Use Natural Instincts to Play with your Dog.

The Prey drive in dogs is a natural response to the environment and part of every dog's natural behaviour. It is a set of behaviours related to hunting and scavenging. All dogs will express these genetic responses to differing degrees and in different situations. Some breeds have been selectively bred to have stronger prey drives than others.

Understanding this drive can provide opportunities to play with your dog in ways that satisfy these instinctual needs, improving their quality of life and well-being.

Prey drive behaviours include: Stalking, Chasing, Digging, Shredding, and Chewing.

Encouraging these behaviours through play is a way to engage with your dog in a safe and controlled manner. Most dogs will enjoy and benefit from opportunities to express their play drive.

Different types of play relate to different types of prey drive.

A herding breed may enjoy chasing, while Hounds may enjoy stalking and scentwork and Terriers will be thrilled to dig and shred. Identifying the breed influences in your dog can give you clues on the types of activities your dog may enjoy. Remember, every dog is an individual, and their behaviours will be unique.

Personal Play.

There are no shortcuts or formulas to this, and it takes time and practice to find out what really engages your dog. Some dogs might like to chase or be chased, others might prefer physical play like wrestling and pushing, and others might like you to jump around with them, but have no physical contact. The key is to experiment and be observant of how your dog responds through their body language to whatever you try.

Toy Play.

Games you choose to play with your dog should reflect what they already enjoy and probably depend on their breed (but not always). For example, sight-hounds usually prefer to chase, bully breeds usually prefer to grab and hold, and terriers often prefer to shake and destroy! Use this as a starting point and go from there as there will always be exceptions to the rule.

Selecting the right toy will get the most out of your play sessions, check out your local pet store for ideas and or make your own depending on what sort of player you have.

Play is a simulation of hunting and scavenging. Most breeds have been selectively bred for one or some parts of the hunting sequence (predatory action sequence) to be emphasised - once you know which part of the sequence is naturally rewarding for your dog, you have a great starting point for play.

Tug.

A game of Tug is great because, with a little skill, you can incorporate most of the Predatory sequence components into the game. Here's how a play sequence with tug might look:

• Toy acts like prey - hiding then peaking out and hiding again.

• The dog becomes interested in the toy and starts to track it's movement with its eyes

• Prey (toy) tries to escape, add some near 'misses' to encourage chase. 

• Dog grabs toy and the fight to take down the prey starts through some tugging, toy struggles to escape

• A strong pull from the dog wins the toy in the kill bite

• Let your dog possess and keep the toy and parade with it.

Watch these videos for some training in tug:

The fundamentals of Tug

Michael Ellis on playing tug with puppies.

Food play.

Food play builds interest in food as a reinforcer and is regularly used to build good behaviours, it combines food with prey and hunt interests. Rewarding with food isn't just about handing the dog a piece of food. There are many factors that go into using food effectively, including where, how and when you offer food. You can incorporate food play into building engagement with your dog; throwing a treat in the air for your dog to catch, rolling it along the ground to chase or doing some fast luring and near misses to increase their motivation to get the food, or hide a number of small treats for your dog to hunt out using their nose.

Prey drive is a natural instinct in dogs that stems from their evolutionary history as hunters and scavengers. By observing your dog's behavior you can provide rewarding outlets for their instincts. In doing so you can enhance your own bond with your dog and improve their well-being.

Sources:

Practical Dog Training Book. 2023. Jo Thorne