Reducing Prey Drive

[Guest Travelover]

My girl walks great on a leash and doesn't create any problems in the house..........until she sees deer. And we have deer everywhere here. When she sees them outside the window, she scrambles at the glass scratching the woodwork and when outside, she wants to pull your arm off. I really fear the leash failing and her chasing the deer off to her death.

 

I've tried teaching her the "leave it" command and rewarding her when she pays attention to me instead of the retreating deer, but by then it is a little late.

 

So, any good tips for desensitizing her to seeing deer?

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited April 18, 2013 by Travelover

[jetcitywoman]

If you can do so safely, it might help to let her get a sniff of one. From your description it's hard to tell if she really has prey drive or if she's just dying to know what in heck that THING is.

[a_daerr]

Yours is a pretty unique situation, as high-prey greys go into "prey mode" mostly around smaller animals (cats, rabbits, squirrels, the occasional small dog, etc). Prey-drive is a difficult, sometimes impossible, characteristic to train out of a dog. That being said, I've read threads on here where the dog was very interested in the deer, but in a way that wasn't really related to prey-drive. You can't really "desensitize" because it would be semi-dangerous to get anywhere close to a deer. The only thing I can think of training-wise is what you've already been doing, that is, redirecting her attention to you with the "look" command A LOT. Several training sessions a day, starting first without distractions, then gradually working up to them. Like, keep having her do "look" when someone drops a bowl on the floor, or when people are jumping around in the same room. Then, when the time comes that you do happen upon a deer, say "look!" then treat her like crazy when she looks at you.

 

If she doesn't respond to that, I would just try to eliminate the opportunities for her to see deer. Try putting blinds on your open windows and walking her in a less wooded area.

 

Sorry that's probably not much help. Good luck.

Edited April 18, 2013 by a_daerr

[Guest FreeholdHound]

We have nightly deer visits in our backyard, usually 3 or 4 but the other night we had 8 stop by. Harry has always gone on alert when he spots them - ears up & prancy. Anytime he acts any more interested than that - I snap the leash & head in the opposite direction. Now he sees them & we all stand around staring at each other. They've been within a few yards of us & they seem more interested in him than he is with them. I swear they think he's one of them

[BatterseaBrindl]

My girl walks great on a leash and doesn't create any problems in the house..........until she sees deer. And we have deer everywhere here. When she sees them outside the window, she scrambles at the glass scratching the woodwork and when outside, she wants to pull your arm off. I really fear the leash failing and her chasing the deer off to her death.

 

I've tried teaching her the "leave it" command and rewarding her when she pays attention to me instead of the retreating deer, but by then it is a little late.

 

So, any good tips for desensitizing her to seeing deer?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I'd just keep practicing this over and over and over.

[cleptogrey]

greys are in the sighthound family. this is what they were bred to do- go after prey- deer, rabbits, etc. some have a stronger preydrive than others.

 

basic training(obedience) will give you the tools to keep your dog under control. both of mine will go crazy if i let them when they see deer. i generally hold the leash and shhhh them. i have already been in a situation w/ an annoyed deer coming at us. we froze- i pet the dogs and then the deer realized that his space was not being intruded upon.

 

try keeping the collar tight under your dog's neck and a short leash for starters. no reason for a 6 ft lenght when this occurs.

[greysmom]

Proactive environment scanning will help you - try to see them before she does and either head in another direction or begin your distraction exercises. Blinds or curtains on the windows, or block her from standing in front of them. Do not let her get going to the end of the leash. Walk her with a shorter one - 4 ft or shorter. Six feet will give her too much momentum if she starts taking off.

 

This will take TIME and PRACTICE. She's way to interested in them already, so your going to have to break through her concentration. You don't say how long you've had her, but it could also just be a matter of ehr settling into home life a little more.

[Brandiandwe]

We haven't had problems with deer but have established that Paige believes that small dogs, cats, rabbits, ducks, chickens, sheep, horses, cows and kangaroos are all fair game. The one I really worry about are the kangaroos. she's also taught Brandi 'appropriate' behaviour.

 

It's taken me 18 months but things are now more manageable. The two tricks are timing and consistency. Whenever she sees something that might be interesting, I shove food into her mouth. She's muzzled so this took time to learn. While she's chewing, she remains below threshold. If she's above threshold, it's all over. I can't reach her. Hence timing. It needs to be early.

 

I've also found that the taste of the food doesn't seem to matter as much as its texture. It works better with quite dry, chewy jerky. Over time I've found that she'll see something for dinner (like a 600kg bull or a 3 kg puppy) and will begin to prey on it, catch herself, turn to me and go for the jerky. In effect I think I've turned her prey drive from the other animal to me. She then turns back to the prey and looks at it chewing madly (which is why I think the texture is important). We can then move on, though sometimes a second treat is needed.

 

It's taken a long time but it has worked. She will never be an easy dog but she has certainly become easier.

[KickReturn]

I've read threads on here where the dog was very interested in the deer, but in a way that wasn't really related to prey-drive. You can't really "desensitize" because it would be semi-dangerous to get anywhere close to a deer.

 

That's probably my Hester. When he first started walking off leash, he seemed to see the deer as he does other Greys, he wanted to run with them. To make matters worse the deer around here are absolutely fascinated by him and frequently follow us on our walks. It gets a little scary in the fall when the big bucks arrive. I don't think we have ever been on a walk without encountering multiple deer.

 

I have had success in discouraging him from running with the Deer by simply calling his name and giving him a sharp "uh uh" if his ears go up when we see them. The first few times when he didn't respond and lower his ears and head and look away, I gave him a very gentle tap tap on the shoulder to distract him. I think I only reinforced with treats once or twice and now he gets it that the Deer are not his playmates. I find that it is important that I do not react at all to the deer either as if to set the example. Now we regularely pass within just a few feet of deer and he just continues on his way without giving them a second look. He is fairly low prey and is desperate to please his people which makes things easy.

 

Two photos taken on my driveway - this is a daily occurence.

 

Edited April 19, 2013 by KickReturn

[a_daerr]

 

I find that it is important that I do not react at all to the deer either as if to set the example.

 

I think this is important too... We regular walk through a park that has TONS of squirrels. I've found it easier to just ignore them myself and keep walking. No stopping. We also practice a command with Truman called "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" to get him to speed up his pace. When a squirrel catches his eye, I use that command, and we start into a fast walk/jog. That seems to work fairly well as far as desensitization goes.

 

 

P.S. Those deer photos are adorable!

[Guest Giselle]

If the dog isn't told explicitly what to do, it will just follow its instinct and emotions - it will get excited and probably try to chase the deer. Most dogs would do this given the chance. It's just curiosity. Heck, if I were a dog, I'd do the same!

 

The key, then, is to explicitly tell the dog what to do. Instead of standing and waiting for the deer to run away (all the while letting your dog get excited by it), train your dog to focus on you and give you automatic behaviors. Don't worry about throwing around behavior science jargon, like "desensitization". We're not really concerned about that here. What we want to do is change the dog's state of mind from: "OH look a deer!" to "Oh, time to focus on my handler." You're on the right track by using food to motivate her to pay attention to you. The key is to do it before you spot the deer OR remove your dog from that situation (move in the other direction, away from the deer) and start going through the Focus exercises. I have several videos posted of what this process looks with aggressive, fearful, and excitable dogs:

http://www.progressdog.com/socialization.html

http://www.progressdog.com/modifying-aggression.html
http://www.progressdog.com/fear.html

 

Of course, you need to start with the basics in a low-distraction environment, like your living room, first. If you don't like using "Sit", you can teach your greyhound to target your hand, or "Touch". The point is to play fun focus games with your dog in rapid fire to ensure that his focus is on you - not the deer. It's a simple technique, but it is a life saver.

[Guest Travelover]

OP here. Thanks for the comments and replys. It sounds like I'm on the right track, I just need to step up my efforts.