High prey drive in dogs causes welfare concerns for both the dogs and their potential targets. Understanding and managing prey drive improves safety and wellbeing for dogs and wildlife.
Managing prey drive is a welfare issue for the dog experiencing it as well as for potential prey animals. Dogs with high prey drive that have no appropriate outlet experience chronic frustration that manifests as anxiety, destructive behavior, and attempts to escape. Providing species-appropriate outlets - tracking exercises, retrieving, lure coursing, terrier trials - satisfies prey drive in controlled settings. Without appropriate management, high prey drive dogs may attack livestock or wildlife, creating welfare harm and often resulting in the dog being euthanized - a tragic outcome that appropriate management could prevent.