Question About Prey Drive

[Sambuca]

What position are their ears usually in when they chase prey?

 

Bu's ears are generally laying back against his head. He was chasing a cat outside today and his ears were straight up. It looked more like he was playing, he looks the same way when running with dogs and playing around. He also didn't seem to be running top speed.

 

Some back story; He's totally cat safe in the house, he even grooms the cats and lets them eat raw out of the dish with him. He has tried joining my indoor cats before when they are playing, but they get nervous when they see the giant trying to play so the cats stop and Bu has given up trying to play with them. He has met cats outside on leashed walks and shown no interest. He's been nose to nose with a ferret and went back to sleep. He's been in other yards before with birds, squirrels and rabbits running around and never reacted.

 

Was this play drive, or was he trying to play? The cat climbed a tree and Bu immediately turned around and never sniffed around the tree.

[TheFullHouse]

Greyhounds who live perfectly fine with cats and small dogs in the house will give chase outside. It's a whole different story outside. The ears up is a good sign that your hound has spotted something of interest. If a cat is running across the yard, most hounds are going to give chase.

[silverfish]

When I've seen my hounds in full chase mode their ears are back against their heads for streamlining, just as they are at the track. Think about it; they hunt by sight. Once they have their prey in sight they don't need to be listening, although they will listen when they're deciding whether to go after something or not, in the information gathering stage.

 

If his ears are up, he isn't going flat out, probably. Or he may be unsure about what it is he's chasing and is still information gathering. Or he may be feeling playful. But don't be fooled, because even a greyhound who's chasing playfully can bite when he catches something, and even switch modes and kill.

 

Jack would chase hedgehogs in the eternal (but misguided) hope that he'd one day get them to play with him. When he ran up to them, it was with that lollopy gait, rather than a proper chase with intent. When he got there and they stopped dead, he'd playbow to them one foot either side, and bark at them joyfully. Poor creatures, heaven knows what they thought, but it must have scared the ... um .. spines off them! He never, ever hurt one, apart from scaring them rigid.

 

Your Bu might switch into killer mode if he ever caught up with a cat, he might not. There's only one way to find out, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[sobesmom]

Ears popping up - something caught their attention. Then - if they go into chase mode - ears are laid down.

[Guest longdogs]

I was walking Angel on a cold Southern hemisphere winter night last week. The cold weather makes her feel her age - all of 12 1/2 - and she sometimes develops a limp until I adjust the dosage of her pills to compensate. So there we were, an elderly little girl (her, not me) limping on three functional legs, when a large white cat starts to cross the road in front of us. Up went the ears and next thing she tried to take off after it! Got to admire her spirit. I should mention that Angel lives very amicably with 4 cats at home but still retains a 'professional interest' in outside cats and other prey, being officially not 'cat-friendly'. Greys with their ears up are uncertain and watching what is happening. In full chase and full play they usually have their ears down.