run away, which makes things harder for everyone. The good news is, you can train cats too! It's a similar process, just give them tiny little nibbles of something tasty and healthy whenever they're behaving calmly around the dog to encourage them to think of the dog as a good thing.

When she latches onto your clothes, what does she do if you completely ignore her, turn away from her as much as possible, stop talking, cross your arms, and avoid looking at her? Try this with old clothes, obviously! But it sounds like she's doing this in play, is that correct? If that's the case, any attention you give her, even negative attention (bopping her nose, etc) may feel rewarding to her, or even an invitation to play more roughly. If all play and interaction stops whenever she's rude, the moment she's rude, and only starts again when she lets go, she'll probably pick up pretty quickly that biting clothes doesn't get her what she wants.

If she's biting for reasons other than play, it might be time to get in a professional. Look for someone reputable, who uses force-free training methods with no talk of outdated methods like "dominance" or "alpha" training. The Association of Professional Dog Trainers (https://apdt.com/) and the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (http://www.ccpdt.org/) are great places to start - unfortunately, anyone who feels like it can call themselves a dog trainer and take your money, so I'm recommended those organizations because they require their trainers to follow humane practices and have a certain level of skill and scientific understanding of dog behavior. Even if you don't wind up needing a professional to work on things at home, if anyone's running a class in your area, training is a great way to bond with your dog.

Good luck!


----------



## Draiko (Mar 12, 2017)

holy ****. thanks for that reply.

Patricia. Being a bait dog means she was muzzled, and tied to a tree then the pitbull fighters let their dogs attack her.

I have stopped using leash corrections completely. My parents are not happy but i said its my dog. My rules. I found Zak George on youtube and been following his stuff. 
I did decide to take a step back and im teaching her leave it and focus and stay first. (Zakgeorge videos) and she got it all in one afternoon. I dont think shes dumb she caught on quickly. I am going to master the leave it first, because she only leaves a still object. Not and arm or leg while playing. I took her for a walk after the training session, where we did walk past the cats and i did correct her with a tug on the leash and she did listen. But im not going to do taht anymore its just that she remembered. 

Okay. Yeah my cats are super weird. THe one only likes me and runs away from everything. Even if you just walk into the room too fast. The other one (which we were using) is much more chilled and likes cuddles on rare occasions. so thats why we hold them cuz they will run away if more than 3 people are in the room. I know. We have never even hit a cat or yelled at it. THey are just insanely skittish and also they both lived with us since kittens. 

When she latches onto my clothes she is definitely playing. I have felt when she decides to close her jaw and its extremely tough. But she is playing. Her stumpy wags and she growls playfully. She doesnt not listen even if i make it boring. Yes ive also been using the ignoring method. And she seems to be slowly catching on. The thing why i think this dog is so difficult( she isnt actually at all) is because no one has ever loved her. She didnt even know what it meant when i called her the first 2 days. 

thanks again so much. Since yesterday afternoon ive been feeling so much better. Cuz we actually made progress. I hope we can sort out her prey drive.
thank you.


----------



## DaySleepers (Apr 9, 2011)

I'm so happy to hear you're having some success! Yeah, Zak George has good technique and advice, so he's a great resource. I personally find his public persona a little grating, but his methods are spot on, haha! Kikopup (Emily Larlham) is another great force-free trainer who has a lot of YouTube videos. Hopefully your parents will see the progress you're making and not grumble quite so much about the methods. IMO there are very few things punishment can teach that force-free training can't also teach without the need to cause pain or discomfort, and I also don't care for the risk of fallout that comes with punishment (what I described before, with dogs accidentally associating punishment with an object/animal/person instead of their behavior). 

I get skittish kitties - grew up with a few myself! Just do your best to make the experience as pleasant as possible for them. Going back and focusing on your dog's engagement with you should really help.

You're probably spot on as to why she has a lot of bad manners. Biting too hard and hanging on in play are very common puppy problems, and most adult dogs learn through experience that humans have delicate skin and don't like being gnawed on, haha. So she probably never had much of a chance to learn that when most pups do. Catching on at all, even slowly, is a good thing! Once she realizes the pattern of bite=play stops, you should see some major improvement. Also, don't forget to praise her like crazy for choosing appropriate things (IE her own toys) to bite and tug. I believe Zak George has a good leave-it video that includes how to work on impulse control, which is a skill that helps across the board with many impulsive behaviors, and you can look up videos for "It's Yer Choice" which is another way to teach a dog that patience and self-control are rewarding.

Good luck!


----------



## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

I haven't told this story for a week-or-two.

I used to have a very big black lab who liked to chase cats. In fact, he would chase anything that ran away.

We took him to visit my sister in Missouri who had five dogs and a cat. The cat was not the least bit afraid of dogs and any chasing in their household was recreational.

My lab took one look at the cat and charged full-bore. That cat didn't run. Didn't snarl or raise his claws. He just stared down my dog - who pulled up short, turned and looked at me, then at the cat, then at me again. His expression was clear. "What's happening here? This animal will not run." From that point forward, they ignored each other. 

I'm not suggesting every dog will react the same way to a cat that won't run. Esther, my Plott, would almost certainly kill a cat if she ever had the opportunity.Still, in some cases at least, a confident cat will cease to be a target. 

I'm just not sure how you test that without great risk to the cat.


----------



## Poppy14 (Apr 13, 2017)

RonE said:


> I haven't told this story for a week-or-two.
> 
> I used to have a very big black lab who liked to chase cats. In fact, he would chase anything that ran away.
> 
> ...


That's funny - my dog and cat (plus my parents cats) are the same way. Chisum knows the ONE cat that will run and THAT is the cat he chases. Every other cat he leaves alone because they simply aren't bothered by him.


----------



## Sandy.klo (Sep 4, 2016)

A couple things I wanted to add.
You mentioned she won't leave it, and a number of correction methods. I would absolutely not suggest using much of any negative reinforcement for a rescue stray pit. I would definitely limit training to positive reinforcement only for the first few months at the least. I really wouldn't do the newspaper on the nose thing either, ever.
My girl is also a rescue stray pit, and like with many of these dogs, she is very strong, and game, so anything that even resembles physical correction makes her more stimulated and on guard, and therefore more likely to resist ANYTHING. Once rescues bond, they bond HARD, and wanting to make Mom and Dad happy is her favorite thing, and therefore the most motivating factor in the world for her. Especially when cheese is added to the mix.
Force is just not usually effective on pits or strays, and her want to make you happy will grow with every passing day.

With regards to the cats- if she had a strong prey drive and sees the cats as food, since she is solidly an adult you do need to accept the possibility that she will never be able to be trusted around cats, and proceed with EXTREME caution with a licensed trainer.
Until then, don't walk her so close to the cat, the trainer will likely want to do conditioning. That will basically entail her starting really far away from the cat, and training her to be okay with that before you get close. You may inadvertently be making her want the cat more.


----------



## Sandy.klo (Sep 4, 2016)

Whoops! I didn't see their were other posts below! Pretty new to the forums....
I love and second the replies the others have, and I think it's an awesome idea to stop using the leash jerks for now. We spent so long trying to leash train Wren with little jerks and trying to make her come back if she pulled.... We gave a treat when she came back even so. It was six months of hour long walks everyday that only covered 10 minutes of distance. With almost NO improvement.
Now we use a redirection Halting harness, and immediately give slack when there is a stimulus, and invite her to have a walk treat. It only took a few weeks for her to basically be a pro.

I'll also share how we got her past bunny chasing, because you obviously have a really trainable girl who is already eager for your happiness, and sounds similar to Wren in other ways.
We have TONS of bunnies at our new place, and obviously she chased them, so we started pointing them out to her in an excited but calm happy voice, and chattering about them. Now she will usually just sit and watch them with us, even when they come close in the yard!


----------

